How Many Players Away Do You Think the Flames Are?

[North East Goon]

We need youth, we need a changing of the guard!!!

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

At least 20. This team is not a contender.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

i dunno. Flames look like the leafs about 5 years ago.

it depends on how we handle our "sundin" type player(s).

I think they are still in a way better position. The Flames have good players that they could sell off (if they choose to) plus they at least have some good prospects


The leafs 5 years ago really had nothing going for them. No good prospects, very few valuable players

[EddyBeers]

Originally Posted by neo45

I think they are still in a way better position. The Flames have good players that they could sell off (if they choose to) plus they at least have some good prospects


The leafs 5 years ago really had nothing going for them. No good prospects, very few valuable players

I am not sure, outside of goaltending this team http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/l...000382008.html looks very similar to the Flames. They had some young prospects worth being excited about:

Tlusty, Steen, Stajan, White, Wellwood, Colaiacovvo

They had some vets with some trade value:

Sundin, Antropov, Kaberle, Blake, Gill, McCabe

And they had some decent prospects in the system:

Kulemin, Reimer, Gunnarson, Frattin, Stalhberg

Pretty similar teams in my opinion.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by EddyBeers

I am not sure, outside of goaltending this team http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/l...000382008.html looks very similar to the Flames. They had some young prospects worth being excited about:

Tlusty, Steen, Stajan, White, Wellwood, Colaiacovvo

They had some vets with some trade value:

Sundin, Antropov, Kaberle, Blake, Gill, McCabe

And they had some decent prospects in the system:

Kulemin, Reimer, Gunnarson, Frattin, Stalhberg

Pretty similar teams in my opinion.

The next season they even added Stempniak...

Oh god...

[polak]

- 1 solid goaltender.

Kipper is too old to be our only option in goal. We need someone to start taking some games off his plate. I can't see this team going any where until we have a legitimate back up.

- 1 top 4 D-Men.

Gio, Wideman and J-Bo are all legitimate top 4 guys. No one else on our team is though so we need one more.

- 1 consistent 35+ goal scorer.

Iginla is no longer a star. I think we all see it and are coming to terms with it. Not his fault and he shouldn't be expected to carry a team at his age. We need to find someone to replace him. He is still definitely a top 6 player though.

- 1st line center

Backlund has shown that he has the potential to be a solid #2/1b guy. But I can't see him become anything more then a Daymond Langkow (in his prime obviously) and clearly the Flames could really use someone a step above.

- 1 first line winger

Basically, we have a plethora of second line guys. Tangs, Glencross, Hudler are all solid options for the second line while Sven, Backs and Cervenka all have the potential to be solid 2nd line players as well. However, none of these guys (besides Tanguay) have really struck me as top line players for a contender. Tanguay at his prime was without a doubt a 1st line player, we need another guy like that.

So Basically... We're screwed. We need to replace all of our best players with even better players. There is no 1st "team" position that I feel we are at a level where we could be a contender with.

[Poe969]

20 players 5 years

[KOgear]

Basically an entire 1st line, cause we don't really have one right now. If iggy and tanguy were 2nd line, this team would be stanley cup contenders.

[Street Pharmacist]

Great thread idea!

I don't think we are actually that far off, except the pieces we are missing are virtually impossible to acquire.

To be an elite team:

Top line centre
Second line centre
Top pairing defenseman (Bouwmeester just ain't it)
One top line winger
-include toughness in the players mentioned above

To make the playoffs:

Top line center
Top pairing defenseman


I cannot see us acquiring any of these without giving up too much

[$ven27]

5-7.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Great thread idea!

I don't think we are actually that far off, except the pieces we are missing are virtually impossible to acquire.

That's the problem.

