Garbage bag day

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

backlund was on the ice for 3 of the 4 GWG in the playoffs this year.



3 of 4.



He also had two overtime opportunities to end the game that he couldn't finish on.



It's the most under-talked about storyline of the year IMO.

Putting it all on Backlund wouldn’t even be remotely fair considering how often he was on the ice with Colorado’s top guys.

It wasn’t his best series by a long shot, but 82 games this year, he was asked to do a lot of heavy lifting and asked to play against the opposition’s best players.

There’s a reason they don’t typically ask the Monahan line to do so because they’re awful defensively. They can legitimately be hemmed in their own zone for entire shifts just trying to defend. If Monahan ever wants to become a premier #1 center in this league, he has a lot of aspects to work on. Elite 20 feet in front of the net, a liability in the other 180 feet.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Treliving says Monahan was playing through a cracked thumb and Rittich's injury was knee.

Lindholm had a slight knee sprain in the last game.

Slashes work.

Since the NHL isn't really addressing this aspect of the game, it's going to be part of every team's game plan during the year. You reap the rewards come playoff time.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by chedder

Please no. 34 years old. Guaranteed to fall off a Cliff. And 8.25 mill for 2 more years.

If it was Backlund for Getzlaf 1 for 1 I would be fine with it but not adding young players or high picks.

[Kybb79]

Getzlaf would instantly make us better. Neal would need to go the other way.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

It's kind of funny, the furthest this core has made it is without Giordano in the playoffs.

The Flames have invested heavily in their back end, through high draft picks, $'s and trades.

Their only deadline move was to get them 10 defensemen going into the playoffs.

Time for some re-balancing. Engelland giving Vegas 20 minutes a night at $1.5 million ($1 million last year) sure gives them room to make moves elsewhere. Flames 7th and 8th guys make more than that, and cost them draft picks on top of it.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by chedder

Please no. 34 years old. Guaranteed to fall off a Cliff. And 8.25 mill for 2 more years.

Plus, Getzlaf is very slow, not the answer for a team unable to match the Avs’ team speed.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I know this is somewhat tongue in cheek but I think it's just so dumb.



Monahan takes the most punishment of any player on the roster. He's a gamer, his body is just broken.



If the Flames had other players willing to take that kind of abuse maybe they would've won more games and maybe monahan wouldn't have to take so much of it.



Agree he needs to work on his skating though, it's easily his worst physical attribute and is what prevents him from being able to play a 200ft game.



My biggest takeaway from that Peters interview is that I think Backlund is gone. He was absolutely horrific in the post season, and if lindholm is going to be playing centre, it's not going to be on line 1.

Gone or pushed down to 3rd line? Backlund had a challenging playoff but has a solid body of work as a 2 way player. I don’t see why they would dump him. Janko on the other hand....

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

Plus, Getzlaf is very slow, not the answer for a team unable to match the Avs’ team speed.

Counter to that is Getzlaf absolutely knows how to dominate and control the puck while he is on the ice. He doesn't get rushed, doesn't panic, and just keeps the puck if nothing is available.

Yeah the Avs were fast, but that doesn't mean the Flames being faster is the solution. I'd argue a player like Getzlaf is exactly who the Flames needed in this series.

[Strange Brew]

Flames shouldn't dump anyone unless there was a way to dump Neal.

But trading a guy to make the team better? Sign me up.

The organizational strengths are the defense and if they are serious about moving Lindholm, then depth at center.

The needs are an elite forward, preferably center. And organizational depth too to keep the pipeline of players on elc's full.

[sempuki]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Hmm, the "meanness and bigger bodies" comments are interesting. Should the Flames go for a Semenko type player? Useless offensively but go near Johnny and get pummeled.

It might work.

No, they need a James Neal type player...

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by Toonage

My broken thumb took 3 months to heal and stop bothering me. Bent it backwards and the xray showed a crack. Had trouble with everything from opening a car door to operating a can opener.

Same. Cracked it and it took 10 weeks until it felt 'good', and nearly 6 months until I didnt notice it when playing hockey.

