With the draft lottery complete, the setup for the offseason is one step to being more clear. The flame’s highest pick (assuming no trades to move up or acquire picks in the upcoming draft) will be 18th overall and their 2nd highest pick could either be 22nd overall (if Toronto beats Florida) or between 29th and 32nd overall (if Florida beats Toronto). No matter where the Florida pick ends up, I would love it if Conroy found a way to package those picks to move up in the draft if there is a high upside center available in that spot.
Really hoping the flames trade Andersson this offseason. Most importantly, I want to continue to see a progression towards young players getting opportunities at key roles next season. Trading Andersson without looking for a free agent signing to replace him would be a good step in that direction.
The flames surprised a lot of teams this year and deserve a lot of credit for fighting hard to the end. But I would like to see players like Zary, Coronato, Klapka and Parekh in even more key positions and let the chips fall where they may next season. That means things like the following:
-No veteran PTOs or big free agent signings
-Zary back at centre and playing with scoring talent on his wings - preferably Coronato.
-Parekh quarterbacking the top powerplay unit.
-Klapka playing further up the line up.
-Zary, Coronato and Parekh getting opportunities in overtime (not just 30 seconds).
-Backlund and Coleman (if he is not traded) being the core of the fourth line that can mentor a young player like Stromgren - have Lomberg sit some games to give young players a shot.
-Frost taking Backlund’s role as the shutdown/3rd line centre.
-Calling up young players when injuries happen instead of having vets play through injury for weeks to months (e.g. injuries to Backlund and Andersson)
They did most of these things sporadically but infrequently last season. I just want to see more of it. If it means more losses, that is ok as long as the young players are developing. Don’t want an entitled group or a group that gets comfortable losing… keep that competitive, hungry spirit from this season but keep increasing the roles of the young players in that effort.
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