Quote:
Originally Posted by Goriders
Was reading an article and I agreed with the point it was trying to make as I have thought the same thing. We are loading up on draft picks the last couple of years and most likely the next year or two as well.
The problem that is going to create is where do you put all of them. How do you keep them all motivated to stay in the organization if they don’t see anywhere to go?
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That's actually a really good question, and I think it deserves a good answer. Of course I'm not connected to the organization in any way, but I'll try to answer by using my noggin to the best of my ability.
At the moment, according to Capwages, the Flames have 45 players under contract, plus Zary as an RFA, and another 20 on their reserve list. They've drafted eight players in seven rounds twice in a row now, so that isn't really a serious excess in quantity, but their picks have been strikingly good and they're getting a lot of quality in a hurry.
This year, everything seems to be under control, with 23 players on the NHL roster and 23 in the AHL + ECHL (not counting players on AHL-only contracts). So it looks like they're in good shape to find ice time for everyone who needs it. I expect Andersson to be traded sooner rather than later, with probably Solovyov or Kuznetsov called up as a replacement.
After this year, Kadri's NMC turns to a partial NTC, and I think he's liable to be moved at that time. Backlund's contract will expire then, if he hasn't been traded to a contender in the meantime. Lomberg, Kirkland, Bean, and Miromanov will also be UFAs off the main roster, and Bishop, Solovyov, and Cooley from the farm. Coleman probably gets moved when Kadri does, if not at the deadline this season. So that opens up as many as 10 roster spots between the NHL and AHL clubs. (Possibly Backlund re-signs for another year to mentor young forwards.) There should be no problem accommodating all the kids coming up in the summer of 2026.
After that, things do get clogged up a bit, because nearly all the current veterans (except Weegar and Huberdeau) will be gone, and it will come to hard choices between young players. The summer of 2027, just before the new arena opens, will be the first real pinch point. I'm hoping Conroy does as well with that as he did with the tear-down.
Conroy will probably have to trade some prospects just to open up roster space, but that will give him plenty of scope to fill whatever roster holes the team has then. I expect the priority will be to continue acquiring centres, hoping one of them can be developed into the top-line player the team needs. I expect to see a number of promising young players traded away and succeeding elsewhere, and certain CPers having meltdowns because of it. But overall, it's the approach I would prefer.
In the nature of things, with a 50-contract limit, you can have a short fat pipeline or a long thin pipeline, but you can't have a long fat pipeline – there aren't enough roster spots. A short fat pipeline gives you the opportunity to graduate more prospects per year, producing a surplus that you can trade away for extra picks to keep the pipeline filled up. The Red Wings in their dynasty days opted for a long thin pipeline, ‘overcooking’ their prospects, but for both financial and market reasons, I don't think that's a viable option here in the long run.
I would prefer to see the Flames lean into their skill at drafting and developing, even if it means some of that talent is going to be developed for the benefit of other teams. It gives them the luxury of trading quantity for quality, getting the best player in a deal even if they are overpaying in terms of potential. I actually think they can do better by lengthening the build-up phase of the rebuild, recycling one year's prospects into another year's picks, than by trying to bottom out hard and then build back up in a hurry.
I don't think this is a definitive answer by any means, but it's the one that comes to me when I see the question.