New Look Flames - Thoughts on the roster ahead of camp

[Heavy Jack]

Gaudreau - Lindholm - Tkachuk
Mangiapane - Monahan - Coleman
Dube - Backlund - Pitlick
Lucic - Richardson - Lewis
Ritchie, Gawdin

Wildcards
Zary, Pelletier, Ruzicka, Phillips

Hanifin - Tanev
Zadorov - Andersson
Valimaki - Gudbranson
Mackey

Wildcards
Kinvall, Stone, Kylington

Markstrom
Darth

Out
Giordano, Ryan, Nordstrom, Leivo, Nesterov, Rinaldo, Robinson, Simon, also going to include Bennett

In
Coleman, Pitlick, Lewis, Richardson, Zadarov, Gudbranson

If we look at that top line and keep it together it means that there is at least one different player through out the rest of the forward lines which really speaks to the overhaul that happened over the summer. Was it the overhaul we were hoping/expecting as Flames fans?? I’d say no, the core forwards remain untouched however the addition of Coleman does arguably balance out the top 6 and allow for a much more sturdy bottom 6 versus what was deployed last year.

The D is the biggest questionmark on the year and it’s going to have to be a by committee approach from them but I do think there is a lot more physicality through out which will help with the normalized schedule. Big years for Andy and Valimaki here and it will be interesting to track them.

At the end of the day we did want to see change and you can’t say that hasn’t happened here though a more shocking shake up of the core would have been ideal I can understand where it would be a hard market right now to achieve a deal like that with the past two years being such anomaly type seasons most GM’s would be taking a wait and see approach before moving out any major pieces via trade.

Honestly I’m excited for the season and the roster (on paper which means as much as nothing to us flames fans at this point) does arguably look much more balanced. Here’s to some competitive Sutter hockey!

[dino7c]

That 2nd line and Markstrom are big keys

[Young Guns]

I think it’s going to be a long season of listening to how the Flames have no secondary scoring.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by dino7c

That 2nd line and Markstrom are big keys

Originally Posted by Young Guns

I think it’s going to be a long season of listening to how the Flames have no secondary scoring.

The first two replies really say it all, if the 2nd line can tap into some decent scoring I think the Flames could excel but it’s a huge need for the team. If the results ended up being what Young Guns is fearing it will be a long season indeed.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Not much went right last season. For this season to go better you need some, but perhaps not all, of the following to happen
- Monahan rebounds, even if not to his historic levels, but to an acceptable bar for a 2nd liner
- Tkachuk rebounds
- Markstrom rebounds
- Tanev continues strong play
- Hanifin takes a big step to be the new #1
- Juuso takes a step towards being a second pairing guy
- Andersson rebounds
- Eatbread continues to develop.
- Dube takes a step
- Coleman justifies his contract

There's a lot that COULD go right. If some of that happens I see them as a 7-10 team competing for a playoff spot. If MOST of them go right, I think they can be a little higher. If key players continue to play poorly they are out of the playoff picture and sellers at the TDL

[kukkudo]

Will be interesting but got low expectations going into this season. Hopefully Flames prove me wrong.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Young Guns

I think it’s going to be a long season of listening to how the Flames have no secondary scoring.

Offense from the back end is going to be a major problem too, it was a problem for us BEFORE we swapped Gio for Zadorov

Who QBs the powerplay? No one we have has had success at it so we are either going 5 forwards or assuming someone will elevate their game to new levels

[mikephoen]

The division is incredibly weak, so playoffs should be expected. The roster isn't very good though.

[CaptainYooh]

ZadOrov

[Moneyhands23]

It's an interesting line up. Hard to say how things will go this season.

I sincerely hope Monahan has a consistent and effective season. For me its Monahan and Anderson that are keys to this teams season.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Not much went right last season. For this season to go better you need some, but perhaps not all, of the following to happen
- Monahan rebounds, even if not to his historic levels, but to an acceptable bar for a 2nd liner
- Tkachuk rebounds
- Markstrom rebounds
- Tanev continues strong play
- Hanifin takes a big step to be the new #1
- Juuso takes a step towards being a second pairing guy
- Andersson rebounds
- Eatbread continues to develop.
- Dube takes a step
- Coleman justifies his contract

There's a lot that COULD go right. If some of that happens I see them as a 7-10 team competing for a playoff spot. If MOST of them go right, I think they can be a little higher. If key players continue to play poorly they are out of the playoff picture and sellers at the TDL

Basically everything needs to go right for us to squeak in and hope we magically heat up in playoffs

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before

[Jiri Hrdina]

