2023/24 Roster/Lines

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, JTech780 said:

I wonder if it might be time to move Lindholm off of center, he isn't really driving play, he looks disinterested. Maybe moving him to the wing will allow him to just focus on offense. Guys like Ruzicka, Zary, Dube, Sharangovich can play center, even Pospisil played some center in the AHL.

 

I think I made a suggestion of moving Ruzicka to C for strong side draws.

It would also move Mange back to LW.

Use Lindholm for his strong side, but revert to his wing after.

The only issue I have with that is that Ruzicka isn't great 2-way.

Lindholm is better.

 

The solution to that is to use them less in power vs power and more in select starts.

Not really sheltered but they don't get stuck facing top lines. 

 

[JTech780]

1 minute ago, travel_dude said:

 

I think I made a suggestion of moving Ruzicka to C for strong side draws.

It would also move Mange back to LW.

Use Lindholm for his strong side, but revert to his wing after.

The only issue I have with that is that Ruzicka isn't great 2-way.

Lindholm is better.

 

The solution to that is to use them less in power vs power and more in select starts.

Not really sheltered but they don't get stuck facing top lines. 

 

At the end of the day we should be trying to pump up his stats, to raise his trade value. I would run him only in offensive situations for now.

[travel_dude]

Just now, JTech780 said:

At the end of the day we should be trying to pump up his stats, to raise his trade value. I would run him only in offensive situations for now.

 

At worst, he not only killing his trade value, but his contract aspirations.

When he was humming and haaing during negotiations, he should have asked for a sign and trade.

Probably could have interested a few teams with a known extension.

Obviously you don't sign before the trade is in place.

 

Anyway, Lindholm not producing is more concerning than Huberdeau, IMHO.

Expiring asset, wants out, part of the top line that used to score most goals.

[JTech780]

5 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

At worst, he not only killing his trade value, but his contract aspirations.

When he was humming and haaing during negotiations, he should have asked for a sign and trade.

Probably could have interested a few teams with a known extension.

Obviously you don't sign before the trade is in place.

 

Anyway, Lindholm not producing is more concerning than Huberdeau, IMHO.

Expiring asset, wants out, part of the top line that used to score most goals.

I agree, Lindholm was going to be the piece that brought us the biggest return now I am not so sure. 
 

I think teams are starting to figure out that he isn’t a play driving center, he is a good center who can play with skilled players, but is best suited to play with wingers who can drive offense.

[Thebrewcrew]

Huberdeau struggling has taken so much heat off Lindholm, because nothing has been made of it.

 

No points in 5 games, only two in the past 10.

[Heartbreaker]

2 hours ago, JTech780 said:

I wonder if it might be time to move Lindholm off of center, he isn't really driving play, he looks disinterested. Maybe moving him to the wing will allow him to just focus on offense. Guys like Ruzicka, Zary, Dube, Sharangovich can play center, even Pospisil played some center in the AHL.

 

I think Huberdeau is taking a lot of heat off of Lindholm.

 

Love.

[travel_dude]

5 minutes ago, Heartbreaker said:

 

I think Huberdeau is taking a lot of heat off of Lindholm.

 

Love.

 

Maybe we need more Heat.  Oops, that's the old name.  More Wranglers?

Zary one point back in 9 less games.  He's a plus 2.

Pospisil 3 back in 10 less games.  He's a plus 5.

Pospisil has managed that in 6 less minutes average per game.

[Heartbreaker]

12 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

Maybe we need more Heat.  Oops, that's the old name.  More Wranglers?

Zary one point back in 9 less games.  He's a plus 2.

Pospisil 3 back in 10 less games.  He's a plus 5.

Pospisil has managed that in 6 less minutes average per game.

 

Oh yeah, my point being that Lindholm has played very poorly this year by his standards, and up until now, no one has been paying much attention because Huberdeau, and up until a few games ago Kadri, have been taking all the heat.

Love.

[travel_dude]

1 minute ago, Heartbreaker said:

 

Oh yeah, my point being that Lindholm has played very poorly this year by his standards, and up until now, no one has been paying much attention because Huberdeau, and up until a few games ago Kadri, have been taking all the heat.

Love.

Yup I got that.  When I look at the top of our stats, I see very underwhelming numbers.  Kadri probably the hottest Flame right now and he hasn't reached 10 points yet.  Our top scorer has 4 goals.  Our top C has 2.  On pace for 11 goals.  Seriously.  That Trevor Lewis numbers. 

