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SuperMatt18 · 06-19-2018, 04:50 PM

Looking back at 5 teams that have won Stanley Cups over the last 10 years or so and the framework required for a contender starts to take shape.

At least two elite forwards, 2 more top end Forwards:

Caps: Ovy, Backstrom, Kuznetzov, Oshie
Pens: Crosby, Kessel, Malkin, Hornqvist
Hawks: Toews, Kane, Hossa, Saad
Kings: Kopitar, Carter, Williams, Brown
Bruins: Bergeron, Krecji, Lucic, Horton

A top pairing, all-situation elite d-man:

Caps: Carlson
Pens: Letang
Hawks: Keith
Kings: Doughty
Bruins: Chara

Strong Goaltending:
Caps: Holtby
Pens: Murray/Fleury
Hawks: Crawford
Kings: Quick
Bruins: Thomas

And to top it off these teams all were great at injecting impact players on an ELC to help take them over the top (Vrana, Guentzel, Sheary, Maata, Saad, Teravainen, Pearson, Toffoli, Seguin, Marchand, etc)

When I look at the Flames and compare them to recent cup winners I see a gap at that 2nd elite forward and goaltending (long term). Plus we may have too much invested in our defense at this point.

We have Gaudreau but then Tkachuk, Monahan, Backlund etc all feel like the 3rd / 4th / 5th best forwards on cup winning teams. I actually feel that Kuznetzov taking the next step and becoming that 2nd elite C (with Backstrom) is the reason the Caps finally took that next step this season. The Flames need a forward to take that next step on our roster too.

On defense we have a lot of good pieces but I think it's possible we invest too much there - really Gio, Hamilton, and one of Brodie/Hamonic should be fine filling up the rest with depth pieces.

Here are the last 4 cup winners with D-men listed by Playoff TOI. Not exactly all-star teams 1 through 6.

Caps: Carlson, Niskanen, Orlov, Kempny, Orpik, Djoos
Pens 17: Dumoulin, Hainsey, Maatta, Schultz, Daley, Cole
Pens 16: Letang, Daley, Dumoulin, Lovejoy. Maatta, Cole
Hawks 15: Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Rozsival, Timonen

In terms of impactful ELC players I do think we have cheap depth coming though - Mangiapane, Dube, Philips, Valimaki, Andersson, Kylington, Fox, Parsons, etc all should be able to come in and fill out the 4th line / bottom d-pairing on their ELCs. Contending with Tkachuk on the final year of his ELC this year would be huge too.

In goal Smith is currently the short term solution that is probably good enough but a true #1 long term would be ideal - it remains to be seen if Rittich, Gillies, or Parsons can take the ball and run with it though.

So really the toughest question becomes how do the Flames find that 2nd elite forward (preferably at center) to really push them into the cup contender status? Draft? Trade a d-man? UFA? Internal Growth? IMO that is the biggest thing keeping them from taking the next step right now.

06-19-2018, 04:50 PM	#1
SuperMatt18 Franchise Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	The Framework of a Cup Contender Looking back at 5 teams that have won Stanley Cups over the last 10 years or so and the framework required for a contender starts to take shape. *At least two elite forwards, 2 more top end Forwards:* Caps: Ovy, Backstrom, Kuznetzov, Oshie Pens: Crosby, Kessel, Malkin, Hornqvist Hawks: Toews, Kane, Hossa, Saad Kings: Kopitar, Carter, Williams, Brown Bruins: Bergeron, Krecji, Lucic, Horton *A top pairing, all-situation elite d-man:* Caps: Carlson Pens: Letang Hawks: Keith Kings: Doughty Bruins: Chara *Strong Goaltending:* Caps: Holtby Pens: Murray/Fleury Hawks: Crawford Kings: Quick Bruins: Thomas And to top it off these teams all were great at injecting impact players on an ELC to help take them over the top (Vrana, Guentzel, Sheary, Maata, Saad, Teravainen, Pearson, Toffoli, Seguin, Marchand, etc) When I look at the Flames and compare them to recent cup winners I see a gap at that 2nd elite forward and goaltending (long term). Plus we may have too much invested in our defense at this point. We have Gaudreau but then Tkachuk, Monahan, Backlund etc all feel like the 3rd / 4th / 5th best forwards on cup winning teams. I actually feel that Kuznetzov taking the next step and becoming that 2nd elite C (with Backstrom) is the reason the Caps finally took that next step this season. The Flames need a forward to take that next step on our roster too. On defense we have a lot of good pieces but I think it's possible we invest too much there - really Gio, Hamilton, and one of Brodie/Hamonic should be fine filling up the rest with depth pieces. Here are the last 4 cup winners with D-men listed by Playoff TOI. Not exactly all-star teams 1 through 6. Caps: Carlson, Niskanen, Orlov, Kempny, Orpik, Djoos Pens 17: Dumoulin, Hainsey, Maatta, Schultz, Daley, Cole Pens 16: Letang, Daley, Dumoulin, Lovejoy. Maatta, Cole Hawks 15: Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Rozsival, Timonen In terms of impactful ELC players I do think we have cheap depth coming though - Mangiapane, Dube, Philips, Valimaki, Andersson, Kylington, Fox, Parsons, etc all should be able to come in and fill out the 4th line / bottom d-pairing on their ELCs. Contending with Tkachuk on the final year of his ELC this year would be huge too. In goal Smith is currently the short term solution that is probably good enough but a true #1 long term would be ideal - it remains to be seen if Rittich, Gillies, or Parsons can take the ball and run with it though. So really the toughest question becomes how do the Flames find that 2nd elite forward (preferably at center) to really push them into the cup contender status? Draft? Trade a d-man? UFA? Internal Growth? IMO that is the biggest thing keeping them from taking the next step right now. Last edited by SuperMatt18; 06-19-2018 at 04:53 PM.