[TheScorpion]

Getzlaf is still an excellent player and he is one of the most dangerous powerplay catalysts in the league. A really dominant, intense presence. As a two-year commitment, I'd be down.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Putting it all on Backlund wouldn’t even be remotely fair considering how often he was on the ice with Colorado’s top guys.

It wasn’t his best series by a long shot, but 82 games this year, he was asked to do a lot of heavy lifting and asked to play against the opposition’s best players.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve said it a couple times this week but I think the Flames look at Nazim Kadri this offseason. Leafs need cap space and the fan base and coaches aren’t happy with his suspensions the last two playoffs.

IMO he would check a lot of boxes for the Flames.

- Speed at Center Ice
- Skilled
- Defensively Responsible
- Mean and Nasty (sometimes too much)

Not being able to throw Jankowski and Monahan out there for any of the real tough match ups really hurts and having Backlund, Kadri, and Ryan as centres that you can trust in your own end would really help Backlund not get burnt out.

Could see something around Janko + maybe Kylington going the other way.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I’ve said it a couple times this week but I think the Flames look at Nazim Kadri this offseason. Leafs need cap space and the fan base and coaches aren’t happy with his suspensions the last two playoffs.

IMO he would check a lot of boxes for the Flames.

- Speed at Center Ice
- Skilled
- Defensively Responsible
- Mean and Nasty (sometimes too much)

Not being able to throw Jankowski and Monahan out there for any of the real tough match ups really hurts and having Backlund, Kadri, and Ryan as centres that you can trust in your own end would really help Backlund not get burnt out.

Could see something around Janko + maybe Kylington going the other way.

Flames are not really in a place to be absorbing cap hits. Brodie for Kadri makes more sense to me pretty even money and the Leafs get a top 4 right side D without giving up one of their young core.

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Monahan will never give you anything.

Guys on this board will call him gutless but I just don't get that from him.

I don't know why it continuously shocks me to see how much fans (for every team) speculate on what's going on behind the scenes for the players. No one really knows anything about what's going on with these kids, when it comes to specific injuries or their personal lives.

I especially want to throat punch Eric Francis for making his greasy little innuendos about all of his 'inside information' on the players. He is a complete fatheaded shlub.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Flames are not really in a place to be absorbing cap hits. Brodie for Kadri makes more sense to me pretty even money and the Leafs get a top 4 right side D without giving up one of their young core.

I think those would be separate deals - Babcock needs a right shot D. He already is hesitant to just play Muzzin on the right.

My guess is Frolik and Brodie both move more in deals that bring picks and prospects in and that would open the Kadri cap space.

I think center is clearly the focus based on the comments about Lindholm maybe moving to C, and guys not coming out of the lineup due to Pk.

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I know this is somewhat tongue in cheek but I think it's just so dumb.

Monahan takes the most punishment of any player on the roster. He's a gamer, his body is just broken.

If the Flames had other players willing to take that kind of abuse maybe they would've won more games and maybe monahan wouldn't have to take so much of it.

Agree he needs to work on his skating though, it's easily his worst physical attribute and is what prevents him from being able to play a 200ft game.

Yeah Monahan has his flaws (mostly his skating, and maybe his fitness) but really I don’t think his toughness should be questioned. He takes a beating going to the front of the net and to the dirty areas to score, and he tends to play through injury every year.

He may never be guy that dishes out a lot of hits but he’s a guy that is willing to take a beating and then go right back to the front of the net the next shift.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

So a cracked thumb...explains why his shot maybe lacked some zip, but certainly doesn't account for his lack of overall compete/physicality.

This injury certainly doesn't excuse him from his poor play.

I agree, completely, but we are getting too linear on things now. Cracked thumb doesn't mean you become slower and doesn't prevent you from contributing in other ways, and that's got to be the learning for Monahan in the future, you have to find a way to do that stuff.

