Tyler Johnson/Ondrej Palat

[AlbertaBoy12]

So with tampa bay coming up on this summer, they will have 12 million to resign palat, drouin, johnson, dotchin and find a goalie, not to mention replacing guys like brian boyle etc. I dont think we are going to take advantage of them or anything. But I wonder if anyone has the appetite to try and make a trade with them for one of palat or johnson. I would be willing to move our 1st or 2nd this year and a defensive prospect like hickey for their rights, I think that should get it done.

 

Thoughts?

[MAC331]

44 minutes ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

So with tampa bay coming up on this summer, they will have 12 million to resign palat, drouin, johnson, dotchin and find a goalie, not to mention replacing guys like brian boyle etc. I dont think we are going to take advantage of them or anything. But I wonder if anyone has the appetite to try and make a trade with them for one of palat or johnson. I would be willing to move our 1st or 2nd this year and a defensive prospect like hickey for their rights, I think that should get it done.

 

Thoughts?

I would have some interest in Palat and Sustr from TB but not Johnson. Palat would provide some options of what to do with Tkachuk next season, moving lines. Sustr could be a good replacement for Engelland. A team I think that should be considering Johnson is COL. We would be getting quite the Czech contingency on our team if we added these two.

Gaudreau, Monahan, RW (still and offseason target ?)

Palat, Backlund, Frolik

Tkachuk, Bennett, Brouwer ( if traded Pribyl ?)

Ferland, Jankowski, Chiasson

Giordano, Hamilton

Brodie, Stone ( re-signed)

LSD , Sustr

New Goalie

Johnson (re-signed)

The team starts to have a solid look to it with a few of the right additions.

[cross16]

I don't think you are close on value, I think they will get more than a first and hickey and I think they could probably get pieces that would help them right now, not down the road. Unsigned RFAs don't drop in value like UFAs do. I prefer Johnson to Palat but i'm not sure either is a viable target for the flames. I don't think Palat is that great a fit and paying him over 4 million is probably not wise. Johnson fits in a lot of ways but I question how much you would need to give up to get up (I think a lot), how much you have to pay him (probably 4.5 to 5 million or more) and then question is a small player like that the way the Flames should go?

 

Don't see either as feasible, or good targets for the Flames personally. Good players just not great fits.

 

Alot of Tampa's "Cap crunch" will come down to Ryan Callahan and buyouts. Callahan is shut down for the year and with how little he has been able to play if there is anything serious there and he is an LTIR candidate, suddenly things don't look so bleak. That and I think its likely they can find a taker for, or buyout, one of Filpulla, Coburn, or Garrison to further elevate the crunch. Long story short, I think Tampa has a couple of options here so i'm not sure they are going to be having to sell off players at bargain prices, they can still get value. 

[JTech780]

I would prefer Palat over Johnson, but Johnson's RHS makes him intriguing. My worry with Johnson is his next contract I think he is looking to get paid like a 70 point player, but that's not what he is. He is a good 2nd line 50 point player, I personally wouldn't want to pay him more than $5m.

 

Palat would be a great fit on a line with Backlund and Frolik, or I could see him fitting well with Bennett. Again his next contract could be troublesome, because I don't think I would pay him more than Frolik and I think he is looking for much more than that.

[CheersMan]

We have our own Cap issues, not sure how we add anyone of those TBL players.  Sure, we have $21.8M in projected Cap space but;

$5-6, 2 goaltenders

$2-3, Versteeg resign/replacement

$3, Bennett

$3-4, Stone

$2-3, Ferland/Chaisson resign or replacement

$2-3, 2 bottom pair dmen

There’s $20-22M gone.  Now we want to add TBL best players?

[AlbertaBoy12]

3 hours ago, cross16 said:

I don't think you are close on value, I think they will get more than a first and hickey and I think they could probably get pieces that would help them right now, not down the road. Unsigned RFAs don't drop in value like UFAs do. I prefer Johnson to Palat but i'm not sure either is a viable target for the flames. I don't think Palat is that great a fit and paying him over 4 million is probably not wise. Johnson fits in a lot of ways but I question how much you would need to give up to get up (I think a lot), how much you have to pay him (probably 4.5 to 5 million or more) and then question is a small player like that the way the Flames should go?

 

Don't see either as feasible, or good targets for the Flames personally. Good players just not great fits.

 

Alot of Tampa's "Cap crunch" will come down to Ryan Callahan and buyouts. Callahan is shut down for the year and with how little he has been able to play if there is anything serious there and he is an LTIR candidate, suddenly things don't look so bleak. That and I think its likely they can find a taker for, or buyout, one of Filpulla, Coburn, or Garrison to further elevate the crunch. Long story short, I think Tampa has a couple of options here so i'm not sure they are going to be having to sell off players at bargain prices, they can still get value. 

