Did The Flames Really Get Younger?

[FAN]

Feaster supporters have been praising him for making the team younger. But has the team get younger? The average age of Flames roster in Darryl's last few years have ranked near the oldest in the league. Recent news articles have described the team as one of the oldest in the league. So has the team really gotten younger? I've consistently said that what we've been seeing is merely a matter of course where teams cyclically replace aging UFAs with younger ones starting new long-term contracts.

[DeluxeMoustache]

When you add McGrattan and send Sven and Horak down the average age goes up. And have little net impact on the team as none play key roles or minutes.

Suppose Aliu was in Begin's role. Younger. Not really a big deal either.

Most guys who matter are in that 27-30 range outside of Iggy, Tanguay and Kipper

[flambers]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

When you add McGrattan and send Sven and Horak down the average age goes up. And have little net impact on the team as none play key roles or minutes.

Suppose Aliu was in Begin's role. Younger. Not really a big deal either.

Most guys who matter are in that 27-30 range outside of Iggy, Tanguay and Kipper

Players over 30

Sarich, Iginla, Macdonald, Tanguay, Jackman, McGratton, Begin

Players = 30

Glencross, Stempinak, Cammalleri

Basically 10 out of the 23 man Roster is 30 or over.

Flames are an older team for sure.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by flambers

Players over 30

Sarich, Iginla, Macdonald, Tanguay, Jackman, McGratton, Begin

Players = 30

Glencross, Stempinak, Cammalleri

Basically 10 out of the 23 man Roster is 30 or over.

Flames are an older team for sure.

And if you want to make 30 the break point, ice time leaders among skaters are 30 and under except Iggy and Tanguay.

You have a healthy scratch, backup goalie and the 4th line

[FAN]

Feaster's biggest acquisition last summer (Wideman) will turn 30 in about a week.

[cKy]

Originally Posted by FAN

Feaster's biggest acquisition last summer (Wideman) will turn 30 in about a week.

Plus Hudler is 29 and signed until 2016.

[Enoch Root]

At the start of the season, it was looking like:

Baertschi 20
Jones 26
Irving 24
Bouma 22, and possibly
Horak 21

would be on the team. And that team was middle of the pack for age. Then they essentially replaced those guys with:

Begin 34
McGratton 31 and
MacDonald 33 and kept both of
Sarich 34 and
Babchuk 28

As has been pointed out, the increase has all been 4th liners and backup goalie.

If you look at the roster from 2 years ago, they have replaced all of these 30+ guys:

Jokinen
Morrison
Hagman
Kostopoulos
Regehr
Staios
Kotalik
Conroy
Meyer
Langkow
Ivanans

And they have brought in guys that are mostly in the 26-30 range:
Wideman
Hudler
Jones
Comeau
Stempniak
Butler
Cervenka
Cammalleri (replacing Bourque, so a wash)

as well as the guys listed above

I think the team, as in the key players, is getting younger. But until Baertschi, Bouma, Horak and guys like that take the roster spots of some of the older guys, the stats aren't going to reflect it.

[Enoch Root]

Goalies: 36 and 33
4th line: 34, 31 and 31
press box: 34 and 28

7 guys with an average age of about 33 that aren't your top 9 and top 4

[Phanuthier]

I think its on par with a few years ago... Brodie is the new Gio, Backlund is the new Lombardi (hopefully better) and Sven is the new Phaneuf.... there are young players, yes, and the roster turnover of young players follows a similar path to the 2006-2011 regime.

Oh and Horak is probably the new Dustin Boyd

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by FAN

Feaster's biggest acquisition last summer (Wideman) will turn 30 in about a week.

Ugh. I'm liking Wideman's offensive game, but I can't help but think that contract is going to bite Feaster in the ass.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Ugh. I'm liking Wideman's offensive game, but I can't help but think that contract is going to bite Feaster in the ass.

Most long term contracts do... good for the first half, bad for the 2nd half. Wideman's contract makes sense for some teams depending on which stage the team is.... unfortunately, I think Feaster misread this team to be on playoff tweaner and this would put them solidly in the playoffs, and I don't think the Flames are that good yet.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Ugh. I'm liking Wideman's offensive game, but I can't help but think that contract is going to bite Feaster in the ass.

