travel_dude

Perhaps the best solution is trading down a smidge, just to pick up a prospect or 2nd round pick. Of course, that depends on who is left when we get to our pick.

Not a Muller fan. Not sure who gets the props or blames for a 10th place to 17th place PP efficiency. We only have him here under Sutter. In the same time period, the PK has remained top 6. Even with the drop off in goaltending, we still stayed about the same. I was more focused on the use of players in the PP as the season went on. Not using Weegar. Using Kadri where he was less effective. Overall, just didn't seem right. The execution suffered perhaps. There is nothing wrong with Love, but I would hope that he adjusts somewhat to the NHL. Maybe I am reading too much into his alignment with Sutter hockey.

I wonder about prices leading up to the draft, especially after teams lose out in the first round of the playoffs. TBH, I can't remember the last player traded for a fist rounder, maybe Schneider? I'm sure there would have been others, but can't think of any. The TDL value for a player on an expiring deal is probably not the right comparison. Lindholm is coming off a decent year, and has a full year left on his contract. He has zero trade protection, if the receiving team can't also work out a deal or they decide to trade him at the TDL. Just looking for context on a pre-draft trade. I would think that this type of trade is few and far between.

As if there are trade we ever love. I'm not adverse to the trade idea, just that we have to get it right if we are moving on. It also sets up the need to trade Backlund if it happened. Ig I had my drothers, I would start with Backlund, not Lindholm, but the player's decision may come before the draft. If so, it starts a chain reaction. Re-tool. Starts with a draft pick. I wonder if the scouts are ready for this kind of move.

If you are talking about Coronato, he's gonna take some time to adjust to the NHL. I think he has the shot, just not the legs yet. By that I mean playing a full minute at full speed. Remember, this is going to be at 3500 feet above sea level, compare to Harvard which is like 20 feet above. Big difference, you saw it with Huberdeau and Weegar. Playing for the Wranglers will help, if he starts there. I like Lucic, but not to play a full season. Not as a defacto 4th line player. But Lucic doesn't want to play as a 14th forward. Don't blame him.

Without spending a ton of time on streams, I don't have the extra time to spend following a team I'm not a fan of. At most, there was telecasts of the Flames or Oilers against DET 4 times. Perhaps Leafs or others playing them in the early Saturday game. SN owns the market in Canada, with some east games on TSN, only in those regions. It sucks. I missed that part of the trade where you added Wallinder. I was thinking this was a to-be-drafted player that I had not heard of, going 17th overall. So, what's the story on him? Is he comitted to any time in Sweden? I get a little concerned with some of the recent rules for some of the Euro leagues if they were signed there.

I'm just saying. 24 year old that was playing most of his 44 games as a winger. But really, all I was getting at was let's not trade Lindholm. We used Hamilton to get Lindholm. Present value understood, but I'm not giving him away. Has to be a bidding war and him definitely not wanting to play here. Seems like maybe we should be fixing the problem with players wanting to leave.

Please stop making suggestions that help Detroit, LOL. I think a 17th overall + a 3C is a lousy deal for us. Unless we parlay that into a top 5 pick. I hate just looking at stats, since I have seen a bit of him on TV, but... Ruzicka had 6g, 14a in 44 games. Most of those games on the 4th line. Veleno had 9g 11a in 81 games. I don't know if you think he will turn into a 40 point guy.

I would take Goodrow over Coleman. Is Goodrow a Bond villian? Freddie Gaudreau is also a value player. I think Backlund drags Backlund down. Having another finisher would likely help him. But, he plays 3v3 like it's 5v5, puts shots on net, dumps the puck. He's notorious at missing the net. When Mangiapane scored 35, Backlund was not getting a career year out of it. I think you have to accept that Backlund is a shutdown player. Gaudreau might be a better choice for the money. Okay, so my suggestion is to use Backlund to get a top 4 D. Use Hanifin to get a top 6 winger. I think you could use Dube as 3C and not be that bad off. So, here's a crazy lineup based on some of these moves: Huberdeau-Lindholm-?? Mangiapane-Kadri-Toffoli ??-Dube-Duehr Zary/Pelletier/Ruzicka/?? Weegar-Ras Kylington-Tanev Zadorov-?? The first ?? relates to the Hanifin trade. The ?? on D relates to the Backlund trade. I have left out Coleman since I think he doesn't fit that lineup. Perhaps we could find a taker for him, with retained salary. It's not important that we fix the cap with his salary moved as much as finding a good player to fit the spot. Really tough with his long term deal though. Perhaps VAN would move Myers for the immediate cap savings. Retain $1.9M on Coleman. It costs us in future cap, but the increase should mitigate that. We can sell Myers at TDL.