I agree completely. But at the same time, I think RFAs are way we should be looking to fill our missing spots in the top 9 come summer time. I dont see any feasible options for us to get a marian hossa of our own for instance, and would like us to fill 2 positions in the top 9.

 

RFAs might be the spot to look come summer time? Any opinions for guys to trade for?

[cross16]

3 minutes ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

I agree completely. But at the same time, I think RFAs are way we should be looking to fill our missing spots in the top 9 come summer time. I dont see any feasible options for us to get a marian hossa of our own for instance, and would like us to fill 2 positions in the top 9.

 

RFAs might be the spot to look come summer time? Any opinions for guys to trade for?

 

I don't disagree in theory but the execution is going to be tough. Flames don't have a bunch of cap space like they did when Hamilton had the Bruins in a bind, so its hard to take advantage of those RFAs that are expecting a big deal unless they either move out salary in the deal, move out salary elsewhere, or find a way to go really cheap in net. I don't think the Flames have the cap space to be players for a forward that will want around 5 mill or more. Not unless they get really lucky and Vegas claims Stajan (can't see it myself) I just don't think they have the cap space.

 

Most of the RFAs i'm looking at that would be good fits are going to be too pricy IMO. Unless like I said the Flames lose Stajan in the expansion draft but i'm not willing to bank on that happening. 

[AlbertaBoy12]

5 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

I don't disagree in theory but the execution is going to be tough. Flames don't have a bunch of cap space like they did when Hamilton had the Bruins in a bind, so its hard to take advantage of those RFAs that are expecting a big deal unless they either move out salary in the deal, move out salary elsewhere, or find a way to go really cheap in net. I don't think the Flames have the cap space to be players for a forward that will want around 5 mill or more. Not unless they get really lucky and Vegas claims Stajan (can't see it myself) I just don't think they have the cap space.

 

Most of the RFAs i'm looking at that would be good fits are going to be too pricy IMO. Unless like I said the Flames lose Stajan in the expansion draft but i'm not willing to bank on that happening. 

If stajan was to get claimed and bouma gets buried in the minors how much cap space does that save us? I dont think we want to go into next season with a big gap in our top 9. That might all be answered with ferland for all we know, but at the same time id like to fill that spot if possible.

 

Im not willing to bank on stajan gets claimed, but going into next season the flames may need to consider getting rid of stajan and bouma to free up some space for someone to come in and play those minutes.

 

 

[cross16]

2 minutes ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

If stajan was to get claimed and bouma gets buried in the minors how much cap space does that save us? I dont think we want to go into next season with a big gap in our top 9. That might all be answered with ferland for all we know, but at the same time id like to fill that spot if possible.

 

Im not willing to bank on stajan gets claimed, but going into next season the flames may need to consider getting rid of stajan and bouma to free up some space for someone to come in and play those minutes.

 

 

 

Stajan being claimed would save you 3.5 million. Bouma in the Minors only saves you 900K. Buying out Bouma would be the way to go. Saves you 1.5 mill next year and only a dead cap hit of 766k the following season. I personally actually think its likely Bouma will be bought out because IMO neither of those 2 guys are tradable. 

 

but 1.5 if not going to make or break you in terms of being able to afford a 4-5 million dollar player. You would need to lose both and as i said i'm very skeptical that is going to happen.

 

At the end of the day too I would keep this in mind about the top 9. Flames are battling for a playoff spot after a horrible start, little depth on d, decent but not great goaltending, and their best offensive player and best offensive prospect are having sup par offensive seasons. I'm not as worried about the top 9 as everyone else as I do not believe Bennett and Gaudreau will struggle next season as much as they have this season. 

[JTech780]

3 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

Stajan being claimed would save you 3.5 million. Bouma in the Minors only saves you 900K. Buying out Bouma would be the way to go. Saves you 1.5 mill next year and only a dead cap hit of 766k the following season. I personally actually think its likely Bouma will be bought out because IMO neither of those 2 guys are tradable. 

 

but 1.5 if not going to make or break you in terms of being able to afford a 4-5 million dollar player. You would need to lose both and as i said i'm very skeptical that is going to happen.

 

At the end of the day too I would keep this in mind about the top 9. Flames are battling for a playoff spot after a horrible start, little depth on d, decent but not great goaltending, and their best offensive player and best offensive prospect are having sup par offensive seasons. I'm not as worried about the top 9 as everyone else as I do not believe Bennett and Gaudreau will struggle next season as much as they have this season. 

