travel_dude

I would add that moving Hanifin might get you a top 6 player in return. Bennett is playing with Dube and Lucic, which is fine for playoff style hockey, but is not maintainable for 82 games. It would be better to have Bennett and Dube play with another offensive player, hopefully a RW. You get a top 6 RW and you can use him with Bennett or in the top 6 (Mangiapane slots with Bennett then). Why I am thinking Hanifin is a good spot to rob from is due to having LD depth right now. Gio, Valimaki, Mackey and Kylington. Really we would need to bring in a RD anyway, unless the team was comfortable with Kylington or Mackey on the right side. To me, it makes sense to have Valimaki play with Tanev and Ras with Gio. If we keep Hanifin, then Tanev plays with Gio, which is not the best pair choice in my mind. I could be wrong there.

VAN paid little for Schmidt. Statsny was cheap to trade. Teams let them off pretty easy.

I have to say I am surprised at people including Rinaldo as a regular player. That makes me sad to think he's considered anything more than a grit piece, the kind you roll out 10-15 games per year. And I'm not even sure I agree with that idea. Lucic really should be part of a 4th line that can forecheck and retrieve, with some scoring thrown in. Bennett should be played with guys that set him up for success, not injury due to playing an intense playoff-style game. Dube is the right player. Lucic is not; should be a decent RW.

I don't see Lucic with Bennett as a full time thing. I don't mind the top 6 though. I would lean towards doing something better with the bottom 6. Gaudreau-Monahan-Mangiapane Tkachuk-Backlund-Lindholm ??-Bennett-?? Lucic-Gawdin-Phillips The ?? is fitting Dube in with a UFA/traded for player. Lucic should be 4th line. Give him some young players that can score. Extra minutes on the PP, perhaps.

Well, it's actually a 1.5m deal with performance bonuses. The point is the same. The Oilers improved center depth, though they probably use him on a top wing spot. They added a PP specialist and offensive D-man, but that was not a problem. Not sure we can throw stones, but goaltending was an issue for us. We addressed that.

They are only concerned with scoring goals and individual awards. AT least they added depth at C by signing Turris. But it will be fun to see them lose games 6-5 or 4-0. Mike Smith is 38 already. Holy Crap.

Re: AA - Bill Daly told him the cap was going up.... I get the sense that JP will not be getting top 6 play. His linemates will include Real Seal James Neal and some random C. At least they won't send him down to the AHL. Also, the cap hit makes him cheap in any deal he can get. A couple of months should drive his value down.

Well, the Oilers let AA walk. They did re-sign Poolparty, which could just be in advance of a trade. Cheap 2 year deal at $1.175m Not like he is a top player, but it's interesting that he did sign.

Not sure of the timing of everything like WJC camp, Flames camp, NHL season, but I can see him making a push to be on the starting night roster. 9 games to see where he is. He could really surprise, but the depth chart could push him off. Probably a good thing if he he doesn't stay. Really, we have guys closer to NHL than him just based on experience. Gawdin for sure. Maybe Phillips. Not sure about Ruzicka, but I hope they give him time in the AHL if that's even a thing. Then there's the Baby Faced Assassin Tuulola. 4th line possible, since he has the size.

The only concern I have is the schedule would have him play close to 30 games by the time the NHL starts. Add that to a full season and it's a crap ton of games. It would be smart to healthy scratch him for any B2B or tough schedule starts. Not that I want to, but I think it would be prudent. 100 games without playoffs is far too much.

He was skating with HC Slovan Bratislava, but they had not signed any transfer agreement.

They have good reason to be confident going into a season. But they get caught up in their own hype. Hard to believe that a team that has two goal scorers over 100 points each....and yet they barely were above us in the standings. If Holland is there for very long, they will be a shell of their skinny self. No depth except on D, where they have buffoons playing top minutes. Larsson is on par with Hamonic, but a little meaner. Nurse is a goon first and a defensive D third. Klefbom and Bear are about their best players, which is not saying that much. Bear, I think, will be a good player in a couple of years but they have thrown him to the wolves too soon. Klefbom is more injury prone than Hall. Jones is about as good or less than Kylington. The forward crew is a mess. 3 top 3 players (2 really and something like a Backlund that doesn't play as good defensively). A young RW who played with a 100+ player; is there any doubt he would rack up points? Not much to speak about after that. Kassian and Chaisson are bottom 6 no better than Comeau. Their big hope is Lavoie. Yikes

His biggest and best effort was moving Lucic....for Neal. A guy that scored nothing from the time he came back of IR to the end of the season. Easier to buy out. Waste of two x 2nd for a guy they can't afford. Ennis was a decent trade. Other than than, another gong show

I hear what you are saying about Knight. I have to wonder if Wolf will outplay him in the lead up to the WJC. Seeing as Knight didn't get it done last year, he might only have a short leash this year's WJC. Can't really blame the loss on him, but USA always wants to win. As far as Zavgorodny, I am interested to see what kind of "season" he has in Russia before the NHL kicks off. A little worried that the AHL may not at all, but who knows at this point. A lot of teams based in Cali. Between COVID, wildfires, earthquakes who know if they will play.