Are you suggesting we ask what Jack would do? Oops, wrong person. I was thinking you were talking about Mary Lynn Rajskub. Seriously though, my preference would be fire Huska and Muller, hire a good NHL coach and bring in Love as the top assistant coach. The intent is he learns as he coaches. The pressure on a first time NHL coach for this team is huge. Conny may want to bring in Love, but he has to weigh in the winning out of the gate need. I fear that a coach that had a team playing so close to a Calgary system would have a hard time getting buy in. Zary, Phillips, Duehr, Wolf and Pelletier might, but I fear the others would get frustrated early on. As the replacement to Huska, he could instill the defensive side of the game we seemed to have trouble with. As a head coach, he would be forced to play Huberdeau more as a 2-way winger.

Glad you included the present players into your thoughts. That helps. The reference to Tom Wilson is something I have been thinking about. EDM has Draisaitl, who matches the big winger aspect of TW. He's not really a fast skater, and you watch him hang onto the puck with nobody touching him. If he had the attitude of Tkachuk, he would be a beast. Anyway, just reflecting. I often wondered why they didn't groom Ruzicka to be that, but I guess he is shoot first. I am a little concerned about the size of some of our wingers. Pelletier, Mangiapane, Dube come to mind. I have often thought that Dube suffers more from not playing C. As a winger he tends to enter the zone on the boards, where he and most wingers get plastered. He seems to be better in the middle third on entries and his speed gets him clear. Maybe him playing RW is better since it forces him away from the boards. If any C/W fall from the top 10, then we should be all over them. I don't think we should focus on D this year. Look for a later round goalie if one is available. The 2nd rounder is key too. It's not a great range to get a faller, but it's not super bad.

I'm not saying the players we went after were the best ideas. Tanev was a good idea because we needed a defensive D-man. Neal was a mistake but we didn't even use him the best way for that type of player. Coleman should be more impactful, and I actually think Hyman is a much better deal for more money. You have to pick the right players that are UFA's. The big names aren't always the best ones for the Flames. I don't really agree with the sentiment that we can't retain expiring assets. Not everyone wants to play in FLA. It maybe a good place for some, but some need the hockey culture. Some love the limelight. If you are not close to being a contender, it doesn't matter how good the weather or culture is though. Lindholm is not going to move unless we don't build right.

I don't know about 0% chance. Coleman represents the style that Backlund plays, so if you are moving on from Backlund, it makes sense to consider moving Coleman. Since he wasn't listed, I would add Hanifin, due to contract status. That and his trade value. We do have to be careful and not trade away all our depth before the season starts. I would start with Backlund and Hanifin. Save the Tanev trade for TDL and trade him if we are a bubble team. In the case of being top 2, then keep him. Losing him for nothing is not the biggest deal.

Question about players available in the 10-20 range, who fits our greatest needs over the next 2 years? Are there any players that would make the NHL in that term that would be top 9? I know we should look at D, but I am concerned that our F prospects (except maybe Pelts and Rosie) may not be close to top 9. Are there any Backlund or Mangiapane or Coleman replacements there?

I get PO'd and excited as a fan. BT was always doing something in FA. The Hammy trade. Everyone wanted him, then after we had him we traded him. Hamonic was a guy every team wanted. We got the broken version. Neal was a big name but we should have seen he was only good as a floater. Never carried any line and we played him down the lineup. In on Stone and Eichel, but we never ponied up what it would have taken. Don't always get a money back guarantee. Sometimes sales are final. A top 6 with Eichel, Stone, Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Lindholm. Would it have cost as much as Toffoli, Jarnkrok and ditching Monahan? The high possession hockey is a good strategy, but you need to do something with it. High shot volume doesn't make any sense unless high danger. Think about 3v3 OT. You don't just fire it at the net or dump it. Backlund would from time to time, hated it. You get the best look and find the hole. When there is a ton of shots in OT, it's pond hockey.