The pieces we are missing are the ones that you don't just go out and acquire. They are cornerstones to a solid franchise. That's why I think we're around a decade away from being contenders.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by EddyBeers

I am not sure, outside of goaltending this team http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/l...000382008.html looks very similar to the Flames. They had some young prospects worth being excited about:

Tlusty, Steen, Stajan, White, Wellwood, Colaiacovvo

They had some vets with some trade value:

Sundin, Antropov, Kaberle, Blake, Gill, McCabe

And they had some decent prospects in the system:

Kulemin, Reimer, Gunnarson, Frattin, Stalhberg

Pretty similar teams in my opinion.

Actually maybe they weren't as bad as I thought. Still think the Flames have the better players and better prospect pool though

[CaptainCrunch]

to me 4

A first line center

A nasty physical abraisive line with size.

Sorry 5

A younger Cory Sarich.

[Roof-Daddy]

RE: Another top 4 defenseman

I don't think we need ANOTHER top 4 defenseman.

Bouwmeester, Wideman, Giordano

...and Brodie is developing into one right before our eyes. Adding another one would just rob him of minutes he is rightfully earning, and that isn't a good idea IMO.

You can argue that we need to UPGRADE one of our current top 4 d-men, but adding one is just going to bump someone down who shouldn't be based on performance and/or pay grade.

For example, what I mean by that is:

Use Gio/Bouw as a trade piece to add a young(ish) top line center
Then somehow add a defensman who is an upgrade on Gio/Bouw

....free agent market for defensemen this off season is horrific though, so if the Flames try to go this route they should be careful.

[Itse]

About one third of the team.

- 1 star center
- 1 other big center with skill
- 1 other big forward with some scoring touch
- 1 other physical energy player

- 1-2 defensemen

- 1 goalie

[saillias]

A 1st line center -
A 2nd line center -
A 3rd line center

^Need 2/3 of the above to be a real playoff team. Not this mish-mash of wingers playing center. They need to have good faceoff% and be reliable defensively. Shutdown guy, and a scoring threat.

A legitimate bottom pairing.

We need someone better in Bouwmeester's role. Not Wideman, I mean. Wideman was a necesssary piece too, but we need a guy to do what Bouwmeester does, but better.

A real backup.

[ComixZone]

1st line center, 2nd line center...and ya know...some others

That's it. Here's how to fix (bored at work) :

To PIT: Jarome Iginla, Mikael Backlund
To CGY: Olli Matta, Joe Morrow, 1st in '13, 2nd in '14 (conditional 1st in '14 instead if PIT wins cup)

To TOR: Miikka Kiprusoff
To CGY: 2nd in '13, Joe Colborne

To NYI: Michael Cammalleri
To CGY: Nino Niederreiter

Sign Karri Ramo (2 years, 5 million, 2.5 per)
Sign Roman Cervenka (3 years, 3.0 million)
Sign RFA TJ Brodie (4 years, 10 million, 2.5 per)
Sign RFA Leland Irving (1 year, 750k)
Sign RFA Joe Colborne (1 year, 900k)

Draft (3rd overall): Aleksander Barkov (C)
Draft (30th overall from PIT): Robert Hagg (D)
Draft (40th'ish overall from TOR): Juuso Ikonen (RW)


Offer Ryan Getzlaf: 6 years, 52.8 million (8.8 per)
Offer Valtteri Filppula: 4 years, 16 million (4.0 per)

FORWARDS
Alex Tanguay ($3.500m) / Ryan Getzlaf ($8.800m) / Valtteri Filppula ($4.000m)
Jiri Hudler ($4.000m) / Matt Stajan ($3.500m) / Roman Cervenka ($3.000m)
Curtis Glencross ($2.550m) / Aleksander Barkov ($3.225m) / Lee Stempniak ($2.500m)
Sven Baertschi ($1.425m) / Joe Colborne ($0.900m) / Nino Niederreiter ($2.795m)
Tim Jackman ($0.613m)

DEFENSEMEN
Mark Giordano ($4.020m) / Jay Bouwmeester ($6.680m)
T.J. Brodie ($2.500m) / Dennis Wideman ($5.250m)
Derek Smith ($0.775m) / Joe Morrow ($0.894m)
Cory Sarich ($2.000m) /