I know the KHL is a big step for a junior player to take. But I wonder how far away from the NHL he really is. He was pretty impressive at the Subway Series last year. Sure, it's just junior players, but he shined. I won't get all worked up about one KHL game, but you have to wonder. Just thinking about fit for a minute, would he be right for Backlund or for Bennett. Tkachuk-Backlund-Zav Dube-Bennett-Mangiapane or would this be more appropriate Tkachuk-Backlund-Mangiapane Dube-Bennett-Zav I actually think both could work. Bennett's line becomes less of a grinding line and more skill and speed. Something he never had.

I would like him to play in SHL if possible, or even the KHL/MHL. Russia may make more sense for the language question, but I suspect he would not get much ice time in the KHL. If I thought he was ready for the NHL, then he might be perfect for 2nd or 3rd line RW. He's short but weighs 175 lbs. That's pretty decent size.

Pospisil was loaned to Slovakia and Kinnvall to Sweden (full year).

I suspect it's Pleau and Sigalet. I've got no issues with other scouting

I get that. Just saying that what he expected and what he got were different. He didn't extend Smith after losing in the 1st round, yet by some accounts he was the best player on the ice (not me). In FA, he blundered on Neal and Brouwer. He doesn't make those deals without someone telling him to do it. That person seems to be making poor choices. By the same token trades like Lazar had the same mistaken beliefs.

Previous deals with picks were made because of poor player evaluation. Hammy was a home run in some respects but didn't take into axxount the one way play. Hamonic was a poor evaluation of a formerly splid player. Goalie trades were the worst. But, we are to a point where those low round picks are not being used. Last year was the end of it. I don't get the sense that 1sts and 2nds will be used in trades. Not until the team is close to contender status, and probably only at TDL. I could be wrong but I think BT feels burned. Gus and Forbort. Smith and Elliott. Hamonic. There is opportunity to add from FA without using picks in trades. And we have some players that might be used in trades.

Whatever. If you have last change and can start an offensive line in the O-zone, why would you decide to start them more in the D-zone? You have last change and deciide to play them against a top line? I think any coach worth his salt would look at conditions that improve your chance of scoring and not being scored upon. Starting the top line with the 3rd pairing in the D-zone isn't a great look. Either is intentionally sending out the 4th line against the top scoring line.

I would aegue the opposite. This wasn;t a coaching change in the traditional sense. It was an abandonment. It actually took until January before the coach really got things worked out. I'm not saying I like or dislike Ward. He did well considering. For me, he needs to take everything he learned about the team and the playoffs and store it. Understand what the reasons were for losing. Address those with the team at first practice. Work on an identity. Sell the identity. Make them play to the identity.

I would compare the playoffs to university. The first round is like first year. Toughest assignments, get you thinking the way you need to, weed out the weaker minded. Successive rounds build on what you learned. Less learning the rules and more playing under them to the level of your opponents. Final round you are competing for #1. The Flames have trouble winning first rounds because they have trouble adapting from regular season "fair" play to playoffs dog-eat-dog. This playoffs there was a fine line between going a lot further and losing in round 1. There is so much parity that it's not simply building a better team. It's about how you play in the playoffs. We learned that the top line is going to mostly be shut down. That's typical. Where we need to focus is the depth that has to take over. Dallas used their depth to win. STL used depth last year. It wasn't Benn or Seguin that defeated us. It was depth guys and D. You can't expect Rinaldo to be that guy. Or Forbort and Gus to make a difference. Or Ryan to carry a line that was mostly Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. I would focus my rebuild on the bottom 6 and 3rd pairing. Yes, Gio and Backlund need to be better. Yes, the top line needs to find a way to score EVEN. But the coaching can impact that if they put them in the right situations. We didn't use anything that was really working in the regular season. Fix tgat part before you add too much talent. So, a bottom 6 that is better suited is necessary. Let me sum it up. 1) Replace Brodie with a RHS top 2 D. Not that he was the problem, but any struggles he has are amplified on Gio, and vice versa. LHS-RHS should be the norm. 2) Fix the goalie situation. Whether RIttich is till able to accept a backup role or not, play the two guys to ensure they are fresh come playoffs. Or replace one or both. 3) Have a functional 3rd and 4th line. If Bennett is going to be C, surround him with enough skill. Get a RHS on RW and use Dube where he is most effective. 4) Set up Lucic with the right type of C and a RW. Ryan is a good Swiss Army Knife, but he can't play a heavy game. Determine if a heavy game is what you need Lucic for. If not, then use players like Gawdin and Phillips (or whatever). Rieder was good for some things, but was one of the causes of a lot of goals against. 5) Replace the 3rd pairing. Neither Hamonic nor Forbort bring more than toughness. Gus was a PP specialist, but is not defensively sound. Is Mackey ready for the big show? How about Yelesin? He sure look composed in his 4 game stint.

And yet somehow the Flames played over 600 hockey under him. Consistency is the thing missing from this team. Maybe it's just me but I wish he would pick a system that the team can play every night. Turn that into our identity. If it's a good one, the team will buy in and the wins will come. Expecting the top line to somehow be great defensively is just wrong.

I think the issue was how he was played this summer. You would think that if you are trying to get 5v5 offense from a line that isn't scoring, you would shelter them a bit better. I don't think anyone is saying he is a bad coach. He just needs to look at why some of his tactics didn't work. Learn from the mistakes.