Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny01
Such a long list of candidates but here is how I rank the top 5
5. Kadri/Lindholm. I don’t think either guy had a horrible year last year. Lindholm had plenty of assists last year but a few more goals would have been nice. Kadri got off to a great start but completely coasted down the stretch. If both are on the team next year they need to be a stronger 1-2 center group
4. Mangiapane. This team needs scoring depth and Mangiapane has shown his ability to put the puck in the net but last year fell off significantly under the weight of a new deal. In order to have a strong top 6 Mangiapane needs to bounce back
3. Markstrom. If Markstrom bounces back this team will almost certainly be at worst on the bubble and at best a top 5-7 team in the league. The presence of Wolf is the only reason he is number 3 and not 2 on my list. That might be overhyping Wolf but I do believe he is the real deal.
2.Kylington. With Hanifin on his way out this team really only has 2 top 4 Dmen signed beyond next year. Kylington coming in and building off his 21/22 campaign would be critical in the long term assuming the Flames can get him signed. This team doesn’t have a ton of near NHL ready D prospects in the system so Kylington becoming a long term piece is critical moving forward.
1. Huberdeau. It has to be Huby considering he is starting the first year of a massive 8 year extension that pays him like a franchise player. Getting back to being a top player is critical to this team wanting any kind of success over the next several years. You simply can’t have a cap hit like that perform like he did last year. Huberdeau did it even live up to his $5.9M cap hit from last year so a huge bounce back is necessary to justify the 10.5 he is now making.
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This list just underlines how incredible it was that this team missed the playoffs by only two points.