travel_dude

The rush with Mangiapane is that he's occupying that teaching spot for defensive play. Pospisil and Zary don't need it, since they came with that skill. Would be a good spot for Pelletier or Coronato. Mangiapane is a pending UFA next year. He likes to play like he is 6'4" but ends up on the ice more than not. He only plays LW, which is not always an area of need. I would consider trading him for a more versatile player. I think a guy like Trenin would be more useful, both from a size and snarl perspective. He's a low paid up coming UFA. Can we take a break from LW's in this draft, unless they play as much at C as LW ?

I am happy not to have to take on RJ and his dwindling output, plus his remaining term. We lucked out by trading the two guys that would have hamstrung our cap. Lindholm is playing exactly like he was here, with the exception of not having Sharky to play with. Guys like Pelletier and Coronato have to battle to get or stay in the lineup. When Zary gets back, I expect to see both of them out of the lineup. Even though playoffs is s bit of a pipedream, the coach is not bothering with dev. He cares only about winning; not a bad idea but a lost season is when you evaluate. Zary is such a key piece to this roster; he just does things so slick. I don't know if Pospisil's future is on RW, but he is our new Tkachuk (pest).

Wolf starts for his 3rd game in a row, against the Capitals. Likely same lines and pairs as against MTL. 4th line of Greer-Rooney-Coronato was fine, but Coronato was on for one against. That was with Sharky and Mangiapane, which was a mixed up bunch. Coronato deserves to stay in the lineup. With Pelletier, it appears he has to take out either Hunt or Coronato.

Mangiapane to me says NHL trade, with a similar underperforming player traded for him. Not really a trade like Byram for Mittlestandt as such, but similar. Team A has depth in another area but light on scoring wingers. Unless a team is desperate, I can't see a draft day deal. Unfortunately, he also has a 8 team no go list. Kuz has 12 team list. I would keep Kuz, since we are presently light on RW snipers. Pospisil and Coronato are good, but maybe only one of them should be on RW. I don't know if Pospisil has the skill on RW like Tkachuk did.

It doesn't matter if he's a first rounder or 4th. If he was playing more like his 35 goal year, I would say keep him. But, he has fallen back into 15-20 goal range. Not a big player, so hope to improve the overall team

I will always cheer for Gaudreau, except in games against us. We had the chance to make him the new franchise player. Not his fault they only wanted to sign him to 6 years because Gio cap. Or that they didn't offer him enough in the summer before FA. Boo the GM for screwing up the team. I liked some of the things he did. Cap management was a strong point, but he was the reason why he needed to do that.

I think it's funny to boo a guy that played for your team for years. Gaudreau - franchise numbers, chose family Tkachuk - chose to be a young guy with millions and girls in bathing suits Hanifin - sick of Canada perhaps; his choice Save the boos for guys that never played for us, or are real douche bags. There are enough of them.

He seems to be able to cut through the other blueline too. Protects the puck and seems to have some speed. Like a bigger, less E/W than Kylington.

Vladar may just be given away if they can't figure out what he is and Markstrom isn't traded. Trade for something minor (4th) with salary retained. He's a pending UFA next season. If we are trading Markstrom, we have to roll the dice on Vladar or find a replacement. Only way to be sure is to play him now. I don't think you can blame the CAR loss on him, but he looked shaky at best in that. Lots of pending UFA's following next season. Sharky, Kuz, Mange, Rooney, Duehr, Hunt and Hanley (Vladar too). I think we should be trading Mange this summer if possible, or at worst next TDL. TDL is more risky, though. And he is more of a niche plyer, so his value is not extreme. Kuz, I would keep, but that is just me. He's a sniper. Rooney, Duehr and Hunt meh. They 1st and 3rd are guys you keep to help out kids. But we tend to play them instead, so that has to be a consideration.

I figured we would do more than just trading players for picks. Markstrom isn't the issue but really only him and maybe one other player could be traded. A top goalie should get you a top prospect C or a very good young NHL C. Swapping out Mangiapane for a top 6 winger would be nice. But it's not a difference making top 9. If we had a 4th line with say Pelletier, Coronato and a really good young C, then we could opt to use them more than the usual 9 minutes. And they would be the line growing into a top 9 replacement line. Rooney keeps them honest, but it's not a long term strategy. The D may be a work in progress, so I would not be that annoyed with a 2 year deal of a Tanev type D.

