I have been shifting to the keep Gaudreau trade Tkachuk bandwagon especially if the Flames can get Eichel.
How can this current team compete for a cup? They need to add elite players specifically down the middle. I know it means very little but Sabres fans on Twitter are really starting to like the Flames as a trade partner when they hear Tkachuk is on the table. I also get the vibe it won’t be a ton of +++ in addition to Matthew to get Jack. Flames 12-13th overall pick and maybe a surplus second from 2022?
I do think the Flames will heavily pursue Eichel and or Reinhart as a future core piece for the team
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I have been shifting to the keep Gaudreau trade Tkachuk bandwagon especially if the Flames can get Eichel.
How can this current team compete for a cup? They need to add elite players specifically down the middle. I know it means very little but Sabres fans on Twitter are really starting to like the Flames as a trade partner when they hear Tkachuk is on the table. I also get the vibe it won’t be a ton of +++ in addition to Matthew to get Jack. Flames 12-13th overall pick and maybe a surplus second from 2022?
I do think the Flames will heavily pursue Eichel and or Reinhart as a future core piece for the team
Agree. I'd rather pay Gaudreau $9M for a few years and keep him than $9M to Tkachuk for one only to lose him.
Considering Markstrom and Sutter are signed long term and with the goal doing well in the playoffs I'd be looking at something like:
-Trade Gaudreau. He's a great, skilled player but not very good when time and space is reduced and hitting and intensity are increased.
-Keep Tkachuk. He's had a bad year, no question. Over the last 2-3 years he is often the only guy who looks like he gives a crap, no matter the circumstances. If the relationship is soured than the team needs to try to fix it.
-Do (almost) whatever it takes to get a real premier forward. If Eichel gets a clean bill of health, push hard for him. While Taylor Hall is as derpy as they come, he can still be a good complimentary player if he has decent leadership and coaching. As long as he isn't too pricey it might be a worthwhile gamble on a 2-3 year deal.
-Generally speaking I'd like to see the bottom 2 lines stocked with gritty players that can skate. Guys like Hathaway come to mind.
-The only keepers (barring really significant offers) are Lindholm, Markstrom, Mangiapane, Anderson, Valimaki, Hanifin and Tkachuk (pending contract demands).
Almost all teams that compete and/or win the Cup have at least one elite player that plays at a high level in the playoffs. They also have good, consistent goaltending, decent special teams, forwards that can withstand the physical rigours, and a defense that doesn't turn the puck over. I think the Flames have the goalie and parts of the rest but not a playoff game-breaker.
I would work at acquiring multiple first round picks for the next few seasons (however we have to do it), and not worry much about making the playoffs right now. Have some elite prospects in the pipeline for the opening of the new arena.
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^^^ A $7M 4th line has to be a hard no. That is such a waste of money. Really like the idea of Blake Coleman though, although he is a center and shoots left, so not sure he's a fit on RW. If there was a way to bump Backlund and replace him with Coleman, that would be a wise move.
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Ask ownership to give me the budget to hire a lot of people who know about hockey than me and are smarter than me. Surround myself with good hockey people with a history of evaluating talent and building winners.
I think that if the goal is to win the cup one day, then they gotta go scorched earth and hope to get some of the strong blue chip centers in the next few years.
That isn't the mandate. As such, expecting a half ass retool with the aim to be a wild card team as soon as possible.
What is the Wings motivation in trading their captain?
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It's hard to see the Wings moving him, but I remember reading somewhere that he was already getting frustrated with the rebuild. It is unlikely it would happen, especially with Monahan having an NTC, but I would at least look into that deal and see if there was any interest. I think it might have to be a 1st round pick or someone like Pelletier instead of a 2nd to blow Yzerman away and get him to pull the trigger, but then I wouldn't do that.
Similar cap hits and remaining term, both have had back-to-back down seasons, a change of scenery might be good for both. They're roughly the same caliber of player, would be getting an extra pick in the deal. Monahan is 2 years older but has had the more productive career. He'd be their number #1C for the remainder of his contract and they would bank on him producing for at least a 50+ point pace (which he has done every year, except this year and his rookie year). If that happens, he could be flipped to another team for a higher return than what they would get for ~0.5 PPG Larkin.
From Calgary's standpoint, they would be taking a risk since Larkin only put up 23 points this year. The hope is that he would return to being 60-70 point guy. If not, they would at least have a 40-50 point guy who provides a different dynamic to the forward group with his speed.
