Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - 2021 Off season: You're in charge, what would you do?

Savvy27 · 05-23-2021, 12:25 AM

I strongly believe that the Flames should pursue a trade for Eichel to get some elite talent. However, since that remains pretty unlikely because many teams will be thinking the same thing, here is my attempt at a roster.

Forwards

Gaudreau ----------- Lindholm ---------- Tkachuk
6.75M (5'9/165) --- 4.85M (6'1/195) --- 7.00M (6'2/202)
Zary ----------------- Monahan ---------- Mangiapane
.925M (6'0/188) --- 6.375M (6'2/200) --- 2.425M (5'10/184)
Lucic ------------------- Backlund --------- Dube
5.25M (6'3/231) --- 5.35M (6'0/200) --- 2.25M (5'11/187)
Ruzicka ------------- Getzlaf ----------- Leivo
.802M (6'4/202) --- 2.00M (6'3/228) --- .875M (6'2/192)
Phillips
.750M (5'7/140)

I'll put the explanation in a spoiler tag because this post is way too long and I'll leave the long version for anyone interested.

Spoiler!

Not a ton of new players from outside of the organization but a lot of subtraction. Ryan, Ritchie, Nordstrom, Rinaldo, and Simon all walk away. I like Ryan a lot, but he is older, not very fast, and not big, so I have replaced him with Ryan Getzlaf. I realize that this is also unlikely and I am banking on his Hitmen connection, Sutter connection (Sutter was an advisor for a couple years with the Ducks), and that he would play on the 2nd PP unit, but this is just for fun and I'd be pumped if he was the Flames Spezza/Thornton/Simmonds signing this year.

Given the flat salary cap, this season they should give Zary/Pelletier/Phillips a chance on a scoring line with Monahan and Mangiapane. Shelter them away from tough matchups when you can and hope that Mangiapane can carry that line a bit.

Leivo - had some bad luck this season and was still recovering from a major injury, seems to click before he got COVID. Would give him a do over at same salary.

Ruzicka/Phillips - both have a few years of pro under their belts and should be pushing for roster spots this season. I'm sick of guys like Nordstrom and Ritchie.

Zary - he's a pretty impressive scorer. Here are two players in the WHL in the prior two seasons:
Player A
2018-19: 63GP-24G-43A-67P
2019-20: 57GP-38G-48A-86P

Player B
2018-19: 68GP-34G-50A-84P
2019-20: 51GP-38G-47A-85P

Player A is Zary and Player B is Dylan Cozens. Cozens is 7 months older and his seasons were his 3rd and 4th years of junior (Draft year and Draft +1 year) while Zary's were his 2nd and 3rd (Draft -1 year and Draft year). Add his 7 points in 9 AHL games and his 1.6PPG pace in the WHL this season and I think Zary is kind of underrated as a prospect and a guy who might be able to crack the line up.

Jakob Pelletier - also a good prospect, but given he is only 5'10 170 lbs, I think that he will probably face more of an adjustment to pro hockey than Zary and I am predicting he will spend some time in the minors like Dube and Mangiapane. He's certainly had a very impressive season and I thought he was great at the WJC, so who knows.

Defense

Giordano ------ Tanev
6.75M (6'1/200) ------ 4.5M (6'2/197)
Hanifin ------ Andersson
4.95M (6'3/215) ------ 4.55M (6'1/214)
Valimaki ------ DeAngelo
1.75M (6'2/197) ------ 2.00M (5'11/180)
Mackey
.925M (6'2/190)

The Flames need to add offense to their D core. Inside the spoiler I compare the Flames offensive output from the D under Sutter to Vegas and Colorado and the results aren't pretty. Not an ideal choice, but with the little cap space they have I don't see Hamilton coming here and I couldn't even fit Montour.

Spoiler!

Goalies
Markstrom
6.00M
Raanta
1.75M

Spoiler!

Total Cap Hit: 80,026,666 on Cap Friendly.

Again, I know that Getzlaf and DeAngelo are unlikely for a variety of reasons. Just taking a stab at it.