But, cracked thumb means the part of his game that is his bread and butter is impacted. When that happens, the risk of you losing confidence in your game and playing tentative results in no speed, no physical play and slowly but surely the rest of your game falling off. It's not as simple as saying, cracked thumb shouldn't mean lack of speed and compete, it's the impact it has on your confidence that then in turn impacts those things. I'm not saying it should have, again that's the lesson #23 needs to learn from this, but it's not about direct correlations to injury. Monahan having an impacted shot is likely the worst thing that could happen to him from a runs the risk of hurting his confidence perspective.

It's the same with the comments being made on here about Frolik's meanness comments. Yes we got out skated..........this team didn't just become slow. They have the speed, but their nerves and lack of confidence impacted their speed which was the issue this series. Evidently, Frolik thinks if we were meaner and more physical, that help our confidence and open up the ice for them to use the speed, and I agree.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by CN10

Can't believe he's just thinking of this now . He's coached him for several years now. The guy is great on face offs and worked the hardest of the three on top line this series but he didn't get a look in the middle to at least share time with Backlund in trying to check MacKinnon? It is nice to see him recognize what might be a good option for the team going forward even if it is about a game and a half too late.

Gaudreau - Lindholm - Neal (playmaker and two-way forward to hopefully get Neal scoring again)
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik (3M way not be around next year but is a good line)
Bennett - Monahan - Ryan (still has RHS faceoff man and decent puck carriers with Monahan)
Mangiapane - Jankowski - Hathaway (if re-signed, otherwise Czarnik)
I think Tre will look at using Brodie/Frolik/Jankowski to get a top 6 RW or dabble in FA again for one (Hayes?, Nyquist?, Zucarello?).

He didn't just realize this now, he made comments as such during the season. Evidently the team had some chemistry and is built right now around him being a winger. Long term they see him fitting up the middle, my guess would be that Peters will be looking for some other "roster" moves to open up using Lindholm at centre. This has nothing to do with him having an aha moment 48hrs too late.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I’ve said it a couple times this week but I think the Flames look at Nazim Kadri this offseason. Leafs need cap space and the fan base and coaches aren’t happy with his suspensions the last two playoffs.

IMO he would check a lot of boxes for the Flames.

- Speed at Center Ice
- Skilled
- Defensively Responsible
- Mean and Nasty (sometimes too much)

Not being able to throw Jankowski and Monahan out there for any of the real tough match ups really hurts and having Backlund, Kadri, and Ryan as centres that you can trust in your own end would really help Backlund not get burnt out.

Could see something around Janko + maybe Kylington going the other way.

I don’t hate the idea of Kadri, but his baggage in itself is a big issue. Excellent 2 way player when he’s on his game, but a big risk especially for the playoffs because he definitely lets his emotions get the best of him.

I’m really hoping the Flames go for Matt Duchene. A free #1 center who can score goals as well as he sets them up and that added speed would be just a cherry on top.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by BigBrodieFan

I don't know why it continuously shocks me to see how much fans (for every team) speculate on what's going on behind the scenes for the players. No one really knows anything about what's going on with these kids, when it comes to specific injuries or their personal lives.

I especially want to throat punch Eric Francis for making his greasy little innuendos about all of his 'inside information' on the players. He is a complete fatheaded shlub.

Francis is what he is. He's made of living off being the contrarian. A dark cloud when the sky is bright and sunshine when the fanbase is upset. He knows how to play the game with the casual fan base better than anyone, which will always be upsetting to the more educated, hardcore fans.

Perfect example is the Tkachuk upcoming deal. He's playing the perfect angle to look like he knows something bad is going on. Everyone loves Tkachuk and wants to see a great deal signed, so he jumps into position.

The NHL is quickly making a drastic shift to shorter deals on star players, realizing that the days of paying 4-5 star players on 8 year deals quickly turns into a disastrous rebuild when they start declining. So Francis takes this info that more educated fans understand and warps it for the casual fans "Things aren't rosy in Tkachukville, folks!!!!! wouldn't be surprised to see a 5 year deal so he can leave right away!!!".

Now when he signs a 5 year deal which is likely what Trelving was considering our casual fanbase is going to go "Wow, Francis must have known that Tkachuk isn't happy".