It's fantasy, but a center group of Eichel/Larkin/Backlund/Ryan with Lindholm as a backup option would be droolworthy. It's fun to dream
I strongly believe that the Flames should pursue a trade for Eichel to get some elite talent. However, since that remains pretty unlikely because many teams will be thinking the same thing, here is my attempt at a roster.
I'll put the explanation in a spoiler tag because this post is way too long and I'll leave the long version for anyone interested.
Spoiler!
Not a ton of new players from outside of the organization but a lot of subtraction. Ryan, Ritchie, Nordstrom, Rinaldo, and Simon all walk away. I like Ryan a lot, but he is older, not very fast, and not big, so I have replaced him with Ryan Getzlaf. I realize that this is also unlikely and I am banking on his Hitmen connection, Sutter connection (Sutter was an advisor for a couple years with the Ducks), and that he would play on the 2nd PP unit, but this is just for fun and I'd be pumped if he was the Flames Spezza/Thornton/Simmonds signing this year.
Given the flat salary cap, this season they should give Zary/Pelletier/Phillips a chance on a scoring line with Monahan and Mangiapane. Shelter them away from tough matchups when you can and hope that Mangiapane can carry that line a bit.
Leivo - had some bad luck this season and was still recovering from a major injury, seems to click before he got COVID. Would give him a do over at same salary.
Ruzicka/Phillips - both have a few years of pro under their belts and should be pushing for roster spots this season. I'm sick of guys like Nordstrom and Ritchie.
Zary - he's a pretty impressive scorer. Here are two players in the WHL in the prior two seasons:
Player A
2018-19: 63GP-24G-43A-67P
2019-20: 57GP-38G-48A-86P
Player B
2018-19: 68GP-34G-50A-84P
2019-20: 51GP-38G-47A-85P
Player A is Zary and Player B is Dylan Cozens. Cozens is 7 months older and his seasons were his 3rd and 4th years of junior (Draft year and Draft +1 year) while Zary's were his 2nd and 3rd (Draft -1 year and Draft year). Add his 7 points in 9 AHL games and his 1.6PPG pace in the WHL this season and I think Zary is kind of underrated as a prospect and a guy who might be able to crack the line up.
Jakob Pelletier - also a good prospect, but given he is only 5'10 170 lbs, I think that he will probably face more of an adjustment to pro hockey than Zary and I am predicting he will spend some time in the minors like Dube and Mangiapane. He's certainly had a very impressive season and I thought he was great at the WJC, so who knows.
The Flames need to add offense to their D core. Inside the spoiler I compare the Flames offensive output from the D under Sutter to Vegas and Colorado and the results aren't pretty. Not an ideal choice, but with the little cap space they have I don't see Hamilton coming here and I couldn't even fit Montour.
Spoiler!
I was trying to get creative and thought about adding Tony DeAngelo as a buy low option to get some more offense from the defense. Obviously, there are some good reasons to stay away from DeAngelo, but the Flames are in a tight spot here cap-wise and need a boost to the offense from the defense.
DeAngelo has scored at a 42 point pace in his career. Might be a bad fit in some ways for Sutter, but he's in the right age category and beggars can't be choosers.
Here is the scoring pace of the D under Sutter from last year minus Nestorov:
1. Noah Hanifin - 2G-8A-10PTS in 20 games under Sutter (42 point pace in an 82 game season)
2. Mark Giordano - 6G-7A-13PTS in 30 games (36 point pace)
3. Rasmus Andersson - 2G-5A-7PTS in 30 games (19 point pace)
4. Chris Tanev - 1G-6A-7PTS in 30 games (19 point pace)
5. Michael Stone - 2G-2A-4PTS in 20 games (16 point pace)
6. Juuso Valimaki - 1G-3A-4PTS in 23 games (14 point pace)
That makes for a 146 point pace from the defense. Not great and not even close to the class of the Western conference. For example, I took the top 6 point scoring pace of D from Vegas (222 points) and Colorado (251) this season.
I do believe that Andersson should be expected to score more because he actually had 21 points in this shortened season, but Giordano might regress and more production from Valimaki on the third pair would be a pleasant surprise but no guarantee.
Golden Knights
Theodore 8-34-42 (65 points)
Martinez 9-23-32 (50 points) [pretty crazy year for Martinez, career average is 29.6]
Pietrangelo 7-16-23 (46 points)
Hague 5-12-17 (26 points)
Whitecloud 2-10-12 (19 points)
McNabb 2-6-8 (16 points)
Cap hit: 80.5m, 1m in space assuming cap stays the same
Then Valimaki and Zary becomes elite players, Monahan hit 30-40 goals per season. On the other side Eichel, Larkin and Martinez turn into the deep. So Flames.
