Flames Assets Grouped By Age and Impact

[kehatch]

[kehatch]

A few points of interest.

• Bahl, Farabee, Sharangovich, and Frost were all added by Conroy
• Coronato, Zary, Wolf, and Klapka recently made the team
• The top prospects were all drafted since Conroy arrived

I think this speaks to why the rebuild has been a trickle instead of a flood. Before the above occurred the middle and left sides of the chart were pretty sparse. Conroy's focus has been on loading up the prospect pool and tweeners to give us a platform to build on.

The top end is still pretty sparse at all age ranges though. We are going to have to find a way to add if we want to contend at the top level.

[fotze2]

Maybe

[Rhett44]

What are we defining as a star? I love Parekh and Wolf but man I really hope we don't jinx them with these labels lol.

Or are we saying that this is their max potential, as in they could both become stars?

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

What are we defining as a star? I love Parekh and Wolf but man I really hope we don't jinx them with these labels lol.

Or are we saying that this is their max potential, as in they could both become stars?

I think he was looking at Asset Value.

Both guys are pretty much bend over and give me a proven star if you want to get them away from the Flames.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by #-3

I think he was looking at Asset Value.

Both guys are pretty much bend over and give me a proven star if you want to get them away from the Flames.

Oh ok, that makes sense. Seems fair for the most part.

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

What are we defining as a star? I love Parekh and Wolf but man I really hope we don't jinx them with these labels lol.

Or are we saying that this is their max potential, as in they could both become stars?

For the younger players and prospects its the realistic potential. Wolf was one of the better goalies in the league in his rookie year. Parekh was a top 10 pick and followed it up with a historic season. I think both project as stars. But I agree they arent there yet.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by kehatch

For the younger players and prospects its the realistic potential. Wolf was one of the better goalies in the league in his rookie year. Parekh was a top 10 pick and followed it up with a historic season. I think both project as stars. But I agree they arent there yet.

Thank you for the Clarification. I like the analysis.

[gvitaly]

Weegar is a star, just putting it out there.

I think both Sharangovich and Huberdeau will join the conversation for the top group next year, especially with a more mobile defense.

[Vinsta13]

Always forget that Farabee is younger than Frost. Excited to see what he can do with a full season away from Torts and adjusted to the Flames system.

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Weegar is a star, just putting it out there.

I think both Sharangovich and Huberdeau will join the conversation for the top group next year, especially with a more mobile defense.

100% agree on the bolded part. I'd even go further and say he has turned out to be the best piece of the the Chucky trade, AINEC.

[Finger Cookin]

Should have included their CCA classes, though it's hard to see them being anything but class 8

[VilleN]

Wyttenbach is too low I think... shouldn't be lower than Mace'o... again, and I can't stress this enough - I don't know what I am talking about, I read a single article and become unhealthily attached to my new opinion.

[Goriders]

Was reading an article and I agreed with the point it was trying to make as I have thought the same thing. We are loading up on draft picks the last couple of years and most likely the next year or two as well.

The problem that is going to create is where do you put all of them. How do you keep them all motivated to stay in the organization if they don’t see anywhere to go?

Despite what some people think there are a number of young players that have either been brought in in the last year or two:

Bahl, Sharongovich, Frost, Farabee, Pachal

Or have graduated to the big club:

Wolf, Coronato, Pospisil, Klapka, Zary and more than likely Parekh

With the wave of new draft picks how are you going to transition any of them in? Only old guys I can see moving on soon might be Coleman and Backlund. Maybe Hanley.

I would also guess we’ll get a roster player back for Andersson.

Anyway. I’m just having trouble figuring out how this will all come together without starting to make some trades.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Was reading an article and I agreed with the point it was trying to make as I have thought the same thing. We are loading up on draft picks the last couple of years and most likely the next year or two as well.

The problem that is going to create is where do you put all of them. How do you keep them all motivated to stay in the organization if they don’t see anywhere to go?

That's actually a really good question, and I think it deserves a good answer. Of course I'm not connected to the organization in any way, but I'll try to answer by using my noggin to the best of my ability.

