Expectations for 2014-15 Season

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Logical, the way I figure it is having the very high end talent does not guarantee success. When teams place one guy up on a pedestal and say this is our guy for the next decade he has a target on his back. It seems like having a bunch of 5-8 million/year contracts is way better than one or two 8-11.

I'm not saying getting generational talents is bad just that a team with 4 lines and no real superstar seems to win over one or two guys because the game is so fast and players are getting so big one guy doesn't make as big of a difference as in generations of the past. At this moment Pittsburgh is slowly falling apart, just watch and see what happens to Chicago if they sign 1/3 of their cap to 2 players, doesn't seem to work in today's game.

Pittsburgh isn't in this position because they have Crosby and Malkin. Their in this position because their drafting has been terrible and they haven't been able to supplement their line up in the same way Chicago and LA have. High end talent is essential to winning and so is depth. Without either of those your likely not an elite team.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Always hope for playoffs, but guarantee we won't get that this year. Our defense and goaltending looks good/decent, but we still do not have that top end talent. I think we finish better than last season, with 84 points and finishing 20th in the league (meaning we pick 10th in the draft).

[AltaGuy]

If we do well and push for a playoff spot, I will be surprised. Certainly not unhappy, but surprised.

My hunch is that Treliving and Burke would be surprised too: the Bollig and Engelland trade and signing suggest to me a management group that is more interested in protecting young assets than winning hockey games at this juncture. I think they are absolutely right to do so.

In some ways it's a bit of a tank-job, but I'm perfectly fine with it. Treliving and Burke are setting up our kids to develop, not necessarily to win hockey games right off the bat.

One more high draft pick in a ridiculously good draft, continued development of a lot of young, talented assets, and we are looking pretty damn good for quite some time to come.

Or we make the playoffs, and Treliving and Burke figure out just how the hell we managed that.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Pittsburgh isn't in this position because they have Crosby and Malkin. Their in this position because their drafting has been terrible and they haven't been able to supplement their line up in the same way Chicago and LA have. High end talent is essential to winning and so is depth. Without either of those your likely not an elite team.

All I was saying is there is correlation between the biggest contracts and teams doing poorly in the playoffs. Kopitar makes 7.5, the highest paid skater for LA. None of the top 10 paid skaters were in the finals.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Unfortunately BUF and EDM may be the two favourites for last place again. What I've noticed in the past is that goaltending is one of the biggest deciders in the tank race. IMO BUF and EDM have the worst tandems I can think of. There will probably be a surprise team who loses it's starter to injury too. WPG's goaltending may push them down but I think Scheiffele's emergence and their overall talent has them ahead of the bottom dwellers.

1. BUF
2. EDM
3. CGY

Hard to figure out who else is in that mix.

[Erick Estrada]

Coyotes don't look very good. If Mike Smith doesn't have a big turnaround this season they look like they could finish bottom five and who knows how the Predators will fare under Laviolette's loose style of play. There will also likely be a team have a miserable season that nobody saw coming. Ottawa looks like they could be a disaster.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Coyotes don't look very good. If Mike Smith doesn't have a big turnaround this season they look like they could finish bottom five and who knows how the Predators will fare under Laviolette's loose style of play. There will also likely be a team have a miserable season that nobody saw coming. Ottawa looks like they could be a disaster.

Also, it will likely be the case that if things start poorly, teams will throw in the towel much more quickly and readily than in other years

[howard_the_duck]

So do you not draft the top players in order to avoid paying them top player salaries? Of course not, that'd be ludicrous.

There are so many factors that come in to play that allowed the Kings to be built like they are. Locking up young core players on their 2nd contract (i.e Doughty) long term allows you to avoid paying them at market value and allowing greater cap flexibility.

Capitalizing on your Stanley cup window based on how the roster is constructed is a way down the road challenge. Drafting those dynamic talents in the first place is something very few teams get to do.

[HelloHockeyFans]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Coyotes don't look very good. If Mike Smith doesn't have a big turnaround this season they look like they could finish bottom five and who knows how the Predators will fare under Laviolette's loose style of play. There will also likely be a team have a miserable season that nobody saw coming. Ottawa looks like they could be a disaster.

Agree totally on Ottawa. I could see Ottawa finishing 2nd last, possibly dead last.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by AcGold

All I was saying is there is correlation between the biggest contracts and teams doing poorly in the playoffs. Kopitar makes 7.5, the highest paid skater for LA. None of the top 10 paid skaters were in the finals.

