Training Camp 2023

[The_People1]

10 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

Are we back to re-signing Hanifin at any cost?  Oh well.

 

Nah, just sayin tho.

 

I recall reading somewhere that Hanifin talked Rooney into joining the Flames one summer ago.  No doubt BT signed him thinking it could pave the way for a Hanifin extension.

 

Then Sutter just stopped using Rooney... and in many ways, Rooney was too vanilla and didn't stand out much.

 

Perhaps a part of Hanifin's frustrations was that he regrets convincing Rooney to come here only to be stuffed in the minors.

[conundrumed]

I would extend Z for sure, but a # like 5+ could be a hard pill to swallow given our current cap issues. I'd have no issue with a 5yr deal honestly. For a total <$25mil would be ideal, but I might be dreaming. He always seems to have the right mindset and stays positive. He has his hiccups but overall he's quite effective and I don't think anyone loves playing against how heavy he plays. He's not a fun guy to accidentally run into. Sutter did a nice job of rounding out his game.

We have to hope in a year Solovyov and Kuznetsov are ready. Suddenly our D is half Belu/Russian.lol

[conundrumed]

Pretty good interview with our latest fwd add. He has gone from NJ to hockeycentral culture shock. Hopefully he's okay with that.

 

[conundrumed]

Not Flames related, but Logan Cooley saying hello in his 1st preseason game.

 

[travel_dude]

9 hours ago, The_People1 said:

 

Nah, just sayin tho.

 

I recall reading somewhere that Hanifin talked Rooney into joining the Flames one summer ago.  No doubt BT signed him thinking it could pave the way for a Hanifin extension.

 

Then Sutter just stopped using Rooney... and in many ways, Rooney was too vanilla and didn't stand out much.

 

Perhaps a part of Hanifin's frustrations was that he regrets convincing Rooney to come here only to be stuffed in the minors.

 

I didn't realize they had any connection.  He was an odd add, since it's not like he was being pursued by many teams.  It would be like BT signing friends of players though.  He had a decent relationship with BT.  That's why we should look to BT to overpay for him.  Nah, I'm not talking Nylander anymore.  I think that ship has sailed and would probably have sunk in the Bow River.  May be some trade possible.

 

 

[travel_dude]

9 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I would extend Z for sure, but a # like 5+ could be a hard pill to swallow given our current cap issues. I'd have no issue with a 5yr deal honestly. For a total <$25mil would be ideal, but I might be dreaming. He always seems to have the right mindset and stays positive. He has his hiccups but overall he's quite effective and I don't think anyone loves playing against how heavy he plays. He's not a fun guy to accidentally run into. Sutter did a nice job of rounding out his game.

We have to hope in a year Solovyov and Kuznetsov are ready. Suddenly our D is half Belu/Russian.lol

 

Zaddy has been trending up with his pay, but has stayed close to $4M the last 5 years.  Something like 4.5 x 5 would fit into our long term cap fairly easily.  And he always seems so positive about the team.  Not like he wants to head back to Russia anytime soon.  Keep him fed, let him go destroy the occasional forward, let him off the chain now and again....

[The_People1]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

I didn't realize they had any connection.  He was an odd add, since it's not like he was being pursued by many teams.  It would be like BT signing friends of players though.  He had a decent relationship with BT.  That's why we should look to BT to overpay for him.  Nah, I'm not talking Nylander anymore.  I think that ship has sailed and would probably have sunk in the Bow River.  May be some trade possible.

 

 

 

BT signed Buddy Robinson to make Gaudreau happy to stay here.  Joakim Nordstrom was signed because he was fishing buddies with Lindholm and Markstrom back home.  BT has a history of making signings based on making his players happy.  With Robinson, it so happened that we needed size, RHS RW, etc.  With Nordstrom, we needed a 4th line PK specialist but he just didn't get the job done. 

 

Rooney was similar... just too bland and didn't offer anything that special.  I think the plan was Lewis can't play Center anymore because he's too old so Rooney was supposed to Center the 4th line and Lewis plays RW.  I mean, we could still use a 4th line Center that is a PK specialist. If Rooney can actually get the job done then he'll have a job here.

[The_People1]

11 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I would extend Z for sure, but a # like 5+ could be a hard pill to swallow given our current cap issues. I'd have no issue with a 5yr deal honestly. For a total <$25mil would be ideal, but I might be dreaming. He always seems to have the right mindset and stays positive. He has his hiccups but overall he's quite effective and I don't think anyone loves playing against how heavy he plays. He's not a fun guy to accidentally run into. Sutter did a nice job of rounding out his game.

