[FBI]

You forgot about Poirier, you don't think he has some higher potential than some of these guys?
(knight?) (granlund?) (baertschi?) (reinhart?) (hanowski?) (ferland?) (Gaudreau?) (Arnold?)

Originally Posted by thymebalm

Well, let's see what parts we have of a championship squad...

Goaltending: D
We need one .910 goalie and one .920 goalie, we have zero. I think it'll take at least 3 years or a major signing or trade to shore up the goaltending.

Ramo - stop gap and potential backup

Berrra - not showing the potential, I don't think he's between the pipes for a Stanley Cup winner.

Ortio - Our best signed goaltending prospect. He's not ready for the NHL, but he could be ready for starts as early as next season. Seeing him in the AHL playoffs will be a good indicator of how close he is to being able to compete in the big leagues. Seeing how he performs during this callup is one thing, but i'm hestitant to use a sample size and situation like this as a testament to his true skill.

Gillies - The Flames best unsigned goalie prospect. He was basically unstoppable until the WJC (which really messed with him and his statline). He's come back down to earth a little bit, but he's still showing that he has the mettle to be a pro goalie. How high his ceiling is is anyone's guess, but he's got the size and he's checked all the boxes along the way so far.

MacDonald - gone, long gone before we are contending.

Sum up: We have maybe one piece. Maybe Ramo/Ortio/Gillies fills one of those spots (likely the backup one) but I don't see the goaltending piece that makes as compete for the cup in 2017..

Defenders: C

Brodie, Giordano
(Russell?) (Wotherspoon?) (Billins?) (Ramage?) (Sieloff?)

We've got two pieces in Gio and Brodie. That's half the top-4. I'm willing to bet that two of the questioned marked guys fill into the bottom six. Wotherspoon and Ramage seem the most likely today. But we are still missing a #1-2 and #3-4. The #3-4 might be had in the Free Agency market, but we are going to need to draft that top line d-man or pay through the nose for one on the trade market.

Forwards: F

Monahan (1-2 center) Backlund (2-3 center) Stajan (3 center)
(knight?) (granlund?) (baertschi?) (reinhart?) (hanowski?) (ferland?) (Gaudreau?) (Arnold?)

That's about it, right?

? - Monahan - ?
? - Backlund - ?
? - Stajan - ?

I think we've probably got three more pieces on the farm. Markus Granlund, Max Reinhart, and one of Corbin Knight or Michael Ferland.

I don't see the top line wingers on the farm or in the system anywhere (Please sign with Calgary, Johnny). We can get maybe one through free agency, but the other 3 are going to need to be draft picks or strong trades. I think Granlund might be able to convert to a top-six winger, and that Reinhart/Knight can be bottom 6 guys.


TLDR -> Still missing 5/6 KEY pieces: 1 starting goalie, 1 top pairing d, 1 mid pairing d, 3/4 top six wingers.

GAUDREAU - MONAHAN - ?
? - BACKLUND - GRANLUND
? - STAJAN - ?
? - ? - ?

GIORDANO - ?
BRODIE - ?
? - ?

?
ORTIO/RAMO

I believe that all those players can be a part of a winner. I'm skeptical of everything else.