The correlation between the elite teams and the good teams is strong drafting that allows them to inject depth at an affordable rate into their line up. Like I said you need the elite high end talent and the depth. You honestly think the Penguins would be significantly better having three six million dollar players rather than Crosby and Malkin? The high end players are not what is wrong with Pittsburgh its the depth beyond those players. You need both. Chicago doesn't win the cup without Toews and Kane and doesn't win without Saad, Bickell, Shaw, etc. The challenge is being able to find a way to keep both those aspects on a team. Washington isn't bad because Ovechkin makes 9.5 million. Their bad because their roster isn't that good. Carolina isn't bad because Staal makes 8.25 million. Even if he made 6 million they would be just as bad. If your high end players take up more money then you may have to be more creative but you need that high end talent regardless and the difference between a million or two isn't going to be the difference between elite and not.

[AcGold]

I am aware of those things, but made the point because there are people hoping we finish bottom 2 in the league which is a terrible plan, besides it leading to disaster we couldn't if Hartley stopped showing up to coach.

Buffalo was 25 points behind us while Calgary was competitive almost every night in a season plagued with injuries.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I am aware of those things, but made the point because there are people hoping we finish bottom 2 in the league which is a terrible plan, besides it leading to disaster we couldn't if Hartley stopped showing up to coach.

Buffalo was 25 points behind us while Calgary was competitive almost every night in a season plagued with injuries.

It's not hoping they do, it's expecting them to.
Here is a reasonable guess at a lineup to start the season (that I copied and pasted from the lineup thread)

Glencross, Backlund, Hudler
Raymond, Monahan, Colborne
Byron, Stajan, Jones
Bollig, Bouma, McGrattan

Brodie, Giordano
Russel, Engelland
Smid, Wideman

Ramo
Hiller

[Hackey]

I don't think finishing bottom 2 is the plan but it is a possibility and landing McDavid or Eichel is far from a bad thing. I just don't see your reasoning. We should avoid these generational talents because they might command big dollars in 5 years?

[theoforever]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

,,,Here is a reasonable guess at a lineup to start the season (that I copied and pasted from the lineup thread)

Glencross, Backlund, Hudler
Raymond, Monahan, Colborne
Byron, Stajan, Jones
Bollig, Bouma, McGrattan

Brodie, Giordano
Russel, Engelland
Smid, Wideman

Ramo
Hiller

If that's the lineup I would be very disappointed. I would like to see a couple young prospects given a chance. I'm sure sooner or later there would be additions due to injuries, but this lineup just isn't all that exciting.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by theoforever

If that's the lineup I would be very disappointed. I would like to see a couple young prospects given a chance. I'm sure sooner or later there would be additions due to injuries, but this lineup just isn't all that exciting.

Not exciting, not very good. That's the plan - and allows the prospects to continue to develop in the AHL.
By the time the season is done, a lot of prospects will play a little. A couple may play a lot.
And if everything goes according to plan: Gaudreau, Bennett and McDavid are three Flames announced as Calder finalists in 2015-16

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by theoforever

If that's the lineup I would be very disappointed. I would like to see a couple young prospects given a chance. I'm sure sooner or later there would be additions due to injuries, but this lineup just isn't all that exciting.

I disagree. I think there are plenty of exciting options in that lineup. I want to see how Hiller does when selected. I want to see if Sean can replicate his form from last season. I want to see if I Byron continues where he left off last season(watch out Sedin!). I want to see how the new guys Bollig and Raymond step into the system and perform.

Even the less exciting options in the group fill me with intrigue. Can the likes of Jiri and Gio keep producing the numbers they were last season? I don't care if they aren't the best bunch of hockey players out there, I will forgive them for that and any poor play or bad defeats we may suffer, just so long as we see the same fight and determination that we saw 90% of the time last season. Me personally, I can't wait for October 8th, bring it on!

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Not exciting, not very good. That's the plan - and allows the prospects to continue to develop in the AHL.
By the time the season is done, a lot of prospects will play a little. A couple may play a lot.
And if everything goes according to plan: Gaudreau, Bennett and McDavid are three Flames announced as Calder finalists in 2015-16

Don't think anyone would mind seeing that.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Don't think anyone would mind seeing that.

Edmonton might.

[Hatter]

I expect us to play very tenaciously and lose very frequently.

I can live with that. Enjoyed watching last season.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by #-3

Edmonton might.

Don't kid yourself. When the inevitable sinks in by January that the playoffs are a pipe dream their fans will shift their attention to tanking for McDavid. It will be interesting to see how teams handle things when they are staring in the face of a failed season if we are going to see a lot of teams have fire sales at the deadline and AHL filled rosters down the stretch much like the Flames last year.