Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres work from similar positions

[OutOfTheCube]

It says here the Flames are more likely to return to playoff contention first, but don't be surprised if the Sabres beat them in the race to true Stanley Cup contender status.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=696714

As one of (or maybe the only?) hybrid Sabres/Flames fans out there, it's been really interesting to watch the similar directions both franchises have taken in the last several years. Cool to see an article go in depth a bit!

Hopefully we'll see these two re-builds go really well and a Stanley Cup final meeting in the future!

[TurnedTheCorner]

I hope we do meet in the finals, because we all know Buffalo's luck with the Stanley Cup finals

[saillias]

Gary Bettman would be seething if that was a SCF matchup.

[N-E-B]

Buffalo has some really good young players in their system. Despite this absolutely terrible season, I'd be really excited about the future if I was a Sabres fan. Just gotta hope they don't pull an Edmonton who seem to be stuck in an eternal rebuild.

[bax]

That article seemed kind of rushed to me. I think they are over analyzing Burke's comments about patience. The article even says we may be out of the McDavid sweepstakes already, however I think we will be firmly in that race.

A lot of similarities between the two teams right now though. I'm not expert, but from a quick glance I would say Calgary has better forward prospects, while the Sabres have better defenseman.

[djsFlames]

Except we don't suck nearly as bad right now.

Then again, Buffalo's gonna get a couple stud players with the picks they have. They'll be Oilers 2.0 for wealth of young talent soon. Just hope their organization isn't nearly as incompetent at handling them.

As a Flames fan, you'd expect coming in that the next two drafts we'd be an automatic top 2 each year, where we could collect the talent we need to get back into contention. It's kind of ridiculous that teams that have been picking up strong talents for a few years now (Florida, NYI, Edm) are still finding ways to be worse than us. It's really quite pathetic on their parts. All of those teams should be miles ahead of where they are with the talents that have dropped into their laps already. I'd be embarrassed as a fan.

[Soliak]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=696714

As one of (or maybe the only?) hybrid Sabres/Flames fans out there, it's been really interesting to watch the similar directions both franchises have taken in the last several years. Cool to see an article go in depth a bit!

Hopefully we'll see these two re-builds go really well and a Stanley Cup final meeting in the future!

There is a guy on The Underground (an MMA forum) called RJJH who is also a Sabres/Flames fan.

He's a ###### for supporting two teams. True story.

[stemit14]

Goaltending will probably decide which of these teams makes the playoffs first. Look at Ottawa a couple years ago, Montreal a year ago, and Colorado this year... They dropped to the bottom of the league and then seemed to turn it around/are turning it around almost right away.

And it's because they have had insanely good goaltending. I chuckled this summer when some thought Ottawa was going to be a contender this year. Over the past 2 seasons, they have been out chanced and outshot in most of their games. They have just had Anderson and lehner putting up a .930 save percentage. And they won a lot of games by a single goal because of that. Now that their goaltending has come back down to earth, they are not as good as everyone thought. The same will likely happen with Colorado although I do think they have much more talent than Ottawa.

Whichever team finds a goalie that can consistently save games for them will be the first to get back to the playoffs but that won't make them a contender.

This years draft will probably be very big for buffalo. They could very well end up with 4 picks in the first round after the trade deadline including 2 in the top 10. I think last years draft was a big one for Calgary and this one will be important too just not as impactful cause I don't think they'll get Reinhart or ekblad. Who knows though? Maybe the hockey gods will reward the flames for their hard work this year and they'll win the draft lotto.

[Huntingwhale]

Buffalo had a great draft this summer. And if both their D picks pan out, I honestly think that'll be what turns around the franchise down the road. Toss in a possible top 2-3 pick this upcoming draft, and you have a great foundation from which to build.

Buffalo has a much more competent management team then EDM, so I have no doubt they will be a top contender down the road.

[Rubicant]

I'm hoping calgary can change some of those 1's in the draft picks for each round at the trade deadline.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Neither one of these teams should be worried about being like Edmonton. It takes an exceptional amount of incompetence to miss on as many picks as Edmonton has on the rounds outside the first. It takes an exceptional amount of incompetence to just throw their top picks onto the top lines, without making them work for it, and without getting them to even try playing a structured 200ft game that the NHL demands. They are the toe-dragging pond hockey superstars.

Buffalo is building from the defence out. Calgary is building from the center out. I would expect both teams to draft inversely for a while, so with the exception for McDavid, they won't be competing too hard with one another at the draft table :P

I do think the worst is yet to come for Calgary.

Cammalleri will be gone. There is no way the Flames can replace Cammalleri's scoring - especially a very motivated Cammalleri on the last year of his contract, and hopeful of a trade to a contender.

There is probably not a replacement for Stajan next season. It is doubtful that Burke will keep him, but how many decent 2-way centers will be available in the off-season? How many will be willing to come to Calgary?

