Flames pending UFA defencemen 2022

[rogermexico]

There’s an appetite to talk about where we go with our pending UFA D. I thought it might be helpful to start a new thread so that we can get out of the “Zadorov signs” thread, which gets a bit more confusing every day.
Here are our pending UFA d-men.

Nikita Zadorov LD
Age: 27
Previous contract: $3.75M
Stats:
74 GP 4G 18 A 22 P +11 77 PIM

Erik Gudbranson RD
Age: 30
Previous contract: $1.95M
Stats:
78 GP 6G 11A 17P +15 68PIM

Michael Stone RD
Age: 32
Previous contract: $750K
Stats:
11 GP 2G 4A 6P +3 4PIM

Who did you like? What did you like about them? Who do you want back and why?

[Roof-Daddy]

I wonder if Stone will continue to sign 1 year deals with the Flames to be the 7th D-man and hardly play? I hope he does, it works out pretty good for the Flames and it's good for him to not have to move the family around, or be away from the family.

If Z and Kylington are looking for roughly the same AAV (not sure if that's the case) then I sign Z and look at trade options for Kylington. Get some sort of asset(s) and keep a solid #5ish Dman but also keep some of that crucial size and physicality.

I hope they can keep Gudbranson, hopefully he takes a little less than market value in order to stay put for a few years on what looks like a competitive team.

Hanifin - Andersson
Zadarov - Tanev
Mackey - Gudbranson
Stone

Wouldn't hurt my feelings to see that next season, with hopefully Mackey breaking out as a 2nd pairing guy as the season progresses and pushing Z back to a pairing with Gudbranson.

Valimaki -> a total wild card at this point. Maybe used as a sweetener for someone to take Monahan

[MrMike]

With how well Stone played for us, I could see another team offering him a bit of a bump and a solid number 6 position.

[powderjunkie]

Gudbranson 8x1.5M. This is a great opportunity to exploit the cap a bit.

IMO his FMV is probably around 3x2.75. He might make another ~$2-3M after that, so his remaining earnings are likely in the $10-14M range. Give him $12M certainty.

You save at least $1M against his FMV for the first 3-5 years. If you eventually have to bury him in the AHL it'll cost $350k per year (if not a bit less by then if the buried threshold rises). And then he'd still be a possible depth call up and/or good player to help with development on the farm team.

Now that the AHL team is here it would be even more enticing (though no guarantee they're here in 5 years); he wouldn't even have to pay escrow when he's in the A, and there are tax advantages to spreading your earnings over a wider span.

[Erick Estrada]

I'll take Gudbranson back. The other two can sign elsewhere as I would hope Stone's performance in the playoffs was enough to at least fetch at least $1.2 million from a team to be their 6/7th defenseman.

[kyuss275]

If it’s true that Johnny is wondering who else will be a pick carrier on the ice with him then flames need to spend money or capital on getting a dman that fits that bill. I would wait on all the above dmen until you can figure out cap for a mobile dman.

[Psytic]

I liked all of them but it was clear the current mix cant handle fast teams so something has to change some where and I'm not sure internal growth is enough. I also dont think the Flames can afford to drop all their toughness either so its hard to say what they should do.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Psytic

I liked all of them but it was clear the current mix cant handle fast teams so something has to change some where and I'm not sure internal growth is enough. I also dont think the Flames can afford to drop all their toughness either so its hard to say what they should do.

Wut?

The Flames had 111 points and the 2nd best goal differential in the league. They were also fancy stat juggernauts all season long. I think they handled pretty much all the teams just fine.

The only team they remotely struggled with was the oilers (which sucks) but only in the playoffs with Tanev and Zadarov busted up.

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Wut?

The Flames had 111 points and the 2nd best goal differential in the league. They were also fancy stat juggernauts all season long. I think they handled pretty much all the teams just fine.

The only team they remotely struggled with was the oilers (which sucks) but only in the playoffs with Tanev and Zadarov busted up.

I think we are beyond what they do in the regular season. Im talking about how do they get to the next level. They will be seeing Edmonton or the Av's every year so I dont think thats hard to connect the dots they need a more mobile D core if they want to make it further in the future. They are trying to win the cup aren't they? Not the Presidents Trophy.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

If it’s true that Johnny is wondering who else will be a pick carrier on the ice with him then flames need to spend money or capital on getting a dman that fits that bill. I would wait on all the above dmen until you can figure out cap for a mobile dman.

Where did you hear this?

