How much Veteran presence do we need next year?

[FBI]

Or even this year after the trade deadline.

Ok so we don't want to become the oilers obviously so we need to have some veteran presence but we are also in a rebuild so we need some youth.

So what is the magical formula for next year?
Would one solid veteran on each line be enough?
Something like:
Hudler-monahan-baertschi
Glencross-Sam Reinhart-poirier
Stempniak-backlund-Max Reinhart
Mcgrattan-knight-bouma

To me personally that seems like something that would be very fun to watch and has a little veteran presence, but I might be delusional and this would get us slaughtered. Although maybe that would be ok too?

Thoughts?

[Dogbert]

There's no way that lineup would hit the cap floor.

[FlameZilla]

I never understand your line combinations. Baertschi 1st line centre? Monahan at RW? Stempniak on the roster at all??

I also don't see the point adding Sam Reinhart to potential lineups because we would have to dramatically out-suck the Sabres & Oilers for the next 3 months to be in a position to draft him.

Anyway, no point speculating on which veterans will be in the lineup until we see what moves Burke has in store for us between now and the draft.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

I never understand your line combinations. Baertschi 1st line centre? Monahan at RW? Stempniak on the roster at all??

I think that's "veteran-ness" depth. Monahan, for example, is the least experienced on the first line.

That makes me wonder what the last line is though...

[strombad]

I think that gets us slaughtered.

Poirier likely won't be on the Flames, nor will both Reinhart AND Knight.

You can probably look to add 2 rookie forwards and 1 rookie defenceman, tops.

[timbit]

Where did Colbourne go?

[GreenLantern2814]

A consult of Capgeek's list of pending UFAs has me thinking these are the players we should target; money should be no object since we're light years away from the cap, and none of our rookies seem like they'll be due for anything more than bridge deals at this stage of things.

C- Paul Stastny 5 years $32.5 million. We need some veteran top six centre depth. Matt Stajan has been the most talented natural centre on this roster for two years. That is unacceptable.

D- Andrew MacDonald 5 years $30 million. This one I may go back on since I'm not actually sure if this person is who I think he is. If he is the defenseman who's injury left a black hole-esque void on the Islanders in the playoffs last year, I want him on this team. 27 years old, on pace for a 40+ point season. He's -5 this year. This is where you acquire defensive help, not at the top of the draft.

G- Jonas Hiller 5 years $32.5 million. Legitimate number 1 goalie. Ducks have a cheaper replacement of similar skill in Fasth. History with Burke. Term is such that it allows Gillies/other goalie prospect to not be rushed to the NHL. Ramo is a competent backup who can play 30 games, so we should get the best Hiller for our money.

Three moves that strengthen us all over the ice, and generate a bit of excitement in the city beyond 'ZOMG YUNG GUNZZZZ!!!'. Someone has to take the pressure off our prospects, as they are simply not ready to be counted on.

[killer_carlson]

It isn't the number of vets as much as the quality of the presence.

I'm not sure we're getting the full effect out of Stajan, Stempniak, Butler, Jones, Galliardi, OBrien. Not sure about Cammalerri and Glencross.

There is no doubt in my mind that we need to change many of those names though.

[Willi Plett]

Joe Thornton, Dustin Penner, Ryan Callahan

[FlameZilla]

By the time Burke is done with this team & hands it off to his successor I wouldn't be surprised to see an entirely different core of veterans.

I think Giordano stays. I think Glencross stays. Beyond that anything could happen.

If the main veteran core is mainly moved for young assets & picks, then I wonder if Burke goes for someone like Heatley in the offseason to add a hometown veteran 'name' to the lineup.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

By the time Burke is done with this team & hands it off to his successor I wouldn't be surprised to see an entirely different core of veterans.

I think Giordano stays. I think Glencross stays. Beyond that anything could happen.

If the main veteran core is mainly moved for young assets & picks, then I wonder if Burke goes for someone like Heatley in the offseason to add a hometown veteran 'name' to the lineup.

Heatley can barely stand on the ice anymore. His NHL career is done at the end of the year IMO. If it continues, there's certainly no room for him here.

[Miniac]

Originally Posted by FBI

Or even this year after the trade deadline.

Ok so we don't want to become the oilers obviously so we need to have some veteran presence but we are also in a rebuild so we need some youth.

So what is the magical formula for next year?
Would one solid veteran on each line be enough?
Something like:
Hudler-baertschi-monahan
Glencross-Sam Reinhart-poirier
Stempniak-backlund-Max Reinhart
Mcgrattan-knight-bouma

To me personally that seems like something that would be very fun to watch and has a little veteran presence, but I might be delusional and this would get us slaughtered. Although maybe that would be ok too?

Thoughts?

1. Ekblad please
2. Quality not quantity of veterans. It really depends on their experience and leadership skills.

Players like Hudler, Gio, Mcgrattan, Smid and to an extent Backlund are good veteran presence for the Flames. IMO Glencross needs to be moved.

[FBI]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

I never understand your line combinations. Baertschi 1st line centre? Monahan at RW? Stempniak on the roster at all??

I also don't see the point adding Sam Reinhart to potential lineups because we would have to dramatically out-suck the Sabres & Oilers for the next 3 months to be in a position to draft him.

Anyway, no point speculating on which veterans will be in the lineup until we see what moves Burke has in store for us between now and the draft.

Lol I had monahan and baertschi mixed up, no biggy.

Also yup maybe Colborne instead of s Reinhart.

The point of the post isn't my specific lineups, it's how do people think we should sprinkle in the veterans.

[moon]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

A consult of Capgeek's list of pending UFAs has me thinking these are the players we should target; money should be no object since we're light years away from the cap, and none of our rookies seem like they'll be due for anything more than bridge deals at this stage of things.

