2013-2014 Roster

[StrykerSteve]

Been really bored reading the same threads over the past few weeks here on CP, so I wanted to create a new one. Tough to come up with new threads at this time of year, so let's look at next year.

With the Draft on June 30, Jay Feaster has the best opportunity in franchise history to completely change the dynamic of his club's prospect pool, but let's be realistic here, it's very remote that any of those picks are actually going to play for Calgary next season. Abbotsford though, could look very promising with the subtraction/addition of numerous bodies.

If I had to guess, Nemisz, Lamb, Cameron, Aliu, Bancks, Patterson, Irving, Testwuide, Kolanos and Taylor are all unlikely to be re-signed.

Likely replacing them will be Wotherspoon, Granlund, Brossoit, Ramage, Hanowski and one of Berra/Ortio. Add in potential picks from this year's draft and some possible college signings and the Heat could look significantly different next season.

HEAT FORWARDS
Ferland / Granlund / Hanowski
Elson / Walter / Howse
/ Street / Eddy
/ Jones /

HEAT DEFENCEMEN
Ramage / Wotherspoon
Smith / Breen
Martin / Carson

HEAT GOALIES
Brossoit
Berra
Ortio

So that leaves Feaster with the following roster, based on my best-guess for who makes the squad on opening night.

FLAMES FORWARDS
Mike Cammalleri / Mikael Backlund / Lee Stempniak
Alex Tanguay / Matt Stajan / Jiri Hudler
Sven Baertschi / Max Reinhart / Curtis Glencross
Roman Horak / Lance Bouma / Tim Jackman

FLAMES DEFENSEMEN
Dennis Wideman / Mark Giordano
Chris Butler / T.J. Brodie
Cory Sarich/ Mark Cundari

FLAMES GOALTENDERS
Joey MacDonald
Kari Ramo

This isn't pretty, no matter how you slice it. One thing I don't want to see under any circumstance, is Feaster attempt to "upgrade" these slots with Free Agent signings because of the crazy amount of cap space he's going to have. The Flames will have more than 20M in cap freedom.

All this would accomplish, would be to send Baertschi, Horak and Reinhart to the minors, something I'm sure none of us want to see happen.

What I believe needs to happen, is subtraction before addition, via the trading of at least two of the following veterans, Tanguay, Cammalleri, Stajan and Glencross.

Free up some NHL roster spots, then you can start looking at Free Agents and trades, and more importantly, allow your guys to start playing in their natural positions, which simply is not possible with the current setup.

Until then, this is the roster we're stuck with, so let's all get ready for another abysmal season because this roster is going to get hammered all year long.

Spoiler!

Until they need to lose to ensure their top draft pick, at which point they will go on a 9-2-1 run to finish the year.

Thoughts?

[BurningSteel]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

Been really bored reading the same threads over the past few weeks here on CP,

I see what you did there,

[SofaProfessor]

I like the idea of addition through subtraction. Let's be patient here, though. Cory Sarich is a bum but a team looking for defensive depth heading into the playoffs would probably throw away a pick for him. Same with Butler. I'm not interested in free agents being added as a small band only to push developing players like Baertischi and Horak into the AHL again. That's not helpful to anyone. Maybe a decent top 4 defenseman wouldn't be a bad pick up in free agency but I don't see a lot of guys that would fit into the future of this team. We want to keep getting younger so there's no point in picking up a 33 year old guy to plug just one of the many leaks in this ship. It's gonna hurt but Feaster has to be patient, let this play out and do it right.

[Roof-Daddy]

If Horton makes it to free agency, I'd say there's a pretty good chance the Flames take a serious run at him. He brings a lot of what we are missing and we have loads of cap room.

Big - check
Physical - check
Right handed shot - check
Decent age - check
Good two way game - check

Doubt he signs here as there will be other options, but you gotta think Feaster pushes hard to get him.

[timbit]

The roster will be quite poor next season, as will be the results. Very high draft pick will be the only redeeming factor.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

FLAMES FORWARDS
Mike Cammalleri / Mikael Backlund / Lee Stempniak
Alex Tanguay / Matt Stajan / Jiri Hudler
Sven Baertschi / Max Reinhart / Curtis Glencross
Roman Horak / Lance Bouma / Tim Jackman

FLAMES DEFENSEMEN
Dennis Wideman / Mark Giordano
Chris Butler / T.J. Brodie
Cory Sarich/ Mark Cundari

FLAMES GOALTENDERS
Joey MacDonald
Kari Ramo

Welcome to Calgary, Mr. Ekblad.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by BurningSteel

I see what you did there,

I must be tired, because I'm not sure what you mean with this one.

[dammage79]

I don't think the roster is going to look close to that at all next season. Returnees on the Forward ranks could be: Backlund, Horak, Glencross, Sven, Bouma, Reinhart and Hudler.

For some reason I think all of Tanguay, Cammy and Stempniak will all be playing elsewhere
opening day.

On D returnees should be: Brodie, Gio, Wideman, Cundari. The Last two pots will be filled with trade acquisitions or Breen (who deserves a good look at the beginning of the season) and Wotherspoon (who I suspect will surprise a lot of people and be a stand out on the Flames for the entire season).

