420since1974

In my limited viewings, pinning forwards to the boards appears to be one of Stone's strong points.

Treliving's moves have usually been good, trades and drafts well, he's been decent at asset management, and has not often grossly overpaid. He has not been flawless, but I shudder whenever I recall the various disasters that Risebrough, Button, and Sutter put the team through.

Brodie has usually played better on the right side during his career. If GG prefers him on the left; then we will be looking for a 2nd pairing RD, a much rarer animal in the NHL.

What will the future hold? At least one D must be signed prior to the expansion draft. “One defenseman who is a) under contract in 2017-18 and played in 40 or more NHL games the prior season OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.” 3 UFAs: Engelland – RD, I wouldn’t mind him back as the 3rd pairing RD, but it would need to be at half of his current $2.75M salary. Smid – LD, say good bye to him & his $3.5M Cap Hit. Wideman – RD, adios to Dennis & his $5.25M Hit. 5 RFAs: Culkin – LD, so many injuries, it may be time to give up on him. Jokipakka – LD, if re-signed, a candidate to be claimed by Vegas, 3rd pairing if not claimed. Kulak – LD, good enough as a # 6 or 7. Morrison – RD, he’ll be 25, might time to move on from him. Wotherspoon – LD, another one good enough to be # 6 or 7. After the expansion draft, I still see the need to sign another defenseman to play on the 2nd pairing. I’m thinking of someone who skates well, has decent size, and plays a 50/50 offense/defense game. You know, a younger Mark Giordano type, ha, ha. Right now, there doesn’t appear to be many 2017 UFAs that would fit our need. I don’t think that you want to pay your # 4 D much over $3M. For that money, you’re looking at someone like Brenden Smith or Kris Russell, lol. Calgary may have to look at trading picks/prospects for that D, that we probably only need for two or three seasons. 2017/2018 Giordano – Brodie “Gio Lite” – Hamilton Jokipakka/Kulak/Wotherspoon – Engelland/another inexpensive vet. 2018/2019 I predict that we will see both Andersson & Kylington on the Flame’s roster, likely together as the 3rd pairing. I project Andersson’s high end as 2nd pairing RD and 2nd PP. His low end may be 3rd pairing RD and 2nd PP. My expectations for Kylington are much the same, only on the left side.

Brodie is having a slow start. He may be having some difficulty adjusting to the new system. And he is my favorite Flame's D. If Hamilton continues to put up the points as per his last two seasons, I am quite willing to overlook his occasional defensive errors. Plus, he has been much more aggressive with the body checks during the last three games, it will be nice if he continues in that vein. Gulutzan's new system will take 15 - 20 games before the players have it refined. Hopefully, the team will be able to compete for a play-off position.

Sounds like you're convinced by the few rumors that Gaudreau wants out of Calgary. Respectfully, I don't agree. Many feared that JH would bolt for another team after BC, I was not one of them. My personal feeling is that he really enjoys playing in Calgary and envisions a bright future here for himself and the Flames.

Bring on Hutton or Montoya. Buy Orito a ticket to Finland.

This is a great fit for Calgary. The cost to acquire was fairly low, his salary is Cap friendly, and his stats have been quite good the last 3 seasons. Montoya or Hutton might make a good backup.

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/marc-andre-fleury1 4 year contract that began in 2015/2016 - "Modified NTC, NMC" (source = Sportrac) Clause Details: List 18 teams he can be traded to.

I echo the condolences to the Trevling family. The SCF will be completed sometime between June 6th and June 15th. I had heard that if expansion was taking place in 2017/2018, it would be announced by the end of May of this year. Perhaps the NHL has put off that decision until after the play-offs, but one would think that they would need to announce it prior to the Entry Draft on June 24th. It must be difficult to properly plan player acquisitions, trades, and the potential re-signing of FAs, without knowing in which year expansion will happen, if at all.

Whether through FA or trade, I want to see the Flames procure a NHL starting goalie with at least 200 games experience. If they can also find a prospect goalie better than Orito, I'm all for acquiring them as well. I honestly don't care if Orito is even re-signed. What I absolutely do not want to see is Orito sharing the net with another inexperienced prospect goalie for the Flames in 2016/2017.

I agree that a NHL goalie is priority # 1 for this season. If one or more of the three 2nd round picks are necessary to obtain one, use them. If not, take the BPA. Personally, I'm nervous about drafting a goalie in the Top 60, as the Flames don't have a great track record drafting goalies in the first 2 rounds: Jason Muzzatti - 21st Trevor Kidd - 11th Evan Lindsay - 32nd Brent Krahn - 9th Andrei Medevev - 56th Leland Irving - 26th Mason McDonald - 34th (jury still out) Then again, I'm not a GM or scout.

