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Savvy27 · 07-25-2021, 07:45 AM

1. Was the Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk line for real? Once these three players were put together, the team scored 3 goals per game and only gave up 2 goals per game. I loved watching them and am excited to see what they can do next season. Unless it is for Eichel, I wouldn't be trading any of these guys. Sutter himself acknowledged that the team would have won more games if he put them together earlier. In my opinion, the Flames have 3 high end 1st line players and Tkachuk was really good on the RW.

2. How will they improve the powerplay? As confident as I am in the Flames 5v5 game under Sutter (very confident), they are going to need to have a lethal powerplay to make up for a lack of overall firepower and superstars. Giordano is gone and was their only good powerplay quarterback. How will he be replaced? The 4 fowards are pretty good, but there is no one timer that is going to scare any teams and while Rasmus has a cannon, it didn't translate to a good powerplay last year. Mangiapane has a good one timer, so it'll be interesting to see if he moves to PP1 this season.

3. Who plays on the 2nd line? Mangiapane is a given and Monahan doesn't fit anywhere else if he's still around. Dube is an option, though he hasn't proven to be a good top 6 player yet. Nobody else in the organization even seem close. A free agent or trade target makes sense and would allow the rest of the team to slot better. Dube and Pitlick on the third line pushes Lucic down to the fourth, where he should be at this stage.

Unfortunately it seems like every top 6 RW who could move already has. The second line is incomplete and this is where I would allocate the cap space from Gio.

Gaudreau Lindholm Tkachuk
Mangiapane Monahan ???
Dube Backlund Pitlick

4. Is a Valimaki-Tanev pairing viable? Losing Giordano was rough and the D core is going to be tested. Hanifin and Andersson are a good pairing and I expect them to be back together from Sutter's year end comments. Barring outside help (and given the insane prices for top 4 D men, I don't expect much external help) the Flames need to promote someone into the top 4.

Valimaki is the guy, in my opinion. He struggled mightily last season and was even a healthy scratch at times, yet he ended up with some decent results after Sutter took over. In 20 games he had a 56% corsi rating and 58% goal share (+3) in sheltered minutes but playing with Stone or Nestorov.

He finally stayed healthy and he will be 23 years old once the season starts. He showed flashes as a rookie that he could be a dynamic and effective Dman. I want to see them place him on a pair with an exceptional veteran and partner in Tanev as an opportunity for him to flourish a la Hughes. Bringing in Edler or Forbort to play ahead of him would be a mistake. This is what he was drafted for.

HM questions:
Who will back up Markstrom?
Will any prospects make the team?

07-25-2021, 07:45 AM	#38
Savvy27 #1 Goaltender Join Date: Sep 2002 Exp:	1. Was the Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk line for real? Once these three players were put together, the team scored 3 goals per game and only gave up 2 goals per game. I loved watching them and am excited to see what they can do next season. Unless it is for Eichel, I wouldn't be trading any of these guys. Sutter himself acknowledged that the team would have won more games if he put them together earlier. In my opinion, the Flames have 3 high end 1st line players and Tkachuk was really good on the RW. 2. How will they improve the powerplay? As confident as I am in the Flames 5v5 game under Sutter (very confident), they are going to need to have a lethal powerplay to make up for a lack of overall firepower and superstars. Giordano is gone and was their only good powerplay quarterback. How will he be replaced? The 4 fowards are pretty good, but there is no one timer that is going to scare any teams and while Rasmus has a cannon, it didn't translate to a good powerplay last year. Mangiapane has a good one timer, so it'll be interesting to see if he moves to PP1 this season. 3. Who plays on the 2nd line? Mangiapane is a given and Monahan doesn't fit anywhere else if he's still around. Dube is an option, though he hasn't proven to be a good top 6 player yet. Nobody else in the organization even seem close. A free agent or trade target makes sense and would allow the rest of the team to slot better. Dube and Pitlick on the third line pushes Lucic down to the fourth, where he should be at this stage. Unfortunately it seems like every top 6 RW who could move already has. The second line is incomplete and this is where I would allocate the cap space from Gio. Gaudreau Lindholm Tkachuk Mangiapane Monahan ??? Dube Backlund Pitlick 4. Is a Valimaki-Tanev pairing viable? Losing Giordano was rough and the D core is going to be tested. Hanifin and Andersson are a good pairing and I expect them to be back together from Sutter's year end comments. Barring outside help (and given the insane prices for top 4 D men, I don't expect much external help) the Flames need to promote someone into the top 4. Valimaki is the guy, in my opinion. He struggled mightily last season and was even a healthy scratch at times, yet he ended up with some decent results after Sutter took over. In 20 games he had a 56% corsi rating and 58% goal share (+3) in sheltered minutes but playing with Stone or Nestorov. He finally stayed healthy and he will be 23 years old once the season starts. He showed flashes as a rookie that he could be a dynamic and effective Dman. I want to see them place him on a pair with an exceptional veteran and partner in Tanev as an opportunity for him to flourish a la Hughes. Bringing in Edler or Forbort to play ahead of him would be a mistake. This is what he was drafted for. HM questions: Who will back up Markstrom? Will any prospects make the team?