After the Draft: What Next?

[PepsiFree]

Tkachuk drafted #6

Jamie Dirom ‏@jamiedirom
“It was the place I wanted to be and this is where I want to get my shot.” <--what you want to hear from your pick

Elliott fills out our need in goal.

Brian Elliott ‏@KidElls1
Calgary, I'm honored to become a #Flames . I've wanted this opportunity and am ready for it. Can't wait to play for the #CofRed

What next?

Do you want Johnny/Monny signed?
The rest of the coaching group filled out?
RW gaps addressed?

Interested to hear what everyone is looking towards next. Personally, I think signing our top two guys has to happen before Friday. Going into FA with those two as RFA could be very, very dangerous.

[TheScorpion]

Signings. Johnny, Mony, RW.

[Roof-Daddy]

Well the courting period is open now, so free agency is next.

Also look forward to our RFA signings.

[TheIronMaiden]

What's next?

The Stanley Cup.

[keenan87]

Trade Wideman
Sign Monahan and Gaudreau
Sign Brouwer and Eriksson

[N-E-B]

Signing Monahan should be priority #1. Gaudreau can't sign an offer sheet so I'm more patient with him.

Personally I see free agency as being similar to last year. I think the Flames have one target in mind and will go hard after him. No idea who that is, just going off of Treliving and Burke's comments that they won't be overly busy on July 1st.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

...Interested to hear what everyone is looking towards next. Personally, I think signing our top two guys has to happen before Friday. Going into FA with those two as RFA could be very, very dangerous.

I think you are over-stating the danger here. Gaudreau is not eligible for offer sheets, and any offer sheet extended to Monahan that would not be instantly matched by the Flames will be too costly for another team to contemplate.

I expect these contracts to be done by the WCH, and won't worry much about them until then.

[dammage79]

Before any FA's are considered, they need to get Johnny and Monahan signed.

Asst. Coach should be done real quick. Berube should have his decision real quick.

One top 6 RW, don't know how they get one but I hope they get one.

[Samuelsson]

Yeah, trading Wideman is kinda imperative. Need to shed some of that horrible salary we're saddling. Find out what's happening with Smid, too. Could do a Pronger and flip him to whoever is furthest below the cap. We're pretty much in our 'window', so we can't be wasting years.

[Miniac]

Sign Monahan and Gaudreau
Sign a top 6F
Hold onto Wideman until trade deadline. His value is at the all time low.

[EldrickOnIce]

Cost are known (cap, starting goalie salary), so I expect contracts to be done up soon.
Then look at what moves me get be made/cap space there is for free agency.
I think the Elliott contract means Colborne is qualified, but perhaps a free agent instead?

[hockey.modern]

Sign Johnny and Mony.

Wait for Berube to make his mind.

Trade some deadweight off the team.

Look at some FA players, and see if they are compliant with our cap space. Get Hayes possibly? Maybe Lucic if the price is right.

[ComixZone]

Trade Wideman and Colborne for a veteran right wing on an expiring contract.

Sign Johnny and Sean to 8 year deals.

Sign Lucic to 6 year deal.

[MisterJoji]

Originally Posted by Samuelsson

Yeah, trading Wideman is kinda imperative. Need to shed some of that horrible salary we're saddling. Find out what's happening with Smid, too. Could do a Pronger and flip him to whoever is furthest below the cap. We're pretty much in our 'window', so we can't be wasting years.

At this point, Wideman looks like the best Chiarelli's gonna get. Seriously, how was he not in on Kulikov? Every GM in the league knows Edmonton needs D. Is he over-valuing his players or are the the GM's just giving him a giant middle finger and not even bothering to call? Either way, love it.

[N26]

Next?!

Well the draft has been over for at least an hour so why haven't the CP Prospect Ranking polls begun yet!

[JTech780]

-Sign Monahan and Gaudreau.
-Trade or buyout Wideman
-Sign Demers
-Trade for (Grubauer) or sign (Hutton) a backup goalie
-Trade for a RW (Strome, Silfverberg)

[bigrangy]

Sign the RFA's

find some way to get a top 6 RW either short or long term.

ride this year out. the flames aren't ready to compete, and won't be burning any meaningful contract time as long as tkachuk doesn't make the team, which I don't think he will.

With all the cap space, and all the key players locked up long term, prepare to make deep runs starting in 2017-18. Find out if Elliott is good enough to start long term, find out if Ortio is more than a backup, find out if Ferland, Colborne, Shinkaruk and Jokipakka are more than just depth guys. Answer all those questions and the flames will have a competitive roster in less than two years.

[dying4acup]

I feel it's more imperative to shed Stajan. He's the only ugly contract on the books after next summer. Get rid of him, and the Flames could be a HUGE player in FA next summer. Assuming Elliot, Bennett and this years RFAs are locked up, the Flames could have upward of 10M to spend on one star player to fill a hole and gear up for a cup run.

I'm ok with stop gaps for 1 more year (goaltending aside), if it means adding a prime caliber top level player to this core after expansion is done. Give this year 1 more year to grow and mature, see who your key components are, who you lose to expansion, then push all your chips in, open the cup window and go all in.

To be clear, the goal is still to outperform the 2014-15 Flames, but don't go for 2nd tier Free Agents this year (Lucic, Okposo), but instead go for a Stamkos level player in a year.

[JiriHrdina]

Which Stamkos level players?
The problem with guys like that is that:
- They are less likely to reach free agency
- If they do, they will have multiple teams offering them max dollars, therefore the chances of convincing them to come to Calgary are slim.

I would prefer to stay out of the big free agent pond, and focus more on positioning themselves to take advantage of teams in bad spots heading into the expansion draft.

[Freeway]

Qualifying offers due on Monday.
CHL Import Draft on Tuesday.
Free agency opens on Friday.
Flames development camp begins next Monday.