I would too, if he drops far enough. I'm not sure if I'd use #35, but at #53 or #55, I'd go for it. I found these draft rankings on Gustavsson: 28th - THN 29th - Sportsnet 29th - Draft Site 43rd - Bob McKenzie 46th - Craig Button 49th - LWS

I think that Gustavsson is ranked near the end of the 1st round, Parsons near the end of the 2nd. I don't pretend to understand much about goalies, just seeing holes in the organization now and in the future (NHL & AHL rosters).

Looking at the team's needs down the road (5 years?), would anyone draft a goalie in the 2nd round this year? I might be tempted to use the Dallas pick on Tyler Parsons from the London Knights. At 6'1", 184 lbs., he plays a Brodeur style stand-up game. In his 2nd OHL season, he played 49 games, posting a 2.33 GAA and .921 SV%. From The Hockey Writers Joseph Aleong: Strengths: Elite athleticism Strong glove hand Technically sound Puckhandling ability Under Construction (Improvements to Make): Can over-commit to initial shots Prone to “soft” goals Rebound control

Re: Expiry Dates "The average shelf life of an NHL coach is about 2.4 years. " http://www.jewelsfromthecrown.com/2016/4/27/11499460/should-the-los-angeles-kings-extend-darryl-sutter-contract "NHL coaches average three years on the job " http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/story/2012-02-29/managers-coaches-tenure/53376918/1

Agreed on the hindsight slant.

CANADA AT THE DRAFT Whether it is an ability to draft or to properly develop talent, Canadian teams do not have the best track record in raising homegrown prospects. From Edmonton’s lack of second-round success to Toronto’s habit of trading away top picks, here is a look at how Canadian teams have fared at the draft by highlighting only players who have appeared in at least 70 NHL games: CALGARY Grade: B The Flames were able to find Johnny Gaudreau and T.J. Brodie in the fourth round, but they sometimes overthink the easy picks. After swinging for the fences on Mark Jankowski in 2012, the Penguins selected Olli Maata with the next pick. A year later, Washington selected Andre Burakovsky one spot after Calgary selected Emile Poirier. 2014: Sam Bennett, 4th overall 2013: Sean Monahan, 6th 2011: Sven Baertschi, 13th (Vancouver); Markus Granlund, 45th (Vancouver); Johnny Gaudreau, 104th 2010: Micheal Ferland, 133rd 2009: Tim Erixon, 23rd (AHL-Pittsburgh) 2008: Lance Bouma, 78th; T.J. Brodie, 114th 2007: Mikael Backlund, 24th; Keith Aulie, 116th (Finland) The rest of the Canadian teams: http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/sports/nhl/no-canada-canadian-teams-dont-have-the-best-track-record-in-the-nhl-draft

I'm not sure, but would guess it would be Free Agents from the ECHL & AHL, plus un-drafted, age eligible NCAA & CHL prospects.

Both. TB only showed up for the first 5 and last 10 minutes of the game.

Bishop is ice cold tonight. .692 SV% in the first two periods. 4 goals on 17 shots.

In a season of negatives for the Flames defense-men, there were some positives: Brodie, Giordano & Hamilton all had career years for points. Engelland showed that moving up to 2nd pairing while Gio was out last season was not a fluke. He can fill in if injuries dictate it. Jokipakka was better than advertised, a 7th D who didn't look totally out of place when played at # 4. Kulak, Nakladal, & Wotherspoon all got decent looks at the NHL. They can all fill the 5th - 7th roles when they open. Kylington & Sieloff at least got a taste of The Show. I'm not worried about replacing the bottom 4 D when Engelland, Smid, & Wideman are all gone by the end of 2016/2017 at the latest.

Jonas Hiller has signed a 3 year contract in the Swiss league. http://www.blick.ch/sport/eishockey/nla/transfer-hammer-nhl-goalie-hiller-zum-ehc-biel-id4934971.html

I know, I know. Terribly risky for sure. Just hearing people talk about giving Reimer $4M+ and he has never played more than 37 games in a season (his first one).

Does anyone think Antti Raanta is ready to become a NHL starter? 26 years old, 64 GP over 3 seasons, 2.35 GAA, .914 SV%. UFA coming off of a $800k contract. VS James Reimer 28 years old, 215 GP over 6 seasons, 2.79 GAA, .914 SV%. UFA coming off of a $2M contract.