C- Paul Stastny 5 years $32.5 million. We need some veteran top six centre depth. Matt Stajan has been the most talented natural centre on this roster for two years. That is unacceptable.

D- Andrew MacDonald 5 years $30 million. This one I may go back on since I'm not actually sure if this person is who I think he is. If he is the defenseman who's injury left a black hole-esque void on the Islanders in the playoffs last year, I want him on this team. 27 years old, on pace for a 40+ point season. He's -5 this year. This is where you acquire defensive help, not at the top of the draft.

G- Jonas Hiller 5 years $32.5 million. Legitimate number 1 goalie. Ducks have a cheaper replacement of similar skill in Fasth. History with Burke. Term is such that it allows Gillies/other goalie prospect to not be rushed to the NHL. Ramo is a competent backup who can play 30 games, so we should get the best Hiller for our money.

Three moves that strengthen us all over the ice, and generate a bit of excitement in the city beyond 'ZOMG YUNG GUNZZZZ!!!'. Someone has to take the pressure off our prospects, as they are simply not ready to be counted on.

If you could get those deals down to 2 years each maybe but that is a lot if money and a lot of term for some pretty mediocre players.

Looks like 10-12th place finishes and some weak draft choices with those guys added.

As for the line-up posted by the OP assuming our defense and goaltending are roughly the same we at challenging for the worst record of all time and the least amount GF in a season .

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by moon

If you could get those deals down to 2 years each maybe but that is a lot if money and a lot of term for some pretty mediocre players.

Looks like 10-12th place finishes and some weak draft choices with those guys added.

As for the line-up posted by the OP assuming our defense and goaltending are roughly the same we at challenging for the worst record of all time and the least amount GF in a season .

I know we're overpaying. I'm hoping the next 1-2 years of draft picks are hits, and we have some nice veteran support. The team will sink or swim on the backs of Monahan, Gaudreau, Baertschi, Gillies, Poirier, Gio, Brodie and whoever else we draft in the next two years.

But we still need help in key areas ie centre depth, goaltending, top 4 D. We can't bypass good players that are available because we want the high pick. That's how this debacle going on in Chicago happens.

Also. We have the money. The cap is going up, Cammalleri and Stajan are off the books (Among others) and we need to ice a team. If we don't re-sign Stajan, our best natural centre going into next year is Mikael backlund, which is unacceptable.

Stastny may not be the player he was in 2008, but he'd immediately become the best centre the team has had since Langkow. Hiller is a very good NHL goalie. These players on their own are not enough to vastly improve our position, but they are solid pieces that will expedite success if our other young players develop properly.

And you're not getting Stastny, Hiller or MacDonald to come here for 2 year deal, unless you feel like giving them 8M a year. That's not how being a rebuilding team works.

[FAN]

I agree with others that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to veterans. And how much veteran presence should really be dependent on how many young guys will be ready for the NHL. I'm not big on having a team full of young guys who aren't ready for the NHL.

Looking at the team's system, the young guns are likely going to be found at forward. With that in mind, I'm a big believer in having a reliable #1 goaltender in net on a rebuilding team whether that comes from a young guy or a veteran. With Giordano, Wideman, Smid, and Brodie not likely going anywhere for next season, the defense isn't going to be short on experience so you can easily throw a rookie into that group. The idea is that with a reliable goaltender and a veteran back end, young forwards can afford to make mistake knowing that they will have someone who can they count on behind them.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

You know who's been really good at developing a team with sustained success?

Detroit.

We should do what they do, and turf basically every player over the age of 29. We can fill the line-up with our prospects, regardless of whether they've clearly demonstrated themselves to be NHL-ready or not.

Because that's exactly what Detroit does. And not what Edmonton does.

Edmonton does stupid things, like letting vets and UFAs keep roster spots until a kid has clearly proven that he can handle that role. And they promote young guys when they're ready, instead of trying to dress the fewest vets possible. That's the big problem in Edmonton, really.

We should be like Detroit and just throw prospects into NHL roles to placate impatient fans who want to be sold on 'hope', and dress as many young guys as we can possibly justify.

I suppose I should point out that this post is sarcastic. I feel the need to point this out, because my bitterest sarcasm doesn't sting as much as most of the threads where posters are talking about where they think the club should go from here.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

You know who's been really good at developing a team with sustained success?

Detroit.

We should do what they do, and turf basically every player over the age of 29. We can fill the line-up with our prospects, regardless of whether they've clearly demonstrated themselves to be NHL-ready or not.

Because that's exactly what Detroit does. And not what Edmonton does.

Edmonton does stupid things, like letting vets and UFAs keep roster spots until a kid has clearly proven that he can handle that role. And they promote young guys when they're ready, instead of trying to dress the fewest vets possible. That's the big problem in Edmonton, really.

We should be like Detroit and just throw prospects into NHL roles to placate impatient fans who want to be sold on 'hope', and dress as many young guys as we can possibly justify.

I suppose I should point out that this post is sarcastic. I feel the need to point this out, because my bitterest sarcasm doesn't sting as much as most of the threads where posters are talking about where they think the club should go from here.

I just want to say, your signature gave me a legitimate, comedy-club level laugh. maybe not a headliner laugh, but a solid opener for sure.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

The magic formula is you put your NHL-ready prospects in the NHL, and fill the other spots with vets.

Not trying to dress a skeleton crew of vets on a roster of teenagers that gets murdered every might, hoping this will teach them to be confident and develop a winning culture.

[Heavy Jack]

We would never be able to swing this but I hope the Flames throw money at Joe Thornton in the off-season. With his playoff luck and closing window for a cup he will probably be looking else-where but I would love to have him as a mentor for Sean Monahan.