Horton I am sure the Flames will make a solid offer on. Don't really care about the amount of money more so the term, anything Longer than 3 years is risky. I will admit though I am not a huge fan of him and his injury history.

McGratton might be re-signed as with Aliu.

I do wonder if they toss an offer at an RFA like Berglund or try to get him via trade.
Filppula is also a curiosity but again anything long term will hold back the prospects coming in a couple years from now.

And please please please steer clear of Chris Stewart.

[The Fonz]

Cammalleri and Stempniak will be moved at the deadline. Hopefully they bring in a 1st and a 2nd, respectively.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I don't think the roster is going to look close to that at all next season. Returnees on the Forward ranks could be: Backlund, Horak, Glencross, Sven, Bouma, Reinhart and Hudler.

For some reason I think all of Tanguay, Cammy and Stempniak will all be playing elsewhere
opening day.

On D returnees should be: Brodie, Gio, Wideman, Cundari. The Last two pots will be filled with trade acquisitions or Breen (who deserves a good look at the beginning of the season) and Wotherspoon (who I suspect will surprise a lot of people and be a stand out on the Flames for the entire season).

Horton I am sure the Flames will make a solid offer on. Don't really care about the amount of money more so the term, anything Longer than 3 years is risky. I will admit though I am not a huge fan of him and his injury history.

McGratton might be re-signed as with Aliu.

I do wonder if they toss an offer at an RFA like Berglund or try to get him via trade.
Filppula is also a curiosity but again anything long term will hold back the prospects coming in a couple years from now.

And please please please steer clear of Chris Stewart.

As much as I agree with you that I'd like to see him in a Flames jersey, with this roster, going after an RFA that will cost you next year's 1st round pick, isn't a smart idea, IMO.

If you can acquire him via trade, then go for it, as long as you ship out one of the bodies I mentioned earlier in the process. I'd trade Glencross for Berglund, as an example.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

As much as I agree with you that I'd like to see him in a Flames jersey, with this roster, going after an RFA that will cost you next year's 1st round pick, isn't a smart idea, IMO.

If you can acquire him via trade, then go for it, as long as you ship out one of the bodies I mentioned earlier in the process. I'd trade Glencross for Berglund, as an example.

Don't think Glencross is going anywhere. As much as I think he should be traded it's just not in the cards. I don't know, I really get the feeling there's going to be an offer sheet on a big name RFA by the Flames. Might not be a good idea but I see it happening. As long as the player is young and is a stone cold awesome option to slot into the re-building core I would be okay with it. But if it was for a guy like Stewart I would seriously wonder WTF.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Don't think Glencross is going anywhere. As much as I think he should be traded it's just not in the cards. I don't know, I really get the feeling there's going to be an offer sheet on a big name RFA by the Flames. Might not be a good idea but I see it happening. As long as the player is young and is a stone cold awesome option to slot into the re-building core I would be okay with it. But if it was for a guy like Stewart I would seriously wonder WTF.

List of RFAs - http://capgeek.com/free-agents/?year...1&fa_type_id=1

Who would you give up your 2014 1st rounder for?

[kyuss275]

If it was me, i would not add to that roster.I would let them play out until the deadline, trade Cammi, Stajan and Stempniak at highest value, and proceed to the 2014 draft with the #1 pick.

I would like them to do a proper rebuild through the draft but, I have no doubt ownership will not tollerate a bottom team for more than another year. At least they will have plenty of money to spend in 2015 and will have hopefully re-stocked the prospect pool quite a bit..

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

List of RFAs - http://capgeek.com/free-agents/?year...1&fa_type_id=1

Who would you give up your 2014 1st rounder for?

I did not look at the list, but my answer is nobody. This team is more than one player away from getting out of the bottom 3-5 for next year. If they don't add anybody i think they draft 1st.

[The Fonz]

Maybe Pietrangelo, except you'd be looking at giving up 2 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, and 1 x 3rd, due to the salary it'd take for St. Louis to decide not to match.

So no to that.

[The Fonz]

nvm

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

I did not look at the list, but my answer is nobody. This team is more than one player away from getting out of the bottom 3-5 for next year. If they don't add anybody i think they draft 1st.

No argument here.

That said, trading for some of these guys, who may be asking for more money than their teams are willing to pay out, might be an option worth investigating.

[Hockey_Ninja]

If one of Sam Reinhart or Aaron Ekblad are not in a Flames jersey at the end of next season i will be shocked.

[Jake]

The Flames pro roster for next season is depressing. I really hope Feaster makes a few moves to add some interest, otherwise it is going to be a tough season to watch... especially if our 1st round pick this season turns out to not be NHL-ready.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

List of RFAs - http://capgeek.com/free-agents/?year...1&fa_type_id=1

Who would you give up your 2014 1st rounder for?

There's RFA's there I'd make an offer sheet to with my Second round pick for sure, Wheeler and Burmistrov. But I think they can be acquired via trade. Although I think Wheeler is a core piece for Winnipeg going forward.

Maybe throw one at Franson for a third round pick. Not saying lose all picks but make an offer on one of them.

Anisimov would be worth a look as well.