 

I agree, I really don't see much issue with our forwards. IMO our biggest holes are in net and defensive depth. To be perfectly honest I would spend whatever it takes to solve the goaltending situation. After that signing a top 4 defenseman is next, after that use whatever cap space you have left to address bottom pairing D and forwards. 

 

When I look at our top 9 forwards for next year we have

Gaudreau

Monahan

Tkachuk

Backlund

Frolik

Brouwer

Ferland

 

All under contract so that is 7 spots filled, Bennett needs a new contract but he is RFA and will be getting a bridge deal. So that makes 8. Versteeg on a cheap deal, can fill the last spot or leave it open for Jankowski or Kilmchuk to fight for in training camp. I think either Kimchuk or Jankowski would fit nicely with Backlund and Frolik. Then you can have Gaudreau and Monahan with Ferland and Tkachuk with Bennett and Brouwer.

[MAC331]

1 hour ago, JTech780 said:

 

I agree, I really don't see much issue with our forwards. IMO our biggest holes are in net and defensive depth. To be perfectly honest I would spend whatever it takes to solve the goaltending situation. After that signing a top 4 defenseman is next, after that use whatever cap space you have left to address bottom pairing D and forwards. 

 

When I look at our top 9 forwards for next year we have

Gaudreau

Monahan

Tkachuk

Backlund

Frolik

Brouwer

Ferland

 

All under contract so that is 7 spots filled, Bennett needs a new contract but he is RFA and will be getting a bridge deal. So that makes 8. Versteeg on a cheap deal, can fill the last spot or leave it open for Jankowski or Kilmchuk to fight for in training camp. I think either Kimchuk or Jankowski would fit nicely with Backlund and Frolik. Then you can have Gaudreau and Monahan with Ferland and Tkachuk with Bennett and Brouwer.

Tough to sort out next season with this season's forwards IMO lots will happen between now and then. I actually hope they expose Brouwer and he gets taken by LV. Personally I wouldn't bring back Versteeg or Chiasson and I would hope BT could rid us of Stajan and Bouma opening up some spots.

[Cowtownguy]

45 minutes ago, MAC331 said:

Tough to sort out next season with this season's forwards IMO lots will happen between now and then. I actually hope they expose Brouwer and he gets taken by LV. Personally I wouldn't bring back Versteeg or Chiasson and I would hope BT could rid us of Stajan and Bouma opening up some spots.

You wouldn't keep Verteeg? For me, it depends on how much he demands.

[AlbertaBoy12]

I'm not overly worried about our top 9, I dont think we need loads of help. I will agree that our biggest issues are the lack of defensive depth and goaltending. But at the same time I'd prefer to find a upgrade in our top 9. I actually don't mind versteeg being brought back with Brouwer playing with Bennett. But I will agree jankowski might be brought up to play with backlund and frolik that could be a very good look. I might have been over zealous about suggesting Johnson, but if ferland can't find consistency with gaudreau and mony it would be nice to find a player to play with them. I don't think we need huge upgrades, or big money wingers, but I want more consistency from our forwards next year. The struggles have been well documented and could change next year, but an upgrade might even come in jankowski.

[MAC331]

27 minutes ago, Cowtownguy said:

You wouldn't keep Verteeg? For me, it depends on how much he demands.

Both Versteeg and Chiasson were 1 year stop gap measures due to weakness on our RW and the injury unsureness to Pribyl. I have to believe BT wants to get Pribyl into the picture come next season, likely 3rd or 4th line entry time. I would like to see us work a few more prospects into the picture so we get younger again. I think Jankowski could replace Stajan tomorrow however he definitely should in 2017/18 season. I don't like the suggestions at all about playing Jankowski on a wing.

[robrob74]

Does Vegas have to get to the Cap Floor? Maybe someone with a high contract will help them? 

[cross16]

7 hours ago, robrob74 said:

Does Vegas have to get to the Cap Floor? Maybe someone with a high contract will help them? 

 

Yes they do. However, if you look at a possible expansion draft list, in terms if who Veags can choose, there will be several good players with money on their deals. Combine thst will free agency and the fact that Vegas has an opportunity to take bad deals from other teams in return for assets, I don't think Vegas is going to struggle to get to the cap floor. 

[stubblejumper1]

17 hours ago, cross16 said:

 

Stajan being claimed would save you 3.5 million. Bouma in the Minors only saves you 900K. Buying out Bouma would be the way to go. Saves you 1.5 mill next year and only a dead cap hit of 766k the following season. I personally actually think its likely Bouma will be bought out because IMO neither of those 2 guys are tradable. 

 

but 1.5 if not going to make or break you in terms of being able to afford a 4-5 million dollar player. You would need to lose both and as i said i'm very skeptical that is going to happen.

