Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Flames Disfunctional Line-up

Goriders · 06-27-2014, 10:50 AM

I think a big issue Treliving's going to have is rearranging the line-up. I honestly think we have a number of quality young players now. More than most people give us credit for. But if you look at the current line-up and the guys knocking at the door we have surplusses in certain areas and shortages in others.

We have a surplus of centers (Stajan, Monahan, Backlund, Colborne, Bouma, Byron, Granlund, Reinhart, Arnold, Knight) and I'm guessing we're going to be adding another one today. We have so many centers a number of them were playing wing last year. This is what puzzled me when they resigned Stajan. I'm guessing they did that to mentor the young guys. But it didn't help eleviate the log jam. I'm also guessing if there are any trades in the near future that one of the above group will be leaving. My guess would be Backlund. Just because he's the most developed right now. But I'm also guessing he's not goign to be a good fit in a year or two if Monahan, Colborne and who ever we draft today keep developing.

The other area that is borderline rediculous is on the wing. I think we have roughly 9 left wingers that have legit chances to play with the big club in the next year or two (Hudler, Glencross, Gaudreau, Beartschi, Wolf, Poirier, Klimchuk, Agostino, Ferland). I'm assuming they will also resign Westgarth. Pretty sure Galiardi will not be back. Also guessing Cammalleri will be gone. Hudler can play right wing, which helps. But this is the other group that could have some trade bait. My guess would be Baertschi, Hudler and Glencross at the end of the year.

Right wing has the opposite issue. No real true right wingers. Hudler is interchangeable. But after that it's fairly weak. (Jones, McGratten, Hanowski). Pretty sad. I'm guessing some of the centers or left wingers are going to be converted to right wing because of this. Probably guys like Byron if resigned and Reinhart. I think this is our biggest roster need. No trade bait here. We don't even have enough to field a team.

We seem to have a fairly good defensive core and some proopects coming up. But a lot of them seem to come from the same mold. Wideman, Brodie, Russell and Billins all seem to be puck moving non-physical d-men. Giordano and Smid are probably our only truly physical d-men. Maybe Wotherspoon. But they're not overly large players. My guess is they'll probably move one of the puck movers. I'd guess Wideman would be the one that doesn't fit. I'm also predicting that they will pick up an older physical d-man in free agency. Murray, Orkpik, Mitchell or someone like that.

In net we seem to be not too bad with prospects comig up. Ramo played well before he got hurt, Ortio looked alright when he got a chance. MacDonald could be a bridge guy until guys like Gillies show up. We will need another goalie if MacDonald is not resigned.

Should be interesting to see what happens at the draft today. Another center that's borderline ready could compound an already existing issue. But right wing is by far the biggest problem right now. I'm guessing there will be a few moves before the start of the season to try and re-balance things.

But having said al lof this. If we have a good draft today I think we'll probably have the most promising group of young prospects I'm seen in the last 10 years. Mainly because we've never actually had any promising young players. Hopefully enough of them can develop in the next few years so that we don't have to pick in the top handful every year like the Oilers.

06-27-2014, 10:50 AM	#1
Goriders Franchise Player Join Date: Apr 2014 Exp:	Flames Disfunctional Line-up I think a big issue Treliving's going to have is rearranging the line-up. I honestly think we have a number of quality young players now. More than most people give us credit for. But if you look at the current line-up and the guys knocking at the door we have surplusses in certain areas and shortages in others. We have a surplus of centers (Stajan, Monahan, Backlund, Colborne, Bouma, Byron, Granlund, Reinhart, Arnold, Knight) and I'm guessing we're going to be adding another one today. We have so many centers a number of them were playing wing last year. This is what puzzled me when they resigned Stajan. I'm guessing they did that to mentor the young guys. But it didn't help eleviate the log jam. I'm also guessing if there are any trades in the near future that one of the above group will be leaving. My guess would be Backlund. Just because he's the most developed right now. But I'm also guessing he's not goign to be a good fit in a year or two if Monahan, Colborne and who ever we draft today keep developing. The other area that is borderline rediculous is on the wing. I think we have roughly 9 left wingers that have legit chances to play with the big club in the next year or two (Hudler, Glencross, Gaudreau, Beartschi, Wolf, Poirier, Klimchuk, Agostino, Ferland). I'm assuming they will also resign Westgarth. Pretty sure Galiardi will not be back. Also guessing Cammalleri will be gone. Hudler can play right wing, which helps. But this is the other group that could have some trade bait. My guess would be Baertschi, Hudler and Glencross at the end of the year. Right wing has the opposite issue. No real true right wingers. Hudler is interchangeable. But after that it's fairly weak. (Jones, McGratten, Hanowski). Pretty sad. I'm guessing some of the centers or left wingers are going to be converted to right wing because of this. Probably guys like Byron if resigned and Reinhart. I think this is our biggest roster need. No trade bait here. We don't even have enough to field a team. We seem to have a fairly good defensive core and some proopects coming up. But a lot of them seem to come from the same mold. Wideman, Brodie, Russell and Billins all seem to be puck moving non-physical d-men. Giordano and Smid are probably our only truly physical d-men. Maybe Wotherspoon. But they're not overly large players. My guess is they'll probably move one of the puck movers. I'd guess Wideman would be the one that doesn't fit. I'm also predicting that they will pick up an older physical d-man in free agency. Murray, Orkpik, Mitchell or someone like that. In net we seem to be not too bad with prospects comig up. Ramo played well before he got hurt, Ortio looked alright when he got a chance. MacDonald could be a bridge guy until guys like Gillies show up. We will need another goalie if MacDonald is not resigned. Should be interesting to see what happens at the draft today. Another center that's borderline ready could compound an already existing issue. But right wing is by far the biggest problem right now. I'm guessing there will be a few moves before the start of the season to try and re-balance things. But having said al lof this. If we have a good draft today I think we'll probably have the most promising group of young prospects I'm seen in the last 10 years. Mainly because we've never actually had any promising young players. Hopefully enough of them can develop in the next few years so that we don't have to pick in the top handful every year like the Oilers.