[conundrumed]

I hope that Huska remembers that the last game's lines have been our most balanced look.

Dube-Lindy-Bread

Hubey-Backs-Coleman

Zary-Kadri-Pops

Greer-Rosie-Rango

Duehr, Coronato, Pelts eventually.

 

This has to be the baseline now, win or lose. Have to stop reacting to every...single....game and start getting a measure of consistency. I get that you want to mix lines in game as the flow/line-matching presents itself. Hopefully we at least have a baseline. We're not out-skilling most teams so it'll come down to work ethic. At the end of the day, if you have a 270 goal season, it means little if anyone has 40+ or not. Depth scoring is likely more important. I hope this lineup gives us 7-8 guys in the 18-30g range.

Zary, Pospisil and DeSimone have stopped me from what I was saying, was that we have no depth. I love nothing more than being proven wrong and keeping my opinion fluid, as opposed to whole-heartedly hitching my wagon to an opinion/bitterness that is likely to be proven wrong.

I like to at least have a nice mustard cream sauce on hand to help wash down the crow.lol

We have depth, Markstrom is still a good goalie, Huberdeau will be fine, Vladar is a good backup.

My current crow is Andersson, so I'm preparing another sauce!

[travel_dude]

7 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I hope that Huska remembers that the last game's lines have been our most balanced look.

Dube-Lindy-Bread

Hubey-Backs-Coleman

Zary-Kadri-Pops

Greer-Rosie-Rango

Duehr, Coronato, Pelts eventually.

 

This has to be the baseline now, win or lose. Have to stop reacting to every...single....game and start getting a measure of consistency. I get that you want to mix lines in game as the flow/line-matching presents itself. Hopefully we at least have a baseline. We're not out-skilling most teams so it'll come down to work ethic. At the end of the day, if you have a 270 goal season, it means little if anyone has 40+ or not. Depth scoring is likely more important. I hope this lineup gives us 7-8 guys in the 18-30g range.

Zary, Pospisil and DeSimone have stopped me from what I was saying, was that we have no depth. I love nothing more than being proven wrong and keeping my opinion fluid, as opposed to whole-heartedly hitching my wagon to an opinion/bitterness that is likely to be proven wrong.

I like to at least have a nice mustard cream sauce on hand to help wash down the crow.lol

We have depth, Markstrom is still a good goalie, Huberdeau will be fine, Vladar is a good backup.

My current crow is Andersson, so I'm preparing another sauce!

 

If Blasty Dube keeps showing up, I would be fine with that top line.  The others seem to be pretty balanced.  Every one of them was out-chancing the Nucks.  Every line had something that allowed them to win battles and get chances.  It was one game, but give it a look for awhile.  The top line isn't really the top line.  In fact we really have closer to 2a, 2b, 2c lines.  Which is just fine.  I felt we went a bit heavy on the Backlund line last game, which works I guess if you want Hubey to score more.  Not enough Pospisil, but that's a minor quibble.  He fits in different situations and line.  Zary is really our top player.  Seems to be taking on the role of PP QB.  

 

Our so called 1/2 D are bothering me, so maybe we need a BBQ of crow.  Hanifin is doing just enough to lessen the critique.  Barely.  If he's worth $7.5M long term, I want a refund.  He has some smarts but also some dumbs.  A 4 on a lot of teams.  He's kinda the polar opposite of Ras with shots.  He takes them so often and they miss the net so often.  Not talking about blocked shots, just wide.  Ras won't make a decision.  Just hangs onto it until there is nothing there.  Studied under Gio, but only seemed to pick up the encroachment aspect.  No shot.  No one-timer.  No seam pass.  Weegar and Zadorov seem to be the only guys that think the shot.  Hanifin may put one on about once per game, but these guys look for the holes.

 

That's my pre-game trash fest.  I focused on Huberdeau and Lindholm last game.  I reserve the right to re-trash them today.

[robrob74]

I wanna take a bit of credit for Pops. I asked if we should call him up last year. Might have been Petterson though, but I think it was Pops for some depth.

 

although, I think it's best to build through the draft and keep developing. They seem to be doing well on the farm.

[Thebrewcrew]

5 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

I wanna take a bit of credit for Pops. I asked if we should call him up last year. Might have been Petterson though, but I think it was Pops for some depth.