05-23-2021, 12:25 AM	#319
Savvy27 #1 Goaltender Join Date: Sep 2002 Exp:	I strongly believe that the Flames should pursue a trade for Eichel to get some elite talent. However, since that remains pretty unlikely because many teams will be thinking the same thing, here is my attempt at a roster. Forwards Gaudreau ----------- Lindholm ---------- Tkachuk 6.75M (5'9/165) --- 4.85M (6'1/195) --- 7.00M (6'2/202) Zary ----------------- Monahan ---------- Mangiapane .925M (6'0/188) --- 6.375M (6'2/200) --- 2.425M (5'10/184) Lucic ------------------- Backlund --------- Dube 5.25M (6'3/231) --- 5.35M (6'0/200) --- 2.25M (5'11/187) Ruzicka ------------- Getzlaf ----------- Leivo .802M (6'4/202) --- 2.00M (6'3/228) --- .875M (6'2/192) Phillips .750M (5'7/140) I'll put the explanation in a spoiler tag because this post is way too long and I'll leave the long version for anyone interested. Spoiler! Not a ton of new players from outside of the organization but a lot of subtraction. Ryan, Ritchie, Nordstrom, Rinaldo, and Simon all walk away. I like Ryan a lot, but he is older, not very fast, and not big, so I have replaced him with Ryan Getzlaf. I realize that this is also unlikely and I am banking on his Hitmen connection, Sutter connection (Sutter was an advisor for a couple years with the Ducks), and that he would play on the 2nd PP unit, but this is just for fun and I'd be pumped if he was the Flames Spezza/Thornton/Simmonds signing this year. Given the flat salary cap, this season they should give Zary/Pelletier/Phillips a chance on a scoring line with Monahan and Mangiapane. Shelter them away from tough matchups when you can and hope that Mangiapane can carry that line a bit. Leivo - had some bad luck this season and was still recovering from a major injury, seems to click before he got COVID. Would give him a do over at same salary. Ruzicka/Phillips - both have a few years of pro under their belts and should be pushing for roster spots this season. I'm sick of guys like Nordstrom and Ritchie. Zary - he's a pretty impressive scorer. Here are two players in the WHL in the prior two seasons: Player A 2018-19: 63GP-24G-43A-67P 2019-20: 57GP-38G-48A-86P Player B 2018-19: 68GP-34G-50A-84P 2019-20: 51GP-38G-47A-85P Player A is Zary and Player B is Dylan Cozens. Cozens is 7 months older and his seasons were his 3rd and 4th years of junior (Draft year and Draft +1 year) while Zary's were his 2nd and 3rd (Draft -1 year and Draft year). Add his 7 points in 9 AHL games and his 1.6PPG pace in the WHL this season and I think Zary is kind of underrated as a prospect and a guy who might be able to crack the line up. Jakob Pelletier - also a good prospect, but given he is only 5'10 170 lbs, I think that he will probably face more of an adjustment to pro hockey than Zary and I am predicting he will spend some time in the minors like Dube and Mangiapane. He's certainly had a very impressive season and I thought he was great at the WJC, so who knows. Defense Giordano ------ Tanev 6.75M (6'1/200) ------ 4.5M (6'2/197) Hanifin ------ Andersson 4.95M (6'3/215) ------ 4.55M (6'1/214) Valimaki ------ DeAngelo 1.75M (6'2/197) ------ 2.00M (5'11/180) Mackey .925M (6'2/190) The Flames need to add offense to their D core. Inside the spoiler I compare the Flames offensive output from the D under Sutter to Vegas and Colorado and the results aren't pretty. Not an ideal choice, but with the little cap space they have I don't see Hamilton coming here and I couldn't even fit Montour. Spoiler! I was trying to get creative and thought about adding Tony DeAngelo as a buy low option to get some more offense from the defense. Obviously, there are some good reasons to stay away from DeAngelo, but the Flames are in a tight spot here cap-wise and need a boost to the offense from the defense. DeAngelo has scored at a 42 point pace in his career. Might be a bad fit in some ways for Sutter, but he's in the right age category and beggars can't be choosers. Here is the scoring pace of the D under Sutter from last year minus Nestorov: 1. Noah Hanifin - 2G-8A-10PTS in 20 games under Sutter (42 point pace in an 82 game season) 2. Mark Giordano - 6G-7A-13PTS in 30 games (36 point pace) 3. Rasmus Andersson - 2G-5A-7PTS in 30 games (19 point pace) 4. Chris Tanev - 1G-6A-7PTS in 30 games (19 point pace) 5. Michael Stone - 2G-2A-4PTS in 20 games (16 point pace) 6. Juuso Valimaki - 1G-3A-4PTS in 23 games (14 point pace) That makes for a 146 point pace from the defense. Not great and not even close to the class of the Western conference. For example, I took the top 6 point scoring pace of D from Vegas (222 points) and Colorado (251) this season. I do believe that Andersson should be expected to score more because he actually had 21 points in this shortened season, but Giordano might regress and more production from Valimaki on the third pair would be a pleasant surprise but no guarantee. Golden Knights Theodore 8-34-42 (65 points) Martinez 9-23-32 (50 points) [pretty crazy year for Martinez, career average is 29.6] Pietrangelo 7-16-23 (46 points) Hague 5-12-17 (26 points) Whitecloud 2-10-12 (19 points) McNabb 2-6-8 (16 points) Avalanche Makar 8-36-44 (82 points) Girard 5-27-32 (55 points) Toews 9-22-31 (48 points) Graves 2-13-15 (23 points) MacDonald 1-8-9 (24 points) Timmons 0-7-7 (19 points) Goalies Markstrom 6.00M Raanta 1.75M Spoiler! Nothing special about Raanta. I like Finnish goalies and he seems to be out of a job in Arizona. Total Cap Hit: 80,026,666 on Cap Friendly. Again, I know that Getzlaf and DeAngelo are unlikely for a variety of reasons. Just taking a stab at it.