So after a pretty lengthy time away (for the most part), I'm finally feeling less emotionally charged from the playoff letdown and ready to try to be a bit more pragmatic in my approach to the flames offseason and roster shuffle.
My takeaways from the flames playoff flame out was that:
- Gaudreau is what he is, elite talent, but if a team makes a point to finish their checks on him, he'll just avoid battling for the puck, and he becomes more or less ineffective. An ineffective Gaudreau, basically results in an ineffective Monahan/Lindholm. That's a bit of a knock on those guys, but at the same time, it's no secret that Gaudreau is the dynamic element to that line.
- The flames forward depth, which was considered a strength in the NHL regular season, proved to be meaningless in the playoffs. If the top line isn't going, there are no real offensive "drivers" to generate chances and momentum. I was severely disappointed in Tkachuk's inability to really do anything in the playoffs, and I am pointing the finger at him, as I expected more from him than his line mates (Backlund, and whoever plays RW).
- Bill Peters basically stopped doing the things that made him successful earlier in the season. Not afraid to mix up lines, quick promotions/demotions based on quality of play was reaping real benefits for the first half of the season but became unheard of for the latter half of the playoffs. The flames never seemed to recover from the all star break, and I didn't really see anything from the coaching staff to try something to stimulate a change. I also thought that Peters really struggled in the playoffs and seemed shell shocked making no real adjustments.
So in no real order here are my thoughts for the offseason:
1) The core is what we're going to win or lose with at this point. I don't think they can rip big chunks out of that, so they are better off in trying to augment the core, and have basically 2-3 years to ride things out before cycling back to a rebuild/retool if they choose to move on from the Monahan/Gaudreau era.
2) Tradable assets (outside of picks and minor league prospects):
- Brodie or Hamonic (As much as Brodie gets dumped on, and as 'stable' as Hamonic seems, I think I'd be fine with either to go if it can help the other gaps on the roster. I'd love to have a nasty, hard hitting, get in all the scrums, kind of stay at home dman, but I don't think Hamonic is what I was hoping for in this role. If Hamonic brings back more in a trade, then so be it).
- Frolik*
- Jankowski
- Stone*
- czarnik
* It would be great to simply get these contracts off the books.
Oh, and naturally Neal is on this list but I think it's basically an impossible contract to move unless we add a high value incentive, which I just don't think the flames can afford.
3) This team needs an actual scoring threat second line. Avs shutdown Gaudreau, and the entire team offence basically collapsed after that. I would prefer to see an upgrade at the 2C position, pushing Backlund to 3C, Ryan to 4C, however, if that is not possible, I would be intrigued in trying lindholm at the 2C spot and trying to improve the top 6 RW. At C, I would love to see a guy like Kadri, but am hopeful that there are other alternatives out there they can pursue. If they try to bring in a winger, I think there are plenty of options that are an improvement on what they have today.
4) Love Tkachuk, but I would be very very interested in a bridge deal. I haven't really seen a top line player their, but a damn good 2nd line player, but with some definite warts. Again, I look at the window being about 3 years before the flames really need to decide what to do with this core, and I think that includes Tkachuk (ie. is he one of the 3 or so players on an NHL roster that get close to that $10M/year cornerstone money). I'm not sure the flames can be sure of that as yet, not to mention I think Tkachuk is going to be a bit of an ugly negotiation. So, go short, try to use the few million saved on making the most of the next 3 years roster wise.
5) Goaltending... It was awesome to see Mike Smith raise his game, but man it's getting annoying not knowing what goaltending this team is going to get night in and night out. I think the flames have to go with a tandem approach, as I am also not sure what Rittich is at this point. I think a guy like Talbot would be an ideal fit here.
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