We have to hope in a year Solovyov and Kuznetsov are ready. Suddenly our D is half Belu/Russian.lol

 

Yups.  Zadorov is likeable but what's the cap hit going to be?  That's the big question mark.  $5-mil is 2nd pairing minutes but Zadorov is a 4/5/6 guy who is better suited to play full time bottom pair.  Of course, he brings intangibles so you have to pay for that.  You can't teach size.  Are we okay spending $5-mil on a bottom pair D?  I feel like bottom pair D should cost $1 to $3-mil max.

[travel_dude]

1 minute ago, The_People1 said:

 

BT signed Buddy Robinson to make Gaudreau happy to stay here.  Joakim Nordstrom was signed because he was fishing buddies with Lindholm and Markstrom back home.  BT has a history of making signings based on making his players happy.  With Robinson, it so happened that we needed size, RHS RW, etc.  With Nordstrom, we needed a 4th line PK specialist but he just didn't get the job done. 

 

Rooney was similar... just too bland and didn't offer anything that special.  I think the plan was Lewis can't play Center anymore because he's too old so Rooney was supposed to Center the 4th line and Lewis plays RW.  I mean, we could still use a 4th line Center that is a PK specialist. If Rooney can actually get the job done then he'll have a job here.

 

They tried him in that role last year and I don't think Sutter was happy.

I think that has a lot to do with the demotion.  I was expecting them to waive Rozie at one point.

Rooney was so left field, so you may be onto something.

Maybe with Sutter gone, BT would trade for him.

[travel_dude]

Just now, The_People1 said:

 

Yups.  Zadorov is likeable but what's the cap hit going to be?  That's the big question mark.  $5-mil is 2nd pairing minutes but Zadorov is a 4/5/6 guy who is better suited to play full time bottom pair.  Of course, he brings intangibles so you have to pay for that.  You can't teach size.  Are we okay spending $5-mil on a bottom pair D?  I feel like bottom pair D should cost $1 to $3-mil max.

 

He was 5/6 because that's the depth we had.  Our top 4 was pretty deep even considering Kylington was out.  We had more problems with the 6/7 last year and waived one that could have been a decent 5/6.  Or he was a bust.  Or a 3/4.

[The_People1]

4 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

He was 5/6 because that's the depth we had.  Our top 4 was pretty deep even considering Kylington was out.  We had more problems with the 6/7 last year and waived one that could have been a decent 5/6.  Or he was a bust.  Or a 3/4.

 

Nah, he's a 4/5/6 talent and its irrelevant what team he plays for. 

[travel_dude]

5 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Not Flames related, but Logan Cooley saying hello in his 1st preseason game.

 

 

Cooley scoring nice goal in Melbourne just now.

[JTech780]

This is in regards to Backlund. It also sounds like if/when a deal gets done he will be named the next captain.

[Thebrewcrew]

Would be really curious to see what an extension for Backlund looks like.

 

I could see it being 6x2 or 3. But I could also see it being something like the Jordan Staal extension in Carolina, 2.9x4. Backlund will

have just under 50m in career earnings this year. If I was Conroy I would really dangle the whole “take less to help us build the team”, along with the captaincy of course.

[conundrumed]

3 hours ago, Thebrewcrew said:

Would be really curious to see what an extension for Backlund looks like.

 

I could see it being 6x2 or 3. But I could also see it being something like the Jordan Staal extension in Carolina, 2.9x4. Backlund will

have just under 50m in career earnings this year. If I was Conroy I would really dangle the whole “take less to help us build the team”, along with the captaincy of course.

4 yrs at a max of $15 total would be nice. $6, $4.5, $2.5, $2 would be nice-ish. Diminish as he ages.

What is the line to just cut ties? I don't want him at, say, 3x$6. Sometimes we just have to start recognizing when it's time to move on. Add, let's not pay him based on last year's outlier for points, due to age.

I'm sure the Flames are putting in a lot of effort projecting Ronni, Zary and Kerins because one of them will need Backlund's job in 2-3 years. Ronni for sure I would say, Zary I haven't seen enough of to comment and Kerins is still at the work-in-progress stage.

Compher is likely a close comparison. But he's only 28. 5 x $5.1. So if Backlund gets near $20mil for 4 years I will definitely be wondering why we didn't take a swing at Compher, who also plays RW and is stalwart defensively, like Backlund.