 

although, I think it's best to build through the draft and keep developing. They seem to be doing well on the farm.

He's been fun to watch.

 

He's playing great. I don't know is he will always be a top six player, but at the very least, he's everything you want in a bottom six player. Fast, plays with an edge, has some skill. Much better than Ritchie/Lewis.

[robrob74]

3 minutes ago, Thebrewcrew said:

He's been fun to watch.

 

He's playing great. I don't know is he will always be a top six player, but at the very least, he's everything you want in a bottom six player. Fast, plays with an edge, has some skill. Much better than Ritchie/Lewis.

ya, I think even before Brad Treliving was going after Sutter guys, he was already going after the Ritchie types, the easy to find 4th line guys, that aren't even NHLers. But Pops was younger Those years, but still.

 

 The flames are in a place where they don't have a typical fourth line so Pops maybe a 9 guy. But I like the way the team plays with the young guys in. I am not sure if it's a bias, towards them, but they help the team have jump?

[Thebrewcrew]

18 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

ya, I think even before Brad Treliving was going after Sutter guys, he was already going after the Ritchie types, the easy to find 4th line guys, that aren't even NHLers. But Pops was younger Those years, but still.

 

 The flames are in a place where they don't have a typical fourth line so Pops maybe a 9 guy. But I like the way the team plays with the young guys in. I am not sure if it's a bias, towards them, but they help the team have jump?

There’s no question that Zary and Pospisil have injected life into this team.

 

They still aren’t a good team,  but they’ve been much better since the recalls.

[robrob74]

Just now, Thebrewcrew said:

There’s no question that Zary and Pospisil have injected life into this team.

 

They still aren’t a good team,  but they’ve been much better since the recalls.

i hope they still try for a retool. I don't mind if they try do it quicker, but my biggest hope is they try to change their mindset to teams that build mostly through the draft, trade when things get the way they have. But my bet is if they concentrate on drafting and developing they'll be better in the long run more consistently and y even win some playoff rounds. 
 

don't go three or four drafts without drafting D or goalies. 
 

we repeat what we say all the time.

[Thebrewcrew]

2 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

i hope they still try for a retool. I don't mind if they try do it quicker, but my biggest hope is they try to change their mindset to teams that build mostly through the draft, trade when things get the way they have. But my bet is if they concentrate on drafting and developing they'll be better in the long run more consistently and y even win some playoff rounds. 
 

don't go three or four drafts without drafting D or goalies. 
 

we repeat what we say all the time.

There's enough pieces already in place that I think they can ice a pretty decent team by the time the new arena opens. That's assuming they sell at this deadline.

 

It's a pretty good spot to restart things. When the "trade bait" lists start coming out, Hanifin and Lindholm will be two of the best players on those lists. Zadorov and Tanev might be top ten on those lists. There's a chance that simply moving the UFA's could net anywhere in the neighborhood of 8-12 draft picks. I think each guy is going for two picks, possibly a third on the three that are retained on. Talk about stocking the cupboards.

 

Hitting on the picks is the hard part, but I'm more optimistic that they will than in 2013, where they really whiffed. 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, robrob74 said:

ya, I think even before Brad Treliving was going after Sutter guys, he was already going after the Ritchie types, the easy to find 4th line guys, that aren't even NHLers. But Pops was younger Those years, but still.

 

 The flames are in a place where they don't have a typical fourth line so Pops maybe a 9 guy. But I like the way the team plays with the young guys in. I am not sure if it's a bias, towards them, but they help the team have jump?

 

Okay, so if you think back to Mange's early time here.  He played few minutes and produced at one of the best p/60 clip in the league.  Mange was a serious scorer in junior, so there is a bit of a difference.  Okay, so think of Hathaway.  I don't expect or want Pospisil to get into fights.  He ended his season (just about) with the fight against Coby Cave.  Pospisil has slightly changed his game to one of speed.  I think his skill was always lurking under the surface, but he felt he needed a different route to the NHL.  

 

That is kind of the problem with this org.  Guys like Phillips and Pettersen disin't get chances with Sutter types coaching.  More skilled than the Ritchie types but too small.  Zary is by no means huge, but he uses his body to shield the puck.  He is smart.  A smart player can play here.  Now that is.  

 

I don't even know what a typical 4th line is now.  The old methods are phasing out.  I would like to alternate Dube with Govich or Ruzicka.  Two guys that have heavy shots.  Both have hit posts and completely beat goalies.  We need our top C to be with guys that shoot.  

