sagacity7

So it appears Huska is the new coach. I wonder what Conroy’s first order of business would be? Would he lean in Huska to allow offensive players to be more creative? Maybe hire Love as an assistant? What would be the next step? Maybe try to find out which players work best with Huska and potential problem players you move on from?

Would you say Lucic for Neal was kinda like that? Hurt the Oilers defensive chances greatly because Neal didn’t play much defense?

I agree with what we’ve seen over the years and I’m hoping Conroy can change that going forward. I’m not saying these are good articles, however, THW and Hockey Buzz are writing comments about AZ being interested in Huberdeau. The article from THW has the Flames sending Huberdeau, Kylington, Phillips and the 16th overall for AZ’s #12 overall and their 3rd round pick. It appears AZ would be taking on cap to reach the floor and the Flames are moving out questionable or problematic players to get a fresh start and vastly opening up cap space. Comments are ridiculing the proposal in a very bad way, however, I’m not so sure the two sides aren’t talking. Personally, if the Flames are thinking of this would they not try to get what may be a problem in Keller? He may not be happy with the current situation. I could see AZ sending Keller and a 3rd to Calgary for Huberdeau, Kylington, Phillips and the 16th overall. AZ could flip Huberdeau to another team as well. Before you all attack this one and dissect it, if it happens before July 1 the NMC’s of Huberdeau and Keller don’t matter. Phillips isn’t a UFA until July 1.

I think Gallant is a good coach but in a similar ilk to Sutter whereas Love would be a little more reasonable with front office staff and not as stubborn. For this reason I believe Love is the correct choice. He will give the young players ice time and may also work better with management than Gallant would. Take nothing away from Gallant and I’m sure Conroy will do his stone turning to make sure it is a good fit.

You’re correct. It would be horrendous. Do you see Calgary making the playoffs with this Detroit deal? I don’t see ownership doing this unless the Flames pick up another scoring centre somewhere else. Where would the close to Selke talent, scoring and playmaking come from losing Lindholm? I get the idea of stocking the shelves and deepening prospect pools but none of those players or picks are as good as Lindholm right now so it appears like taking a step backward in the near term. Good for the future yet not for this upcoming year. This off-season Conroy has to get it correct. One of the r words (pick a direction) or you can move these UFA’s plus for star players and picks while letting younger players learn the game (like a kid line for your 3rd line. It will be interesting to see how it goes. As a Flames fan I would rather they try to make the playoffs every year.

If it is, why wouldn’t we do it? Heck we could even add Schmaltz and give up Mangiapane and a second. It is interesting to see where this all goes. Does it all really hinge on Lindholm if he’s willing to stay or go?

So 2 Pending UFA’s (good players) a first and a prospect for a unicorn. So Lindholm, Hanifin, a first and a prospect for Keller would be similar? The unicorn is better than Keller. Is that fair value?

This could go rebuild or it could go retool. Depends which r word you use. The Flames could move out some “core” pieces to get a star player and also inject youth to help with the cap and see what you’ve got. Not only does Markstrom need to bounce back but Huberdeau as well. He needs a centre who’s a scorer to help. I don’t know but you’ve got to give something to get something. If you can’t convince Lindholm to re-sign then maybe you move him and a premium D man to get a scoring centre. Matthews and Huberdeau together would be frightening for any opposition. Move a first, Lindholm, Vladar, and Andersson for Matthews? Doesn’t have to be this, but… I wouldn’t want to kill the blue line and it depends on Toronto’s new GM but a scoring centre is what I believe we need. American born GM may help here…if you are retooling.

Sure. Straight up you are correct. With other things involved then maybe. Most likely it wouldn’t be done this way anyway as a #3 rarely gets moved. I still would want the flexibility of bringing in other assets for a player who may not re-sign here after season’s end. If you could extend Lindholm now then great, we would watch some other dominoes start to fall to make room.