My mind is getting fuzzy. I remember Tkachuk battling in front of the net, but I remember him used behind the net on PP's a lot more often. Maybe that was Muller that suggested it. I do miss Bennett, Mr. Interference. How many called back goals did he score here. Too many. Tkachuk is better at not being pushed in. I see this year as the year of FLA. They may not win, but this is their year for the finals. Their best chance at the cup. Gudas is a big part of their D, and I would prefer him over Tanev. He's a beast. And a good defender. Cap issues likely next year. I would love to snag Luostarinen from them, but he's not's well paid.

We had two players that used to do that regularly; Monahan and Tkachuk. Monahan was a master at the two footers. Tkachuk was always there to try to tip or annoy the goalie and D. Who did we have there this year? Big enough to stay there and get a stick on the puck.

Frolik rumor doesn't make a lot of sense. When he signed, he was already producing as much as Backlund and Frolik combined. Even if Tkachuk wanted $8M, nobody on the team was even close. The top 3 were all in the middle of deals. But anyway, not trying to rehash this stuff. Just that I think Lindholm was more concerned about poor coaching and the impact on the team, including grit signings and poor usage of grit players.

On one hand, the reason why he was underpaid is lack of production in CAR. He's shown to be closer to a p/gp, so he should get paid as such. I'm not sure you could call BT nickel and diming the stars. Not recently. Johnny got shafted by the Gio cap. Him and Monahan got similar deals. Neither were guaranteed to be star players. Tkachuk got the structure of a deal that guaranteed a massive pay increase. Mangiapane got a great deal considering it was his analytics that showed he could score more. The 35 goals helped of course, but his scoring rate was very high.

Well it comes down to the number of contracts that they can have. Beck should be an easy choice. The two D are questionable, but not sure you should give them up without pro exposure. Huckins another LHS winger. Okay season, but not great considering he's in the Q.

I'm not sure I believe the revised version from Tkachuk. Did he not say that when he signed the deal, he positioned it to give him the most flexibility? The way he talked about FLA was a guy that had every intention of going there. I think BT actually did Johnny a favor by not giving him a deal the previous summer. He wasn't worth then what he was offered in the final day here. Maybe that comes back to haunt the GM, but it was a better offer than whatever might have been accepted that summer. Johnny made less on his new deal. Tkachuk got to go to the city where he could drive a gold cart to work and hound the clubs at night. Got 8 years through Calgary's good intentions.

Here's a crazy thought. Sign Monahan to a short term deal and move Backlund. Using Backlund, we can target a D. Using Hanifin, we can target a winger. As a 3C, Monahan gives you a decent player. The short term deal is due to his injury history.

I agree with the assessment. Kadri was great with Nichushkin. We tried him with a multitude of LW's with Huberdeau on RW. There was a point in the season where he was producing a lot more. Closer to a p/gp. I just don't think the fit was right with his line. Maybe his decision rests with the coach and off-season moves, but I think he will let CM know in advance of the draft if he wants to move. Other than coaching, there is nothing that has been done against Lindholm. Hard to blame the team for Tkachuk and Gaudreau wanting out.

Two years we had Markstrom with below average to poor seasons. The one year we made it, he was the early team MVP. 10 shutouts make a difference. That doesn't translate to 10 wins, but at least nets you 10 points over possible overtime losses. Make no mistake. A team with poor goaltending is not making the playoffs consistently. One with average to good goaltending disguises issues. Over the last 6 years, we have had Markstrom, Smith, Talbot. BSD was never the starter.

It works two ways. He had that with 2 players in 21/22. So, he sees a great passer come to CGY and not play more than 6 games together. Instead he gets a guy that played 21/22 on the 3rd line and whoever. Not throwing shade at the whoever, but Toffoli was not a passer. The LW was a mix of players. Ruzicka worked but didn't last 20 games. Dube played there but not sure how many games. Pelletier for a few. Huberdeau joked that Lindholm might get 50 goals playing together. Never got a chance to see if true. I think it's more important to Lindholm that they make a move to actually get a top 6 LW. Either that or move up Huberdeau and get a player for line 2.