It's like Marty Brodeur stepping up to the podium to draft his kid, if he kid was projected to go in the first round. It sells hype and sets up the speculation that we only ever considered him due to his name. I want the best player in the draft, even if it's only in the range we pick. The kid is making a name for himself beyond his last name, but I only want him if that's the best guy. Someone will draft him and be happy or sad in 10 years time.

Morning Skate today: Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman Hunt-Sharangovich-Coronato Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr Kylington-Andersson Weegar-Miromanov Okhotiuk-Pachal Wolf

Wolf starter tonight. That is a positive move.

New thread started in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects.

Today he signed his 3 year ELC.

I tend to view it as a trade the known spot for an unknown spot in the 1st. It would likely only happen without conditions if it was a legit top 4 team this year. Like a BOS, CAR (if they make the cup final), or a WPG. WPG and BOS are as likely to regress a year as battle for the cup. FOMO by trading it, but if we don't like what's there and would just reach, then maybe best idea.

Nope not touching this one. The Flames are walking away from their first selection in that draft. Flames pride themselves now by not going after questionable individuals, even on the cheap. As soon as we walked away, I am done with the player.

They only do it because that team sees an available player who won't last.

Per Stathletes, the current odds to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs: EAST Bolts: 89.3% Flyers: 77.1% NYI: 72.4% Capitals: 28.0% Red Wings: 19.2% Sabres: 5.4% NJD: 5.3% Penguins: 3.6% WEST Kings: 90.9% VGK: 88.5% Predators: 85.6% Wild: 21.6% Kraken : 11.2% Blues: 1.2% Flames: 1.0%

Do you folks think there is a benefit to trading a pick in this year for a pick in 2025? For instance, trading a VAN pick to a team with no 2024 1st for a 2025 1st and a 2nd or 3rd in this year? At worst we trade a late 1st for a late 1st. We are losing a 2025 pick one way or the other. I think. Reason why I am asking is whether there is enough talent late in the 1st to spend a 1st one.

I think there is an idea that we take lower teams for granted. What I believe is that we had issues with fast skating teams. We slow the play down and when the teams use stretch passes and pressure the D in the O-zone it leads to fast breaks. We play better against the better teams because they are predictable. They play something similar to the way all good team play, so it's no mystery. We struggled against the AVS because they have three players almost impossible to contain. CAR is a team very difficult to score on, so if they get any lead at all, it's game over for us.

Game 1 and 2 of the slide were both day games, in the East. Pretty hard to say they threw in the towel considering they were coming off a big win against Tampa. They start well against the Panthers and the AVS. They looked lost against CAR.

I tend to think he gets 2 years. He proved what he is capable with a competent partner. Ras got re-signed in 2020 during a season we still had Gio and Brodie. I think it's fair to wait till the summer to re-sign Kylington, but maybe that doesn't make sense for dealing with a guy that had personal struggles the last two years. He may not be due a big raise, but getting rid of the pending UFA status may help.

It appears that the Flames have given up the rights to Ronni. It's probably the best thing to do, get away from this entirely.

I'm reserving judgement on Andersson. He is frustrating to watch some nights. I'm not sure who he should be paired with, but I don't think it's Kylington. Perhaps it needs to be a rugged stay at home defender, because Ras gets overwhelmed at times. Weegar needs a skater, because he is good at different things, but when he gets in trouble, he gives it away instead of simple passes. I think you work on the D we have, look at the prospects we have and build them up. It may be painful in the short term, but I think we have the makings of a good D core. Poirier and Morin in the development stage, so next up as puck movers. Just missing that big heavy shutdown guy that takes what Tanev used to get. Mean guy. Gudranson equivalent, so not the type you draft as much as minor trade or UFA signing. The current age of our D and D prospects aligns to coming out of a 2-3 year rebuild. All except Weegar under 30 and Weegar is getting better with age for now. We need more to find the backup/1a/1b goalie to offset or replace Wolf if he can't get there. And to replace Vladar if this year is more typical of his game. Shop for replacements for Backlund, Mangiapane, Pelletier and Coronato if they don't have it, and the entire 4th line. Pospisil would be good there (a la Hathaway) of we had a good top 6 player to replace him with. Determine if Kuzmenko is a 30 goal guy or should be trade bait.