travel_dude

Picky picky... I look before I post, so thought this was not yet mentioned. Honestly, this is as much about drafting/development as anything else. As far as the cleanup? MODS try to reel in threads but then again, we do go off a bit at times. I agree we see the same thing in multiple threads, sometimes by the same poster. We shall try to reel it in, but there is so few of us left.

So the Flames signed a guy out of Sweden: .@CortexBusiness Transaction Alert: The #Flames have signed defenceman Carl-Johan Lerby to an entry-level deal. A few words about the player: Carl-Johan Lerby, Malmö Redhawks A smooth-skating 21-year-old defenseman with a ton of upside. Lerby has experienced somewhat of a breakthrough this season after getting last year derailed by injuries after being involved in a car accident, among other things. Lerby, who has 16 points (3+13) in 37 games, is still under development and would probably benefit from another season in Sweden. But an NHL team would be wise taking a flyer on this kid, loan him to Malmö for another season and see him blossom next year. There are a lot of similarities to Lawrence Pilut, who looks like he’s about to become a regular with the Buffalo Sabres after being SHL defenseman of the year 2018. “I’m not the biggest guy”, the 5’11 defenseman told me last week. “But these days, there are a lot of smaller players that dominate in the NHL. I’m still ways away, but I hope to play in the NHL one day.” NOTE - he will not be in NA until the 20/21 season, and will be exempt fo the expansion draft.

Probably up for discussion, but I suspect that the Flames are leasing the building for all Flames related events, which includes ticket revenue and concessions. Any tickey levy CRL would probably go to the city. So, essentially the same style of deal as they currently have?

Well, there is. The city has a plan (includes city owning the arena). They are due to engage with the Flames to give their proposal. It's not a take-it-or-leave-it one, just the framework on how it could be structured. It removes the insurance and property tax from the Flames, so they would just be a tenant.

He related to Corbin? JK. Are you high on using a 1st on a goalie? How about we trade some big piece to WAS for Ilya Samsanov? Or with the Isles for Ilya Sorokin? That guy killed the KHL. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Amazing he was able to play at all. I think I remember the game when it happened. Somebody fell/was pushed on him. As far as Smith, I think he is done. He played really well for us in the playoffs. Saying that, have you seen how well other goalies are playing? While Smith was making saves on the breakaway, his 2nd and 3rd saves left a bit to be desired at times. He made a lot of them, but sometimes he dove to make a save and the 2nd shot went in. Watching some guys like RInne, Jones, Bishop, MAF make save after save after save.... They got better as the series went along. Anyway, I think it's time to move on. For 1/2 a season, we had one good goalie. Find a backup to keep Rttich fresh and healthy. 1B situation if possible.

If you pick wiely, you can get an impact player once per draft year. Lucky if you get two. Many of our picks are longer term, so they will be some time before we know what they are. Look at Mangiapane. High scoring, but went very late. A couple of year in the AHL, and we may finally have something other than a 4th liner. Phillips is another guy to keep an eye on. Zav could actually make the NHL out of junior, but they may not really have room unless they trade a Bennett or Neal or Janko.

I doubt he heads east. He's old enough for tha AHL, so I assume you mean not enough exerience.

Talbot is a project. Ruined by the Oilers, much like Dubie. He's actually pretty good, as we have seen some nights. He would have to be a cheap signing. More insurance than anything. Rittich, the KHL guy and Talbot in camp and we keep the 2 best. Smith is a feel good story. Almost drummed out of the organization by the fans. Brought his game back from the brink. Retire on a good note. Too expensive to re-sign. He's not taking less than $4m and we still have Rittich to re-sign.

I get that people think Smith has brought his career back from the ledge. He's 37. Any contract has risk. As good as he is playing, do you expect that to continue another year? Re-signing Smith is a short-sighted view of the team. This isn't just about results, it's about the future in nets. But, I digress.