 

At the end of the day too I would keep this in mind about the top 9. Flames are battling for a playoff spot after a horrible start, little depth on d, decent but not great goaltending, and their best offensive player and best offensive prospect are having sup par offensive seasons. I'm not as worried about the top 9 as everyone else as I do not believe Bennett and Gaudreau will struggle next season as much as they have this season. 

 

I assume you are talking about Sam Bennett as the Flames best offensive prospect?  I would argue that Tkachuk is now their best offensive prospect.

[zima]

I hope you guys realize that it takes more than just goal scorers in a team Staj and Bouma fill a roll they are great penalty killers and defensive players. If you don't have that in you system your not going to win much. I watch the game last night it was the first time in awhile that the goalie won the game all by himself but Bouma worked hard on the kills and in the defensive zone

[MAC331]

25 minutes ago, zima said:

I hope you guys realize that it takes more than just goal scorers in a team Staj and Bouma fill a roll they are great penalty killers and defensive players. If you don't have that in you system your not going to win much. I watch the game last night it was the first time in awhile that the goalie won the game all by himself but Bouma worked hard on the kills and in the defensive zone

Last night was about the only time Bouma has shown up all season. Stajan has been doing well this season but is past his best days and Jankowski needs a position to enter onto the team next season. Jankowski won't have Stajan's experience however he is very sound defensively. I believe a team like either ARZ or LV could use the experience and leadership Stajan can provide. Bouma may very well be here next season but he needs to play way better than he has been this season.

[JTech780]

22 minutes ago, MAC331 said:

Last night was about the only time Bouma has shown up all season. Stajan has been doing well this season but is past his best days and Jankowski needs a position to enter onto the team next season. Jankowski won't have Stajan's experience however he is very sound defensively. I believe a team like either ARZ or LV could use the experience and leadership Stajan can provide. Bouma may very well be here next season but he needs to play way better than he has been this season.

 

I wouldn't bring Jankowski up to play 4th line minutes.

[MAC331]

20 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

I wouldn't bring Jankowski up to play 4th line minutes.

Why not ? somewhat sheltered time and you can expand his responsibilities from there. Plus GG has been a proponent of spreading the load around to each line. This is always the determination management must make, is he better with the team or in Stockton ? No different than the decision with Tkachuk. If they move Stajan I would definitely have him on the team as it enhances the team.

[AlbertaBoy12]

13 minutes ago, MAC331 said:

Why not ? somewhat sheltered time and you can expand his responsibilities from there. Plus GG has been a proponent of spreading the load around to each line. This is always the determination management must make, is he better with the team or in Stockton ? No different than the decision with Tkachuk. If they move Stajan I would definitely have him on the team as it enhances the team.

I think if he comes up hes being moved to the wing to play with backlund or hes playing center and backlund is being traded. Im not advocating backlund being traded although I think it may happen at some point. There is nothing wrong with a guy being shifted to the wing as a center, I dont think it would be the end of the world for janko to switch to the wing next season to play with, and then we know what we have in him. 

[MAC331]

11 hours ago, robrob74 said:

Does Vegas have to get to the Cap Floor? Maybe someone with a high contract will help them? 

I would have to think McPhee will want a variety of players but someone like Brouwer has history with him and is well thought of as a leader. Brouwer is a luxury the Flames can't afford IMO and the advanced play of Tkachuk makes him even less needed here. I think BT should expose him and see what happens.

Going into next season, I would like to see a line of Gaudreau, Monahan and Tkachuk given a serious look.

[JTech780]

19 minutes ago, MAC331 said:

Why not ? somewhat sheltered time and you can expand his responsibilities from there. Plus GG has been a proponent of spreading the load around to each line. This is always the determination management must make, is he better with the team or in Stockton ? No different than the decision with Tkachuk. If they move Stajan I would definitely have him on the team as it enhances the team.

 

Jankowski is better off playing in every situation down in Stockton than playing 10 mins a night on the 4th line in Calgary.

[MAC331]

Just now, AlbertaBoy12 said:

I think if he comes up hes being moved to the wing to play with backlund or hes playing center and backlund is being traded. Im not advocating backlund being traded although I think it may happen at some point. There is nothing wrong with a guy being shifted to the wing as a center, I dont think it would be the end of the world for janko to switch to the wing next season to play with, and then we know what we have in him. 

I disagree and see no need for it. I don't see the need to get rid of Backlund either unless he is needed in a deal for a goalie. We have plenty of LW players that can slot in with Backlund and Frolik. Ferland, Klimchuk, Mangiapane, Shinkaruk to name a few. If BT trades Stajan I think a natural move would be to have Jankowski fill that position.