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Psytic

I think we are beyond what they do in the regular season. Im talking about how do they get to the next level. They will be seeing Edmonton or the Av's every year so I dont think thats hard to connect the dots they need a more mobile D core if they want to make it further in the future. They are trying to win the cup aren't they? Not the Presidents Trophy.

They're trying to build a team (just like everyone else) that is a contender with a chance to win the cup.

I think a 111 point team qualifies as that. If they can improve I'm all for it, but to say they "couldn't handle fast teams" isn't true at all IMO. They handled themselves just fine, but got unlucky running into the injury bug at a crucial time.

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

They're trying to build a team (just like everyone else) that is a contender with a chance to win the cup.

I think a 111 point team qualifies as that. If they can improve I'm all for it, but to say they "couldn't handle fast teams" isn't true at all IMO. They handled themselves just fine, but got unlucky running into the injury bug at a crucial time.

Agree to disagree. I dont see this exact D core doing much better against the Avs or Oilers in the playoffs. They need one more solid D man that can skate in my opinion. The D wasnt really tested that often in the regular season they tended to get out to early leads which caused teams to open up and allow the Flames to counter attack and hem them in their end. When they got to the playoffs and started to play more in their own end you could see the holes. Its fixable but I dont see Mackey and one more year of Kylington experience closing the gap but thats just my opinion. Tanev has been injured nearly every year of his career. I love the guy but if our playoffs hangs on him not getting injured that clearly means they need more depth..

[CSharp]

To me, down the stretch and in the playoffs, Zadorov and Stone actually performed better than expectations. Gudbransson, not sure if he was still injured or what his case was, he was actually not playing all that well after coming back from that flu and/or injury. I'd sign Z (3x$4.5) and Stone (1x$850K) if cap is the biggest issue. Mackey comes in to replace Kylington. Find someone to replace Hanifin on the first line pairing. Flames might come out of this ahead by a couple million in cap savings. Love to have all 3 still part of the Flames, but they need to move Hanifin and Kylington.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Where did you hear this?

It was mentioned on this site yesterday. That’s all I’ll say about it. Poster took it down. Also it should say puck carrier .

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

It was mentioned on this site yesterday. That’s all I’ll say about it. Poster took it down. Also it should say puck carrier .

yeah, pick carriers play for Edmonton.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

yeah, pick carriers play for Edmonton.

Yep and it's allowed for them as the officials are always kind enough to give them warnings rather than call a penalty.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by CSharp

To me, down the stretch and in the playoffs, Zadorov and Stone actually performed better than expectations. Gudbransson, not sure if he was still injured or what his case was, he was actually not playing all that well after coming back from that flu and/or injury. I'd sign Z (3x$4.5) and Stone (1x$850K) if cap is the biggest issue. Mackey comes in to replace Kylington. Find someone to replace Hanifin on the first line pairing. Flames might come out of this ahead by a couple million in cap savings. Love to have all 3 still part of the Flames, but they need to move Hanifin and Kylington.

uh, really?

[Kipper_3434]

I know some fans would like to see essentially the same D-group next season and I would've too if it wasn't for their complete failure to contain the oilers this playoffs. For me, I like the right side but all of the guys on LHD were disappointing IMO. Hanifin in particular was bad, and Kyllington was as bad but had lower expectations. Zad was fine but he's 3rd pairing and Mackey should replace what he did for 1/5 the salary.

Hanifin is hard to replace but would move him if we can aquire someone like Chychrun (not directly traded for each other obvs).

Killington is trade bait IMO, great skill but just not strong enough.

Gudbranson would be nice to have back for the right price.

[1qqaaz]

Maybe I missed something, because I thought Gudbranson was fine in the playoffs. There were some almost sure-goals that he blocked or swatted away.
Many guys had ups and downs, but he was pretty steady. Didn't notice him a lot, which is usually a good thing.

For Gudbranson and Zadorov, much of their success came from Sutter's utilization and style. It's possible that the players and opposing teams know this.

I wouldn't be surprised if Zadorov is overpaid by another team next year. I also wouldn't be surprised if Gudbranson knows that the Flames may be the best fit for him.
Stone too.

I would rather give Mangiapane extra term than keep these guys. They're a bit lower on the priority/to-do list.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by dino7c

uh, really?

Yeah, if Tre can pull it off with more solid D-men with depth, that'll be great. Left side is Flames weakest spots. Left shot D-men are dime a dozen these days. I really don't care how well Hanifan can skate as he's been beat by numerous Oiler players continuously, not to mention McD making him look stupid 100% of the time. If Kylington was 4" taller and 30lbs heavier, he'd be a stud on this team. But he's not. I just want to see Oilers get pasted in the end boards when they come flying into the Flames zones.