No that’s not what I said.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Not much went right last season. For this season to go better you need some, but perhaps not all, of the following to happen
- Monahan rebounds, even if not to his historic levels, but to an acceptable bar for a 2nd liner
- Tkachuk rebounds
- Markstrom rebounds
- Tanev continues strong play
- Hanifin takes a big step to be the new #1
- Juuso takes a step towards being a second pairing guy
- Andersson rebounds
- Eatbread continues to develop.
- Dube takes a step
- Coleman justifies his contract

Yeah, lots of "they have to play better" assumptions, unfortunately. But that's it: they MUST play better and then we have a contender, because they are talented enough to be one (insert Brad Pitt's meme here). I hope Darryl can do his magic with this team. In my heart, I don't believe that they are yet, but I really, really want to see them fight for it each and every game.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

No that’s not what I said.

No buts it what the objective clearly is. Hope everyone who regressed last season bounces back and every young player takes a step forward. Players that had career years like Tanev are needed to maintain that level, and if they don’t we are in trouble

And even if all that happens it’s still a tweener team with a lack of secondary scoring and offense from the back end

Basically the margin of error we are dealing with is razor thin. If Markstrom plays like he did last year we are cooked. If Rasmus plays like he did last year we are screwed. If Hanifin misses any time or has a slow start due to his injury we don’t have much hope

[Jiri Hrdina]

They were right there last year. With a weak division they only need some of those things to happen.
I don't love the team. And you are welcome to your opinion.
But I don't see it as pessimistically as you do. WAY more went wrong last year than went right.
It comes down to how their top players perform as it usually does.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Gaudreau - Lindholm - Tkachuk
Mangiapane - Monahan - Coleman
Dube - Backlund - Pitlick
...

One more comment. So far, Monahan was not able to play well with anyone but Johnny. They have chemistry, why screw with it? Lindholm can play on any line and make it better.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

They were right there last year. With a weak division they only new some of those things to happen.
I don't love the team. And you are welcome to your opinion.
But I don't see it as pessimistically as you do. WAY more went wrong last year than went right.
It comes down to how their top players performs, as it usually does.

Right where? They were as close to coming last in the weakest division as they were to making playoffs

Things go wrong for every team every year, the good teams just adjust and keep winning. We were literally the healthiest team in the league in terms of man games lost to injury

So did things go wrong or did a mediocre team play a mediocre season of hockey then get worse in the offseason?

[dissentowner]

I think this team will be a lot better than some, I think it will be a tight race between Vegas, Calgary, and the No Goods for 1st in the Pacific. Both Johnny and Matty are going to have big years.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by neo45

No buts it what the objective clearly is. Hope everyone who regressed last season bounces back and every young player takes a step forward. Players that had career years like Tanev are needed to maintain that level, and if they don’t we are in trouble

This is clearly the most pessimistic possible view. If Markstrom had a strong year last year—with no other differences in the season—then the Flames would have been in the playoff hunt. That is but ONE single change that would make a HUGE difference. Like Jiri has pointed put, if everything goes right, then the Flames are in the hunt for the Division; they realistically need for only a few things to go right for them to be in the playoffs.

This team is nowhere near as bad as they finished last year.

And even if all that happens it’s still a tweener team with a lack of secondary scoring and offense from the back end

I don't get the "lack of secondary scoring" concerns. The Flames have six bona-fide top-six forwards, along with a couple who are easily top-nine. Their #2 centre is slotted on the third line. This is a forward group that should not have much difficulty scoring.

I do agree that offense from the backend is a concern.

Basically the margin of error we are dealing with is razor thin. If Markstrom plays like he did last year we are cooked. If Rasmus plays like he did last year we are screwed. If Hanifin misses any time or has a slow start due to his injury we don’t have much hope

Sure, but these are the same sorts of concerns faced by virtually every team in the League. Even the top teams are going to struggle if their starting goalie has a down year.

This is excessive pessimism.


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[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

One more comment. So far, Monahan was not able to play well with anyone but Johnny. They have chemistry, why screw with it? Lindholm can play on any line and make it better.

While I agree with Mony mainly playing his best hockey with Johnny I can’t ignore just how good Gaudreau - Lindholm - Tkachuk were down the stretch and I feel like the staff will be considerate of that as well.

If Mony can regain some of his abilities he’s shown in the past too I think he could fit in nicely with Mangiapane and Coleman who are both known to be able to play cycle like hockey and dig in the corners which would work with Monahan as a shooter option in the slot.

Ultimately will be up to Sutter and Muller to see how the offence breaks down and I think in the early part of the season we might see some mix and matching to find the best combination in the top 6.