 

Unfortuneately, we always have one line not going.  Tonight I felt it was Backlund's line.  Really it was more Hubey than the line.  He's not defensive enough to prevent goals and actually makes it hard on us.  Still haven't figured out who makes sense to pair him with.  Maybe Dube at C and Govich at RW?  Or Ruzicka at C and Dube at RW?  Either of those means they are 4th line and changes to other lines.  2nd line is set.  Or you put Govich back there and Pospisil with Backlund again.

 

Option 1

Mange-Lindholm- 

Zary-Kadri-Govich

Pospisil-Backlund-Coleman

Huberdeau-Ruzicka-Dube

 

Option 2

Ruzicka-Lindholm-Mange

Zary-Kadri-Pospisil

Coleman-Backlund-Duehr

Huberdeau-Dube-Govich

[conundrumed]

The lines are good as is. Consider also Pelletier takes over for Greer, then we have Pelts-Rango paired together. That could be delicious.

Then we're potentially rolling 4 really solid lines that are a scoring threat.

[travel_dude]

5 hours ago, conundrumed said:

The lines are good as is. Consider also Pelletier takes over for Greer, then we have Pelts-Rango paired together. That could be delicious.

Then we're potentially rolling 4 really solid lines that are a scoring threat.

 

3 of the 4 lines were fine last night.  Top line with a total of 3 shots including OT and PP time?  That's seriously lacking.  Pospisil had 6 alone, and most of them were HD.  Perhaps it's Lindholm at C that is the problem.  One game he gets 3 points the next barely 2 shots.

[medatswhoP]

Kadri with the kids line right now appears to be the ticket, don't break what's working.

Lindy just needs to get back into the groove with the tools he has, its not his line mates he plays with but solely himself to figure it out.

 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, medatswhoP said:

Kadri with the kids line right now appears to be the ticket, don't break what's working.

Lindy just needs to get back into the groove with the tools he has, its not his line mates he plays with but solely himself to figure it out.

 

 

I think there is zero interest in changing the Kadri line.

Moved Pospisil up and they are no worse maybe even better.

 

With Govich on Kadri's line, the Flames had two strong lines (Kadri, Backlund).

With Pospisil on Kadri's line, they had 3 good lines (top 9) and 4th line well...for one game.

They had two good lines last game (2nd and 4th, with Backlund keeping it even.  

 

So you probably want to give Lindholm another game as is to see if it returns.

[travel_dude]

In game blender.

Started out with

Govich-Lindholm-Mange

Zary-Kadri-Pospisik

Huberdeau-Backlund-Coleman

Greer-Dube-Duehr

 

2nd period we went to Zary on 4th line and Dube up.

Huberdeau played with Lindholm and Govich with Backlund.

 

3rd period back to original line except Dube still with Kadri.

Zary pretty much benched.

Some of that was shorter bench.

 

Overall, the 1st and 3rd were the only good periods.

No idea of the reason for the change.

Maybe the letdown in the 1st.

No idea.

[cross16]

On 11/18/2023 at 10:05 PM, robrob74 said:

ya, I think even before Brad Treliving was going after Sutter guys, he was already going after the Ritchie types, the easy to find 4th line guys, that aren't even NHLers. But Pops was younger Those years, but still.

 

 The flames are in a place where they don't have a typical fourth line so Pops maybe a 9 guy. But I like the way the team plays with the young guys in. I am not sure if it's a bias, towards them, but they help the team have jump?

 

In fairness to the org I think they would have tried Pospisil much earlier if he could stay healthy. He's been on the cusp for a while but he's been hurt a lot. 

 

Staying healthy has been the biggest thing for him thus far. 

[travel_dude]

14 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

In fairness to the org I think they would have tried Pospisil much earlier if he could stay healthy. He's been on the cusp for a while but he's been hurt a lot. 

 

Staying healthy has been the biggest thing for him thus far. 

 

I wonder if he would have gotten anything more than 7 minutes a game or 4th line with Lucic.  To be fair, I think they gave Phillips about 18 minutes over 2 games, so I think Pospisil would have shown something.  

 

I am glad that Pospisil is playing more like Mangiapane does.  Not fighting, just being hard on the player.  The one game where he nearly got to blows, he tied up the player so he couldn't get his punches in.  Don't need him to fight.