Sorry for the book here. This is interesting for sure. Why would you go out to find a LW to build chemistry with a player who has 1 year left on his deal? What if that doesn’t work this year with a new LW? If you were to ask Lindholm who he had the most fun playing with in the NHL I’m sure he would say Johnny was his #1 choice for a LW chemistry partner. You could almost see it on the ice last year as Lindholm was looking for Gaudreau speeding through the ice only to find a slower less capable player to work with. It didn’t work and it showed. His comments at the end of the year said it as much. He would welcome a chance to play with Johnny again and have fun there even if there is new fun management here. I’m not saying he would be a cancer this year but as the year progresses, if it’s not working for him, this wouldn’t be good for Calgary from a risk management perspective. Right now you have a player you can move anywhere who wasn’t overly thrilled last year. If he finishes the year here and doesn’t have a great season his value may drop. His value is highest now and he may not want to be here anyway after this year. I don’t believe Conroy would let him go for nothing if he feels Lindholm will test free agency. He pretty much said that in so many words. Columbus’ GM is in win now mode after signing Johnny last year and having Laine with a big contract. There is pressure for him to build a winning and exciting team now. You could say he can just sign Lindholm in free agency after this year but he may not have a job after this year so again risk management comes into it for him. He most likely won’t be around to see that 3rd overall pick develop. I believe an extended signed Lindholm (handshake for after July 1) plus a 2nd round pick or an NHL ready former first or second round prospect for a 3rd overall this year is fair value. There is no guarantee a 3rd overall pick is going to be the same or better player than Lindholm is. To make it work cap wise Columbus would also send an unwanted roster player (cap dump so to speak or 3rd/4th line player) to Calgary earning less money than Lindholm. This actually has merit and could be a good trade for both teams. If you believe Calgary wouldn’t be a playoff team without a great player like Lindholm you could flip that pick as part of a package for another player such as Keller or Marner or someone else. You could potentially get 1st round picks for Toffoli, Backlund, Hanifin (perhaps a second as well here) and maybe Tanev as well if you want to rebuild or trade those picks for younger, solid, up and coming players at those positions and set yourself up for years to come without going full rebuild mode. Tanev you can only count on for 3/4 of a season anyway and you know Vancouver would love to have him back. I’m not saying you move all those players, but would you rather have 3 or 4 first round picks in a deep draft to rebuild or flip those picks for younger, less costly, solid and excited players with term to help you win? You now also have cap room to sign good free agents to fill legitimate needs. If you keep them you run the risk of getting little return after this year. Again you could say just trade them before the deadline if the season is lost for picks and prospects but you don’t know what their value would be at that time. You would also get later first rounders from contenders looking to add in a potentially less deep draft next year. If one is on the IR well you can’t even move him and that might be a lost cause. When you have the luxury of options you hold the better cards to add the right player for your team. Imagine if you did the deal with Columbus and then moved 2 first round picks in a deep draft and Hanifin for Keller or Marner (add a third team for 50% salary retention for this one) or whatever makes that work for those teams? Is your team better? I would say yes it is. You may still have a first round pick in this draft left over and a really good team for more than 1 year. If you handcuff yourself again and again you will get the same result year after year. As a risk manager the GM should not force his own hand especially with players you could send anywhere in the league for the best return possible. If you’re going to act you do it this summer. Here’s hoping for some responsible asset management. Good luck Mr. Conroy as you’ve got a heck of a job ahead of you!

More than likely Ortio will be released at the end of the season and will be playing in Europe next year. Poulin has outplayed him since he joined our franchise, and with Gillies, Mason MacDonald etc, there just isn't room for him. He has not proven himself to be consistent enough to play in this league. He's called up because Poulin needs to get lots of work in the AHL to get better and Hiller needs to play a lot to hopefully boost his trade value. I would not be surprised if neither of them (Hiller or Ortio) are in training camp with the Flames next season. Perhaps Hartley owes Hiller a chance to hopefully extend his career, but it most likely will not be with us.

Our goaltending is looking very suspect currently. Maybe we resurrect Leland Irving for insurance.... Seriously though, there doesn't seem to be much to choose from on the open market. Do you get a Cam Ward for a cheaper contract because of experience and wait for Gillies to mature or trade a 2nd/3rd round pick for a quality back up and hope he turns out to be Kipper? It looks like we will be resigning Hiller for another year at $3 million. I'm not sure if this is good enough for a contending team in a couple of years. Maybe we need to offer Montreal 4 first round picks for Price. LOL