Stempniak is more likely to be traded away. He has not been good at all (except for his timely goal to open the scoring against the Oilers). However, he was VERY good at the start of the season, and helped Calgary get some wins. He is replaceable in the free-agent market, but then again, he may not be.

Calgary will essentially lose a 'top-line' next year, which is tough to do for any team. The existing players will have to play against a better level of competition. I don't see their record improving at all, and figure them to lose more games next season.

However, Calgary and Buffalo will not be the only teams in the running for McDavid next year. I could see some borderline teams mysteriously doing terrible. Intentional tanking? It has happened before. I don't think any decent teams will, of course - but teams that have been on the bubble may decide to rebuild a bit more aggressively next year.

Also, there is not guarantee that Hartley will return next season. There were many people who disliked Hartley because they felt he wasn't paying enough attention to defence, and was playing a run-and-gun style that doesn't traditionally work in the NHL. It seems like his style is more about being an aggressive team that is allowed to play creatively on offence (demands this of Backlund, for one), but who must be responsible defensively (Baertschi and others). I think the last segment of games has shown this a bit better. At any rate, most people do think that Hartley has been positive for the Flames, and that the Flames have been performing well under his watch so far. They generally don't have any 'flat' games, or blowout games getting embarrassed out there. However, new GMs usually like to hire their own coaching staffs. Regardless of improvement in personnel, this usually translates into a learning curve for the first while. Plus, there is no guarantee that the new staff will actually be better (say what you will about Hartley, but it has been a while since Edmonton has had a competent coaching staff).

NYI and Florida I think make improvements. New ownership group in Florida has been rumored to have told management to spend more - a constant handicap with that team has at least been alleviated somewhat. Islanders can't be this bad again - and I don't think Wang is willing to be this bad moving into Brooklyn. Buying out DiPietro was a huge sign that he is more committed to winning, if for nothing else than to attract more interest and increase the sale price of the team.

Ottawa does have the prospect depth to do well - though I feel they 'rushed' through the rebuild too much. They were not a team that should have traded that many assets for Ryan (who is a good player). They were not ready to compete yet. I don't think they will improve next year, however. Montreal had a lot of success drafting (Ryan Jankowski helped I would say!). They managed to turn their team around rather quickly, and I think are trending up with impact players at nearly every position, though they need to get 'deeper' yet.

Calgary and Buffalo will definitely be competing with one another for McDavid, and there will be a couple of teams that falter - some mysteriously, some not - that will join the sweepstakes next season.

[CliffFletcher]

The Devils will be terrible next season. Their top line is ancient.

[jeffman]

Imagine if the Sabres managed to get Reinhart, Ekblad from New York's pick and Mcadavid from sucking

[Robo]

Originally Posted by jeffman

Imagine if the Sabres managed to get Reinhart, Ekblad from New York's pick and Mcadavid from sucking

I'd be ok with that as long as it means the coilers dont get any of those guys

[Caged Great]

The Sabres blue line is going to be godly soon. A top 6 of Ristolainen, Zadorov, McNabb, Myers, Pysyk, and McCabe is just deadly. If they acquire Reinhart or Dal Colle and either McDavid or the second best forward next year, they should be well on their way to becoming the next good team.

I almost wish that we could trade a couple forwards with the Sabres. I'd have no problem exchanging some of our quality forwards like Sven or Granlund for some of their good D.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by jeffman

Imagine if the Sabres managed to get Reinhart, Ekblad from New York's pick and Mcadavid from sucking

Islanders' pick is top 10 protected so I would assume there's very little chance of them getting a player like Ekblad with it. It would, however, possibly give them an extra crack at McDavid next year if the Islanders just keep on being terrible.

[ComixZone]

Buffalo, in the next two years, have 3 first round picks alongside 5 second round picks - and they STILL have Steve Ott, Ryan Miller and Matt Moulson to sell off - it's not unlikely that they'll have at least 5 first round picks and 6 second round picks after this season's trade deadline. Not to mention Aaron Ekblad or Sam Reinhart thanks to this coming draft.

That's how you aggressively rebuild a team. They need a good GM though, as their drafting (while perhaps too early to tell), has not hit any homeruns in recent years.

We have assets to move (Stajan, Stempniak, Cammalleri)...but I'd definitely put Buffalo's deadline day assets more appealing than ours

[Delthefunky]

I agree with a lot of what Calgary4life said, I think next year is going to be rock bottom for the Flames. Just with the likes of Cammi, and Stempniak gone, and maybe 1 or 2 other guys... Not by design like the oilers have done, but certainly not a bad year to end up with a high pick.

[stemit14]

I would love it if the hockey gods would help out the flames next year and let them win the draft lottery no matter where they finish. It would be some good karma if the flames worked their butts off next year again and finished outside the bottom ten in the league but still won the draft lottery despite terrible odds. Meanwhile, the oilers would continue to tank but get the lesser prospects.

[stemit14]

I think Edmonton, New Jersey, buffalo, and Florida could be close to getting that McDavid pick next year.