At the moment, according to Capwages, the Flames have 45 players under contract, plus Zary as an RFA, and another 20 on their reserve list. They've drafted eight players in seven rounds twice in a row now, so that isn't really a serious excess in quantity, but their picks have been strikingly good and they're getting a lot of quality in a hurry.

This year, everything seems to be under control, with 23 players on the NHL roster and 23 in the AHL + ECHL (not counting players on AHL-only contracts). So it looks like they're in good shape to find ice time for everyone who needs it. I expect Andersson to be traded sooner rather than later, with probably Solovyov or Kuznetsov called up as a replacement.

After this year, Kadri's NMC turns to a partial NTC, and I think he's liable to be moved at that time. Backlund's contract will expire then, if he hasn't been traded to a contender in the meantime. Lomberg, Kirkland, Bean, and Miromanov will also be UFAs off the main roster, and Bishop, Solovyov, and Cooley from the farm. Coleman probably gets moved when Kadri does, if not at the deadline this season. So that opens up as many as 10 roster spots between the NHL and AHL clubs. (Possibly Backlund re-signs for another year to mentor young forwards.) There should be no problem accommodating all the kids coming up in the summer of 2026.

After that, things do get clogged up a bit, because nearly all the current veterans (except Weegar and Huberdeau) will be gone, and it will come to hard choices between young players. The summer of 2027, just before the new arena opens, will be the first real pinch point. I'm hoping Conroy does as well with that as he did with the tear-down.

Conroy will probably have to trade some prospects just to open up roster space, but that will give him plenty of scope to fill whatever roster holes the team has then. I expect the priority will be to continue acquiring centres, hoping one of them can be developed into the top-line player the team needs. I expect to see a number of promising young players traded away and succeeding elsewhere, and certain CPers having meltdowns because of it. But overall, it's the approach I would prefer.

In the nature of things, with a 50-contract limit, you can have a short fat pipeline or a long thin pipeline, but you can't have a long fat pipeline – there aren't enough roster spots. A short fat pipeline gives you the opportunity to graduate more prospects per year, producing a surplus that you can trade away for extra picks to keep the pipeline filled up. The Red Wings in their dynasty days opted for a long thin pipeline, ‘overcooking’ their prospects, but for both financial and market reasons, I don't think that's a viable option here in the long run.

I would prefer to see the Flames lean into their skill at drafting and developing, even if it means some of that talent is going to be developed for the benefit of other teams. It gives them the luxury of trading quantity for quality, getting the best player in a deal even if they are overpaying in terms of potential. I actually think they can do better by lengthening the build-up phase of the rebuild, recycling one year's prospects into another year's picks, than by trying to bottom out hard and then build back up in a hurry.

I don't think this is a definitive answer by any means, but it's the one that comes to me when I see the question.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Weegar is a star, just putting it out there.

I think both Sharangovich and Huberdeau will join the conversation for the top group next year, especially with a more mobile defense.

I agree with Weegar. He is a top pairing D on any team in the league.

I would argue that Naz deserved to be in the star category too. He's a 2C on any team in the league.

I struggle with labelling a player who has yet to play a single NHL game to be a star.

Other than those niggles, I appreciate the work that went into this analysis. There might be some merit in starting this in D+1 and having the recent draft class' ratings considered provisional.

Just my $0.02

[Burn13]

Still believe Suniev will be much higher than what people think. He's got star potential.

[kehatch]

There will always be debate between the definition of a star player, top player, etc. But I think there is a distinction between players like Hedman, Makar, Hughes, Fox and players like Weegar. Same thing for McKinnon, Barkov, McDavid, Crosby vs Kadri.

Weegar is right there though.

[Hackey]

Ya definitions are tough. These are subjective. I'd say a star is a player who would be leading the team no matter what team they were playing for. Rantanen for example went from Colorado, Carolina, and Dallas, and was a top line player expected to lead them on all three contending teams. Kadri Id say is more a support player. Both still very important and have their roles.

[Buff]

I need to learn how to read better on the 1st attempt... and subsequent attempts. I keep thinking that the title said that prospects were groped.