From what I've heard they've had a two year plan for Wolf and won't deviate from it.
Probably the right thing to do, especially if it keeps him away from Sutter.
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Ruzicka could be on his way out.
Moar Lucic, Lewis, and Ritchie!!!
It is sad to see a young player who has scored the same or more than all three players in just over half the games be treated the way he has. Ruzicka at a -1 just isn't as trustworthy as Lucic (-12), Lewis (-6), or Ritchie (-5 in only 15 games).
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Hope to see Pelletier back in and Coronato for sure.
Wonder if they need to be officially out, or if they consider the odds long enough to start that work now?
Not 10 up or 10 down.
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I'm sure the usual suspects will disagree, but I figure Marky lost at least four games. Add eight points to what they have now.
Better goaltending and they are not even a wild card team IMO. Though Friedman was right - the breakdowns in front of him tend to be catastrophic ones.
Of course, they also crapped the bed as a team in 4 games at least. Chicago, Anaheim, Columbus, Detroit, Habs. All games where they just plain old got outplayed by bottom feeders.
That is all true but I guess it is convenient that for Brad that is always an option, Murray made me do it. What if Brad said that Toffoli was too slow for the modern NHL and Murray said he wanted Toffoli because he is an elite shooter. That would make Murray smart in that scenario for that one player.
One would hope that the GM would have some ability to make his own moves rather than just listen to Murray when he wants to bring in Toffoli and Kadri. Because logically if Murray is the one saying bring in Kadri he has to be the one saying bring in Toffoli too.
Bottom line is this team is not good enough to compete for a Cup. They won’t be good enough next year to compete for a Cup. They do have pieces that could significantly accelerate the rebuilding process this summer. Hopefully they are smart enough to do that.
I don't think anyone is saying that.
Edwards opinion on Toffoli is a far cry from Edwards view on spending to the cap and competing every season.
One is an organizational edict, the other a hockey decision.
I've never looked to hang say Troy Brouwer on Edwards, for example.
No game-breaking #1 Defenceman.
No game-breaking #1 Centre.
I could certainly understand the Flames seeing if Lindholm was one this year, but he’s not.
The Flames took a “do it by committee” approach because they lack the top-end skill, and we’ve seen the results. I get the “committee” approach, but there are teams with elite players that also build high quality depth and those are the teams that ultimately win.
We don’t have the elite skill needed to be a Championship team, so I wouldn’t consider a team without that top talent a contender.
Which brings me back to the market.
I don't see any of the pivotal guys you suggest choosing Calgary on contracts 2 and 3.
They'll need to draft them.
The guys the do entice will always have an asterisk attached to them. Good but old. Good but paid too much. Good but x hole in their game.
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Edwards was the owner when Sutter and Feaster were the GM's and he doesn't get much blame for their bad moves.
I do agree that Treliving knows what he is doing and is competent but I'm ready for a different approach. Continually upping the ante on contracts to veteran UFA's isn't shrewd general managing. Anybody can go out and win a bidding war for these guys.
Raymond, Engelland, Stone, Ryan - 3 years
Brouwer, Tanev - 4 years
Neal, Frolik - 5 years
Markstrom, Coleman - 6 years
Kadri - 7 years
3 buyouts( so far) and a 4th would Neal but had to pick up Lucic, maybe even worse than a buyout...
Edwards opinion on Toffoli is a far cry from Edwards view on spending to the cap and competing every season.
One is an organizational edict, the other a hockey decision.
I've never looked to hang say Troy Brouwer on Edwards, for example.
Edwards in my limited (but not non-existent) experience with him doesn’t dive that deep into who to get and not get. He might give his desires as to the direction of the team, and give the OK when a big dollar item comes up. He weighs in to try and close a deal (i.e. Gaudreau). But as far as picking players - nah.
He was OK with giving Gaudreau an 8 year 10.5 deal. He approved of that direction. Is it that weird for him to OK Huberdeau on the same terms?
On paper and in theory this team was actually built perfectly to grind out a couple long series playing sandpaper 5 on 5 hockey.
You cant really account for chemistry beforehand though. Hard to predict. But even then if they got .910 goaltending as one would expect this team would probably go pretty far.
The fact that they've dealt with bottom 5-10 goaltending and are still hanging around in the dying days actually speaks to how well the team was constructed to battle in the western conference, despite everything going against them - luck, posts, calls, confidence, locker room shenanigans, etc...
I wouldn't be so quick to undersell every piece here and call it a disaster.
Half of those 16 OTLs go the other way and were having very different conversations today.
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On paper and in theory this team was actually built perfectly to grind out a couple long series playing sandpaper 5 on 5 hockey.
You cant really account for chemistry beforehand though. Hard to predict. But even then if they got .910 goaltending as one would expect this team would probably go pretty far.
The fact that they've dealt with bottom 5-10 goaltending and are still hanging around in the dying days actually speaks to how well the team was constructed to battle in the western conference, despite everything going against them - luck, posts, calls, confidence, locker room shenanigans, etc...
I wouldn't be so quick to undersell every piece here and call it a disaster.
Half of those 16 OTLs go the other way and were having very different conversations today.
The team is certainly not built for 3 on 3 or shootouts. Arguably they’d be a tough out in the POs depending on goaltending of course. Which, IMO, a rebounding Markstrom and/or Wolf can provide. Markstrom’s body of work over the last 10 games or so gets them a PO spot if he did the same over the year. Better than that = a high spot. He’s obviously a guy who needs health and confidence to play well. It’s no coincidence that he plays better in games where the initial shots are routine and they get harder as the game wears on. He is not so good with a quiet opening 5 minutes followed by a big defensive breakdown to the best players on the other side.