I didn't like the contract at first. But eventually the cap will start going up again so the contract will be less of a % of the cap.

And of course there's always the chance one of Gio or Bouw is traded and we are spending less money on defense.

I really don't see a lot of bad contracts on the Flames right now. I think they have a lot of flexibility going forward.

[hurtin_albertan]

Originally Posted by flambers

Players over 30

Sarich, Iginla, Macdonald, Tanguay, Jackman, McGratton, Begin

Players = 30

Glencross, Stempinak, Cammalleri

Basically 10 out of the 23 man Roster is 30 or over.

Flames are an older team for sure.

OK, but Sarich is a healthy scratch most of the time (has dressed in 9 games) and plays the #6 defenseman role anyways (13:20 per game). MacDonald is going to see his minutes plummet should Kipper rebound well from his injury so his role will become fairly insignificant. Begin, Jackman, and McGrattan comprise a fourth line and barely see the ice (7:24, 6:11, and 5:52 per game respectively).

There's no denying the Flames are an older team but half of the players you mentioned play roles that really don't matter what age the player is.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I think the team, as in the key players, is getting younger. But until Baertschi, Bouma, Horak and guys like that take the roster spots of some of the older guys, the stats aren't going to reflect it.

The "key" players are nothing but older.

Wideman & Hudler are not "key players", they're support players. Any team relying on them to be your top tier players, will....be exactly where the Flames are now.

Anyway you cut it, the Flames still rely on a 35 year old right winger and a 36 year old goaltender.

Feaster has not infused youth into the roster. The reason why? We don't have any youth that is ready for the NHL level. Unless we draft top 5 this summer and get an instant-impact young player, the same will be said about next year's team. The only glimmer of potential being Baertschi's ability to jump into the lineup, but that would require the Flames making a commitment to him by opening a roster spot (which they don't seem interested in doing, as they continue to play Comeau, Begin and Jackman much to their own detriment).

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Goalies: 36 and 33
4th line: 34, 31 and 31
press box: 34 and 28

7 guys with an average age of about 33 that aren't your top 9 and top 4

But they are part of the team.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Ugh. I'm liking Wideman's offensive game, but I can't help but think that contract is going to bite Feaster in the ass.

Defencemen tend to hit their stride later on than forwards. Wideman may just be hitting his peak. Suter, was the hottest commodity last FA season, and he is 28. Wideman signed until 34 in no way bothers me.

I would be absolutely shocked if he stopped playing at a top 4 level between then and now. It's a solid contract.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Most long term contracts do... good for the first half, bad for the 2nd half. Wideman's contract makes sense for some teams depending on which stage the team is.... unfortunately, I think Feaster misread this team to be on playoff tweaner and this would put them solidly in the playoffs, and I don't think the Flames are that good yet.

We'll probably be fine with the first 2 or 3 years, but yeah, by 4 and 5, I bet we're cursing it.

[FAN]

I think that by the end of Wideman's contract, we would have grown tired of his defensive struggles, complain about his cap hit, and be angry over the fact he has an NMC.

[dying4acup]

The interpretation is so objective. Even using 30 as the standard. Is cammy past his prime, or Bouwmeester? It all depends how u interpret it. Basically: are your favourite guys young or old?

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I think its on par with a few years ago... Brodie is the new Gio, Backlund is the new Lombardi (hopefully better) and Sven is the new Phaneuf.... there are young players, yes, and the roster turnover of young players follows a similar path to the 2006-2011 regime.

Oh and Horak is probably the new Dustin Boyd

Sure would like it if Backlund ended up being a #1 centre on a Playoff team like Lombardi was in 2010-11.

as far as Sven being the new Phanuef!!!! How many rookie of the year votes will Sven be getting this year? Is Sven going to be in the running for the Hart next year....... absolutely no comparison to date. I do not recall Phanuef being sent down to the AHL or even being close.


Boyd had a far far better chance for success than Horak as Boyd was on a team that always had 2-3 bigger tougher guys on the ice whenever Boyd took a shift...... on this team Horak ( and Baertschi for that matter) have no one capable of protecting them.

You left off that Alui is the new Prust..... although Prust was a very good AHL player for a couple of years before he was given a chance to skate with the Flames.