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Goriders · 05-11-2014, 11:06 AM

I think off season could prove to be a very interesting one for the Flames. It'll spell out thier intended path going forward now that Feaster's gone and Burke and Treliving are at the helm.

Treliving is definitely not inheriting the feces sandwich that Feaster inherited when he came on (I think he did a great job of cleaning some of it up). But he's still going to have a few big issues to deal with.

1. His boss, and by the sounds of it he wants a bigger team. A lot of our line-up (Cammalleri, Hudler, Byron, Backlund, Brodie, Russell) and almost all of our most promising prospects (Granlund, Gaudreau, Baertschi, Billins) are smaller, less physical guys.

Not sure how you quickly address this without getting rid of a few of these promising players. I'm guessing the untouchables are Brodie and Gaudreau unless there's an offer that can't be refused. Cammalleri leaving would help with this issue but create another.

Personnally after watching the second half of the year I'm less concerned about this. The Flames played with the league's best teams and were competitive by outworking them. They held thier own physically. And if they can find a way to get guys like Wotherspoon, Breen, Poirier, Ferland, Arnold ect into the line-up I think we'll be okay in terms of size.

2. Salary Cap floor. This is the bigger issue I see. If Cammalleri doesn't come back and we let Butler and Galiardi go (my guess) we'll be around the $44 million dollar level for cap hit. If the floor goes to $51 mill we might have an issue getting there. There are a few free agents who could be getting raised if they're brought back (Colbourne, Byron, Westgarth, Bouma, Breen, Ortio). But probably not $7 mill worth.

I think resigning Cammelleri is going to be one of the priorities for many reasons. He's probably our best pure scorer, and he's a good role model for younger guys. Plus he eliminates the cap issue. I also don't see anyone on the market who's comparible. Which is probably why he'll be gone unless they overpay him.

My big concern on this point is that we have a handful of young guys who I think need time on the big league team to keep developing (Reinhart, Byron, Wotherspoon, Billins, Ortio). I'm hoping we don't start backfilling our line-up with overpaid washed up has beens like we have for the last decade. That's specifically why we're drafting 4th this year.

We're at the bottom right now, I personally think we'd be better off running with our drafted guys and developing them rather than the other option mentioned above. The problem with this is that they don't make enough to get us to the cap floor.

So it'll be very interesting to see what Mr. Treliving and Burke have in store for the franchise. Hope they still re-sign guys like Byron even though he's small. He does nothing but good things when he's on the ice. Personally I hope Butler's back as well. Doubt Galiardi's back.

Stay tuned.

05-11-2014, 11:06 AM	#1
Goriders Franchise Player Join Date: Apr 2014 Exp:	Treliving's Path Forward I think off season could prove to be a very interesting one for the Flames. It'll spell out thier intended path going forward now that Feaster's gone and Burke and Treliving are at the helm. Treliving is definitely not inheriting the feces sandwich that Feaster inherited when he came on (I think he did a great job of cleaning some of it up). But he's still going to have a few big issues to deal with. 1. His boss, and by the sounds of it he wants a bigger team. A lot of our line-up (Cammalleri, Hudler, Byron, Backlund, Brodie, Russell) and almost all of our most promising prospects (Granlund, Gaudreau, Baertschi, Billins) are smaller, less physical guys. Not sure how you quickly address this without getting rid of a few of these promising players. I'm guessing the untouchables are Brodie and Gaudreau unless there's an offer that can't be refused. Cammalleri leaving would help with this issue but create another. Personnally after watching the second half of the year I'm less concerned about this. The Flames played with the league's best teams and were competitive by outworking them. They held thier own physically. And if they can find a way to get guys like Wotherspoon, Breen, Poirier, Ferland, Arnold ect into the line-up I think we'll be okay in terms of size. 2. Salary Cap floor. This is the bigger issue I see. If Cammalleri doesn't come back and we let Butler and Galiardi go (my guess) we'll be around the $44 million dollar level for cap hit. If the floor goes to $51 mill we might have an issue getting there. There are a few free agents who could be getting raised if they're brought back (Colbourne, Byron, Westgarth, Bouma, Breen, Ortio). But probably not $7 mill worth. I think resigning Cammelleri is going to be one of the priorities for many reasons. He's probably our best pure scorer, and he's a good role model for younger guys. Plus he eliminates the cap issue. I also don't see anyone on the market who's comparible. Which is probably why he'll be gone unless they overpay him. My big concern on this point is that we have a handful of young guys who I think need time on the big league team to keep developing (Reinhart, Byron, Wotherspoon, Billins, Ortio). I'm hoping we don't start backfilling our line-up with overpaid washed up has beens like we have for the last decade. That's specifically why we're drafting 4th this year. We're at the bottom right now, I personally think we'd be better off running with our drafted guys and developing them rather than the other option mentioned above. The problem with this is that they don't make enough to get us to the cap floor. So it'll be very interesting to see what Mr. Treliving and Burke have in store for the franchise. Hope they still re-sign guys like Byron even though he's small. He does nothing but good things when he's on the ice. Personally I hope Butler's back as well. Doubt Galiardi's back. Stay tuned.