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The team is certainly not built for 3 on 3 or shootouts. Arguably they’d be a tough out in the POs depending on goaltending of course. Which, IMO, a rebounding Markstrom and/or Wolf can provide. Markstrom’s body of work over the last 10 games or so gets them a PO spot if he did the same over the year. Better than that = a high spot. He’s obviously a guy who needs health and confidence to play well. It’s no coincidence that he plays better in games where the initial shots are routine and they get harder as the game wears on. He is not so good with a quiet opening 5 minutes followed by a big defensive breakdown to the best players on the other side.
I know Kadri scored, but man.... pass the puck once in a while! 3 on 1 and puts it off the side of the net!!! (I think everyone knew he was going to shoot, so Kadri)
I said at the beginning of the season that Kadri was trying to do it all himself. Now, end of season and... Maybe that's why Sutter and him don't see eye-to-eye. TBH, Mangi and Dube were way better after they're moved off to other lines. Hopefully, he'll see this as something to improve next season. He's a good player and I'm sure he can play as team player rather than trying to score everything himself when he's out on the ice.
If the Flames actually wanted to try to load up in young talent the following players, some over the summer and some at the deadline, could bring in a good haul IMO
Lindholm - two way center who gets you 65-80 points a year. On his contract that is a A+ prospect, a first and likely another solid young piece. Easily gets you the Horvat return, probably more. Gets you even more if you eat some contract or take a bad contract back.
Toffoli - gets you a similar package to Toffoli. Same rules apply about eating some contract or taking a bad contract back.
Backlund - probably gets you a top prospect and a 1st. Doubt there is a third piece unless you eat some contract.
Hanifin - could likely bring you in a haul but I would strongly consider trying to re-sign him.
Tanev - if healthy gets you at least a first at the deadline. Decision is whether it is better to try to trade him over the summer IMO.
Zadorov - probably gets you a couple picks at the deadline.
The Flames have a number of attractive pieces for a team that is trying to go for it next year. I doubt they do it, but that is what I hope they do, make a number of those moves.
If tanking is your thing, there is no better situation than having overpriced vets eating up a disproportionate share of your salary cap. Makes it easier to be bad while your young players develop.
The issue is the term on those deals. This summers draft pick could be 27 by the time the Huberdeau deal expires. You almost want to accumulate picks about 3 or 4 years out.
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I don't see any of the pivotal guys you suggest choosing Calgary on contracts 2 and 3.
They'll need to draft them.
The guys the do entice will always have an asterisk attached to them. Good but old. Good but paid too much. Good but x hole in their game.
Agreed.
My big hope is to draft well, and hopefully with a young team that comes up together enjoying a new arena and beginning to find success that we’ll then be able to add to them via the trade market. New arena + good young roster with ties to the team that developed them is going to be the best way to appeal to and retain talent.
This whole slotting players in through the mechanisms that they’ve used has done nothing but build a roster with those footnotes on almost everyone. They need to change their approach if they want any level of sustainable success…and I’m going to hold onto some hope that Edwards sees that now given the complete lack of success that his team has found in the modern NHL.
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Better goaltending and they are not even a wild card team IMO. Though Friedman was right - the breakdowns in front of him tend to be catastrophic ones.
Of course, they also crapped the bed as a team in 4 games at least. Chicago, Anaheim, Columbus, Detroit, Habs. All games where they just plain old got outplayed by bottom feeders.
The 2 home games against Edmonton where Marky shaat the bed stick in my mind the most
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The 2 home games against Edmonton where Marky shaat the bed stick in my mind the most
Hard to play that game though. I would imagine most PO bound goalies have a couple stinkers. It’s more like he didn’t have enough games where he made up for the team in front of him, as opposed to them playing a good game and he blew it for them.
Hard to play that game though. I would imagine most PO bound goalies have a couple stinkers. It’s more like he didn’t have enough games where he made up for the team in front of him, as opposed to them playing a good game and he blew it for them.
He had some of those, and too frequent games with little to no run support, but come on. Sub-.900 sv% is earned, not given.
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Better goaltending and they are not even a wild card team IMO. Though Friedman was right - the breakdowns in front of him tend to be catastrophic ones.
I still think this is something about Sutter's system this year getting hacked by opposition and broken, but maybe people don't talk about that more because it's not easy to track exactly how it's being done.
The 2 home games against Edmonton where Marky shaat the bed stick in my mind the most
You can blame him on the McDavid goal in the first one that tied the game but the second game was won on a unnecessary penalty by Mangiapane.
I think most people on here would have took how he played in those games over how he played in others where he did have a bad game. The only reason they stick out is because they're losses to the Oilers.
Better goaltending and they are not even a wild card team IMO. Though Friedman was right - the breakdowns in front of him tend to be catastrophic ones.
Sorry. I am afraid that Bingo tells me this is just a subjective narrative
Even though guys like Millen and Friedman have noticed this trend after watching enough games, I have been advised that in fact, the stats that translate to expected goals don’t capture it so until further notice, it is something I have made up
Even though you can point out the egregious breakdowns on the Flames which do not have a corresponding equivalent on the other side, game after game, it is still not a thing
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