travel_dude

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.

My comment was they need to show it was a one-off. We can debate whether that is true or not, but that was not my meaning.

I do think that we know some things. We know some of the vets are aging out. If you can make some changes using Backlund and Hanifin, I don't think that sets us back. Still leaves 5 other pending UFA's to show how they fit and that last year was a one-off. We assume that at least one new player will be added to the top 6. That has to be a trade to get one or a trade to get rid of salary to sign a UFA. If we don't bring back Lewis, Lucic, Stone, any of the Ritchie's, then we have some internal change regardless. I am not adverse to PTO's but they better be guys that aren't at the end of their careers. Don't waste too much camp evaluating them, just evaluate how they fit with different players, rookie and vet. Go on the analytics and pro scouting. Well, a decent pro scouting, not what we have seen to date.

So we are trading a current 1/2 C for a possible 1C in the future? Would I consider it if Lindy was not extending? Of course. Trading Lindholm signals a rebuild. Make Hubey and Kadri useless signings. I have no issue in trading Lindholm for Necas. That makes sense, but CAR doesn't make that trade. We have to consider what we have that is expendable that we didn't just sign or re-sign. I would say that players like Mange, Dube, Hanifin, Tanev, Backlund, Vladar/Markstrom have to be figured out. Do they have the game we need to compete? Are they able to elevate their game? Dube is probably the best one to keep from that bunch. Vladar is more likely to have a better season overall than Markstrom. Anyway, only players that don't fit what we need going forward should be dealt.

The last time we did an extensive search, we ended up with Gully. Ward was interviewed. Went for the cheap, young rising star type. Not sure if we bothered with other displaced NHL coaches though. Peters was not a search, just hired as soon as he quit CAR. To me, Huska and Muller would be a mistake. Love may be a good choice, but I don't know if he thinks offense more than defense. Not proven at the NHL level. Brunette may not have much experience and took over a team that was already firing on all cylinders, but he would have learned from a good coach and organization. I'm not sure that anyone in this organization has that background. Understudy to Sutter? Coaches a Sutter like game for an AHL team? I don't know.

Trading Hanifin for Nylander makes sense. Hanifin's contract is good now, but won't be next year. Nylander is the same idea, but it makes sense to pay more for a F, especially when we are in need of a F. By itself, this won't work, need other pieces going out the door. Not in this deal but in other areas. At some point you need to make the call on the goalies. Risky to move Vladar or Markstrom without much of a view. But we can't continue playing $8M for two that didn't really give much comfort last season. As much as I like Backlund, I don't see any situation that allows us to re-sign him. If he has value, trade him for a D and a pick. In theory, we have decent depth at C. Embrace the youth in the bottom 6.

Hanifin and Kylington are similar but I think Kyl moves the puck better. Too many movers and not enough defenders. Nylander is a risky trade for the next contract. But I think we need that type of winger, not a defensively responsible one. And a speedy one at that. TOR can get BT signed and then he trades with us. The Huberdeau wasn't BT's hill. He could have evaluated the other trades and really was just told get the best you can from FLA, since Tkachuk wasn't exactly open to other places like CAR. It's not a good trade when you consider what Tkachuk can do with good players and coaching. But had he stayed here, he might have had a slump. As it is, we fared pretty darn good in what we got. Weegar + 1st is worth close to what Tkachuk's value was. The bolded is why you probably don't trade Big Z. We don't need the fights once per year guy. We need the Destroyer. He doesn't have to hit 5 times a game to distract the other team.

I think you have stated it well. Kylington's greatest strength is his skating. He looks like he is getting back in real game shape. I can live with his less than perfect hockey decisions. He may blow a play but manages to get back to cover. And he does play harder on the body than Hanifin. I have no desire to extend Hanifin, so a trade is needed. Toffoli is one of the better fits in the lineup. Even without a top LW, he still managed career highs. He's not the fastest, but has a great shot. I have an issue with just letting Backlund and Tanev walk. I understand it. It makes sense as a way of not extending guys at a certain age. I would prefer that we only walk them to UFA if we are legit contending in the division by TDL. Being in a wild card spot is not enough.

Tkachuk never seemed to be as all in as this year in the playoffs. Almost like he suffered through the coaching decisions. Decided he would be a pest. This year he is more of the complete hockey player. Or so it seems. It's a tough call between him and Bob for playoff MVP. FLA got two completer pieces from us. Both are doing the things they didn't have support to do here. And I would take Lomberg over Lucic, even though I have a soft spot for Lucic. Effective vs nuke option. Effective wins every time.

So trade a prospect for a prospect because so many teams want to trade away their top prospects for a possible lower ceiling prospect? Hows about you play him in the NHL forst and decide what his proection is and could be. I'm sure there are players occupying the top 6 in the NHL that weren't top 10 picks.

Whoopsie, was thinking the comment was about signing that many. Yes, we should not be going into a season with that many pending UFA's. Unless they have calue and we are trading them at TDL. Then...Asset management.