Staal's a decent comparable, but at the very low end I think. A few years back he'd have been a near identical comparison, but his O has significantly diminished. Which is something we need to be very wary of with Backlund. In 2 yrs he should be a 4C. And paid as one. Some older players are succeeding, but they're the exception, not the rule.

[travel_dude]

5 hours ago, conundrumed said:

4 yrs at a max of $15 total would be nice. $6, $4.5, $2.5, $2 would be nice-ish. Diminish as he ages.

What is the line to just cut ties? I don't want him at, say, 3x$6. Sometimes we just have to start recognizing when it's time to move on. Add, let's not pay him based on last year's outlier for points, due to age.

I'm sure the Flames are putting in a lot of effort projecting Ronni, Zary and Kerins because one of them will need Backlund's job in 2-3 years. Ronni for sure I would say, Zary I haven't seen enough of to comment and Kerins is still at the work-in-progress stage.

Compher is likely a close comparison. But he's only 28. 5 x $5.1. So if Backlund gets near $20mil for 4 years I will definitely be wondering why we didn't take a swing at Compher, who also plays RW and is stalwart defensively, like Backlund.

Staal's a decent comparable, but at the very low end I think. A few years back he'd have been a near identical comparison, but his O has significantly diminished. Which is something we need to be very wary of with Backlund. In 2 yrs he should be a 4C. And paid as one. Some older players are succeeding, but they're the exception, not the rule.

 

I worry less about the term than the AAV.  4 years is a long time for sure, but anything close to his current salary AAV is going to kill us and should.  We aren't looking at a former scoring C and want to reward him, nor are we in the business of setting up a retirement fund.  He deserves no more than what he is worth on the open market.  Even that may be considered high since you don't have to overpay a UFA to come here.

 

When I look at his stats, I see a lot of impact when he played with Tkachuk, but not as much with Mangiapane.  That's a bit odd.  Mange scores 35 and Backlund has an average assist number.  This past year, Mange scores far less and Backlund has a career assist number and carreer total.  We are likely to see a similar line of Mange and Coleman this year, so Mange might rebound and Backlund drop?

 

Regardless of having the next Backlund available in prospects, we have to plan for the replacement.  JT might have been a good option, but we had a GM frozen in place.  Zero risk game.  Unwilling to lose a trade to make us better long term.  I'm fine with that assuming there is a well thought out plan not just a didn't know what to do plan.

[conundrumed]

Sounds ideal to me. Should cut down on my venting...

 

[travel_dude]

4 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Sounds ideal to me. Should cut down on my venting...

 

 

The better passing down low tonight was an improvement.

The pursuit after a shot was there too.

[The_Tribal Chief]

the shot Accuracy was also alot better tonight aswell

[Thebrewcrew]

Hopefully he’s ok. It didn’t look great.

 

 

[conundrumed]

Looked like a dislocated shoulder the way he was bent over with his left shoulder and arm down leaving the ice.

[Thebrewcrew]

28 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Looked like a dislocated shoulder the way he was bent over with his left shoulder and arm down leaving the ice.

Either a shoulder or collarbone.

 

Would be a bummer.

[JTech780]

Looks like Pelletier tried stop up/change direction and really didn’t give Studenic many options. Just an unfortunate collision. Hopefully he ok. 

[rocketdoctor]

arrgh that does not look good for Pelletier.  Damn that's unfortunate

[conundrumed]

I was kinda looking forward to watching all of the young prospects in Seattle, but it wasn't televised. By stats, looks like they were dominated by a vet team, but Vladar for the shootout win! Outshot 37-21.

Well worth pointing out Solovyov having 1g/1a last night. Can't wait to see him.

I think both rosters that we ran last night would have a 50/50 game vs each other.

Likely unfair for 1st preseason game, but in a heightened role, I'm not sure if Mangiapane is uncoordinated or his coordination is just really awkward. We really need Rosie to take that 2LW spot now with Pelts likely out for at least a few weeks.

In other former Sting news, Chychrun was a Blockchaining machine vs the Leafs. Love to see it. Hopefully his career is back on track. Outside of the 2 goals, he made a ton of great plays defensively and outlet passes. Likely the best player on the ice in that game. He was a beast. TML got to see what a real top dman looks like.lol

2 more years at $4.6...if he had played jr for SSM Dubas would have been all over him. We should all be thankful.