GOALTENDERS
Karri Ramo ($2.500m)
Leland Irving ($0.700m)

Good team for 2013/2014 and the youth in the system will be the best it has ever been thanks to the last few years:

Aleksander Barkov (C)
Sven Baertschi (LW)
John Gaudreau (LW)
Olli Maatta (D)
Juuso Ikonen (RW)
Joe Morrow (D)
Robert Hagg (D)
Nino Niederreiter (RW)
Joe Colborne (C)
Mark Jankowski (C)
Markus Granlund (LW/C)
Pat Sieloff (D)

..yep, it's that easy.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

1st line center, 2nd line center...and ya know...some others

That's it. Here's how to fix (bored at work) :

To PIT: Jarome Iginla, Mikael Backlund
To CGY: Olli Matta, Joe Morrow, 1st in '13, 2nd in '14 (conditional 1st in '14 instead if PIT wins cup)

To TOR: Miikka Kiprusoff
To CGY: 2nd in '13, Joe Colborne

To NYI: Michael Cammalleri
To CGY: Nino Niederreiter

Sign Karri Ramo (2 years, 5 million, 2.5 per)
Sign Roman Cervenka (3 years, 3.0 million)
Sign RFA TJ Brodie (4 years, 10 million, 2.5 per)
Sign RFA Leland Irving (1 year, 750k)
Sign RFA Joe Colborne (1 year, 900k)

Draft (3rd overall): Aleksander Barkov (C)
Draft (30th overall from PIT): Robert Hagg (D)
Draft (40th'ish overall from TOR): Juuso Ikonen (RW)


Offer Ryan Getzlaf: 6 years, 52.8 million (8.8 per)
Offer Valtteri Filppula: 4 years, 16 million (4.0 per)

FORWARDS
Alex Tanguay ($3.500m) / Ryan Getzlaf ($8.800m) / Valtteri Filppula ($4.000m)
Jiri Hudler ($4.000m) / Matt Stajan ($3.500m) / Roman Cervenka ($3.000m)
Curtis Glencross ($2.550m) / Aleksander Barkov ($3.225m) / Lee Stempniak ($2.500m)
Sven Baertschi ($1.425m) / Joe Colborne ($0.900m) / Nino Niederreiter ($2.795m)
Tim Jackman ($0.613m)

DEFENSEMEN
Mark Giordano ($4.020m) / Jay Bouwmeester ($6.680m)
T.J. Brodie ($2.500m) / Dennis Wideman ($5.250m)
Derek Smith ($0.775m) / Joe Morrow ($0.894m)
Cory Sarich ($2.000m) /

GOALTENDERS
Karri Ramo ($2.500m)
Leland Irving ($0.700m)

Good team for 2013/2014 and the youth in the system will be the best it has ever been thanks to the last few years:

Aleksander Barkov (C)
Sven Baertschi (LW)
John Gaudreau (LW)
Olli Maatta (D)
Juuso Ikonen (RW)
Joe Morrow (D)
Robert Hagg (D)
Nino Niederreiter (RW)
Joe Colborne (C)
Mark Jankowski (C)
Markus Granlund (LW/C)
Pat Sieloff (D)

..yep, it's that easy.

Many issues for/against any trade in there, no way Charles Wang takes Cammy's salary

[CSharp]

As of last night's game and from the Vancouver game, the Flames are far too many players. Too many are just passengers or not the right pieces for the Flames to even build upon. Players like Tanguay, GlenX, Camellari, Jackman, and Gio should be ashamed of themselves.

Guys like Comeau and Butler shouldn't even be on the team. Irving is not even NHL ready.

[Fuji]

I think we are very close. Getting that #1 centre who is reliable in faceoffs and puck possession is so key. It changes the dynamics of the game greatly. Feaster knows it, but like everyone says, #1 centre's don't come cheap, unless you find a needle in a haystack like Adam Oates or something. But really, if we get the #1C we are definitely in the running for a playoff spot!!!