Who would have predicted that we would get the October 2017 version of Smith in the playoffs? Since we have seen nothing to compare it to on the Flames, he looks to be the only reason why 3 games haven't been blowouts. Obviously, a different goalie/sytle changes the possible outcomes of games, but insert Rittich into the exact same shots? Who knows. Great swan song for Smitty. Kept fresh by playing less than 50 games, and we forgot to do the same with the forwards.

Must be like the team. Can;t get anyone good to come there to work. Worst run pro sports team in the NHL.

Any GM they hire from another team will not be able to participate in the draft. At least that's how it typically works. KG will make the choices. Oh, and McDavid has to have a 2nd and 3rd opinion on his MRA results. The Oilers may not have been thrilled with what the doctors told them, or them may want to be sure there is nothing wrong. Nobody is saying.

Gotta cover all the basis. Not saying I believe it for a minute, but anything is possible. BTW, I will remain on the Rittich train until he proves otherwise. Smith may or may not get the wins we need. Will give him props if he's the guy that does it for us.

And the lotto balls dropped. NJ 1st NYR 2nd CHI 3rd COL 4th LA 5th DET 6th BUFF 7th EDM 8th ANA 9th VAN 10th PHI 12th MIN 13th FLA 13th ARI 14th MTL 15th EDM loses the 2nd overall by beating CGY in a meaningless game. Seems like Taylor Hall is NJ's lucky charm now, no longer in EDM.

I think are going to pump tires no matter what they really think. No starter even announced, though I don;t know why you have to anyway. I personally like when Smith plays big and mean. Don't mind the short passes to the D, or even longer ones with no traffic. His play behind the net bothers me. Disruptive and risky. On another note, I did a quick comp between our Rusky and the Oilers goalie. Similar stats in the KHL. Smaller than Koskinen, by a wide margin. Only 6'2" and 176 or that's what they say anyway. Koskinen is 6'7" and 202, which is tiny for that height. Big difference is age. One guy is 30, the other 23. Could be a good find.

I'm just saying that if neither Rittich nor Zag nor Gillies can do the job, BT would be in the market. Signing a declining goalie doesn't seem to make sense. But that's just me at this point. Smith could steal the MVP in the playoffs. In which case, you have that option for next year. If you want to.

Since the new guy is one year, it seems like they need to figure out his NHL potential sooner than then. I doubt we hang onto everyone. Rittich - RFA Smith - UFA MacDonald - RFA Gillies - signed for 19/20 Schneider - signed for 19/20 Zadidulin - signed for 19/20 That's a lot of guys to manage.

One down, Nygard to go. May not be NHL bound to start the season, but ya never know, Probably maks it less likely for a one year deal with Smith.

Did last night's game give anyone a warm fuzzy feeling? Didn't for me. Lack of offense with 3 regulars (two of them 30 goal guys) and trying to feed JH for 100. Dress 7D instead of plugging the hole with a forward. Score one goal. Check. 3 goals on 25 shots. Rittich's last game wasn't much better. Sat 4D and 3 regulars. Smith is a battler, but takes risks. Hope he doesn;t against the Avs. They are a quick strike team. If it's Rittich starting, then he needs to lessen the wild stick plays and concentrate on low danger shots. A solid goalie I have faith in. Hasn't stolen a game in some time, but keeps us in it.

Subterfuge baby. Game the other teams into thinking the starter is injured.

I'm with Mac on this. The guy showed life for half the year. He may in fact win us the cup. Regardless. Time to move on after this year. Goalie coach? Maybe. Other than that, we could have 3 goalies that could show enough growth between now and training camp. Gillies, Parsons, Russian guy. That doesn't include the inevatable goalie search.

I don't know. They may not be an ultra competetive team, but players like Hamilton who enjoy the fun side probably love the place. Not a great place to go to win, but otherwise not bad. CBJ is something else. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

TBH, I think that is highly likely. They found a guy after a bunch of strikes. Yes McBackup has been their 1a or qb buy, but they have Darling wasting salary.