[GDT] Flames garbage bag day and look forward to next year!

[sss1]

Ugh.

What are the chances that Tkachuk's hand was not injured during his the first period escapades of the Dallas series?

His point totals look alright, but man is it frustrating to know that he could have been a lot better.

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530634761072365568

[Buff]

Originally Posted by sss1

Ugh.

What are the chances that Tkachuk's hand was not injured during his the first period escapades of the Dallas series?

His point totals look alright, but man is it frustrating to know that he could have been a lot better.

I think he brought down Lindholm and Johnny at times. They couldn't adapt and were fighting themselves as well as the enemy

[sss1]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Tree just confirmed it happened from the fight

Such a disappointment to have this confirmed however predictable it may have been.

I wonder if this factors in to contract negotiation.

[Inferno]

Hopefully Tkachuk learned a lesson. Don't get into unnecessary fights in the playoffs.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by mile

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530634761072365568

Great news. Would have loved to see this team in these playoffs with a healthy Monahan. I know 90% of Flames fans have written him off but I have heard enough about the injuries to think if he can get and stay healthy he may have a nice resurgence

[sa226]

The Tkachuk injury stuff is tough. On the one hand(heh) you want him to be what makes him an effective player, on the other hand if he cuts out those antics he's healthy and much more able to contribute.

In one breath I'm pissed that in another playoffs Tkachuk finds a way to get injured when the team needs him to be the 100pt player that he is, in another breath we all applaud Iginla for fighting in every round of the 2004 playoffs. Iginla could have broken his hand in 2004 and we would have remembered that year much different.

It's a tough one

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Inferno

Hopefully Tkachuk learned a lesson. Don't get into unnecessary fights in the playoffs.

I don't agree.

The biggest problem this team has had over the years is a lack of emotional engagement. Tkachuk is doing what he thinks is best after a player openly threatened one of ours in the media. Klingberg should have been suspended for what he said, just like Benn should have been suspended for flew-footing/trying to poke out Mangiapane's eye.

I think there is entirely too much negativity directed towards Tkachuk. Yeah, I think he likely learned some lessons in this run - but by in large the dude had his best playoff run to date.

I generally think there's too much negativity towards players who play on the edge in this market. We need more players like that.

Hell, we pay $5.25M for a gentle giant who does nothing for the team - but for some reason he's loved and gets cheered every time he touches the puck...but we turn negativity towards a winger who stands up for his teammates and scored 100+ points. The stupidity in this is incredible.

Tkachuk is a beast. Love that guy, and hope he's here long term.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Great news. Would have loved to see this team in these playoffs with a healthy Monahan. I know 90% of Flames fans have written him off but I have heard enough about the injuries to think if he can get and stay healthy he may have a nice resurgence

Everytime there's news of Monahan's surgery it just makes me wonder why it didn't happen earlier.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Coach

Everytime there's news of Monahan's surgery it just makes me wonder why it didn't happen earlier.

Given the awful timing of it coming out (just after the deadline), I believe Monahan was just hiding the severity of it/pushing through it.

Odd that such a thing can happen in pro sports, and it's commendable from Monahan but it's also just stupid. It hurt the team in the long run. The mentality of hiding injuries/playing through them and hiding the severity needs to get extinguished from the sport.

...hell, other teams are overjoyed when they can sideline a player for months at a go because of LTIR. The Flames need to go above and beyond what they're currently doing to make sure the players know that if they're hurt, to disclose it better and be more open about it. They have to correct whatever is happening that led to Monahan not going under the knife earlier.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I don't agree.

The biggest problem this team has had over the years is a lack of emotional engagement. Tkachuk is doing what he thinks is best after a player openly threatened one of ours in the media. Klingberg should have been suspended for what he said, just like Benn should have been suspended for flew-footing/trying to poke out Mangiapane's eye.

I think there is entirely too much negativity directed towards Tkachuk. Yeah, I think he likely learned some lessons in this run - but by in large the dude had his best playoff run to date.

I generally think there's too much negativity towards players who play on the edge in this market. We need more players like that.

Hell, we pay $5.25M for a gentle giant who does nothing for the team - but for some reason he's loved and gets cheered every time he touches the puck...but we turn negativity towards a winger who stands up for his teammates and scored 100+ points. The stupidity in this is incredible.

Tkachuk is a beast. Love that guy, and hope he's here long term.

That last fight was pointless. He should have got his pound of flesh from the fight in game 2. If Klingberg does something stupid then yeah I have no problem fighting him but it was an unnecessary fight.

[mile]

Just saw the clip on TSN of Tkachuk’s answer about signing a contract extension here. Sounded very genuine about how the COVID shutdown affected him and his interactions with fans. His demeanour is a complete 180 from his garbage day interview last year, good to see

[browna]

Originally Posted by Inferno

That last fight was pointless. He should have got his pound of flesh from the fight in game 2. If Kingberg does something stupid then yeah I have no problem fighting him but it was an unnecessary fight.

Yup, all about emotional engagement but at the time in game 3 that seemed tacked on after Game 2 settled it with Klinberg.

That top line was a well oiled machine all regular seasons with set plays, touch passes and skilled stuff, but only works if you're 100%.

Now, Tkachuk could obviously still shoot etc so it wasn't critical, but he wasn't 100%.

That didn't help in the Oilers series and the mental aspect of being injured creeps in too and that top line seemed to be out of sorts with JG and EL on an island of their own.

Not sure how Tanev played with dislocated shoulder. Any time he lifted his arm above his waist in 3 games it could've popped out again.

Kylington and his shakiness is to blame for that too on the game 6 goal where Tanev had to attempt in vain to cover for him.

Zadorov tough as nails too.

[kipperiggy]

Originally Posted by Coach

Everytime there's news of Monahan's surgery it just makes me wonder why it didn't happen earlier.

I thought Sutter said in an interview a while back Money was fine, until he wasn’t, which was unfortunately after the deadline

[Harry Lime]

I wish that when a player is not 100% it would be acceptable strategy to move that player down on the depth chart to control their minutes or alter their role. Can't do much about a Zadorov injury, but with Toffoli moved up to the first line at 100% maybe that line would have been more dangerous, and a line of Dube-Jarnkrok-Tkachuk might have been more dangerous as well.

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Great news. Would have loved to see this team in these playoffs with a healthy Monahan. I know 90% of Flames fans have written him off but I have heard enough about the injuries to think if he can get and stay healthy he may have a nice resurgence

I agree. Was really hoping we’d have him for depth and to play around the line-up. As soon as he was shut down I felt like it was the beginning of some injuries to come, as we’d avoided them mostly all season long.

[Sec214]

Chucky was okay to mix it up and should of mixed it up but everyone go so scared of giving Edmonton a 4v4 or 5v4 situations. We didn't drag them into a battle and slow down the game and they wanted to trade chances... it favors them against almost anyone even with Mike Smith in net.. Markstrom was fragile for whatever reason (Fatigue IMO).

Chucky's game you have to live with as a team and accept that most times it results in an opportunity (PP or 4v4).

[kipperiggy]

Now I am no cap expert, and don't have the hockey experience of many on this forum, but it's Saturday and I don't want to work overtime lol.

If Monahan can return to form after both hips being done, why can't he slot into the #2 or #3 C? I know everyone is counting him out, but I'm not ready to just yet. Not only that, but Backlund has shown us time and again he can step up to #2 at times but age will start to catch up I know.

What if we can re-sign Johnny, Chucky, and Bread and roll with something like:

Gaudreau - Lindholm - Toffoli -
Keeps chemistry from the top line and hopefully gets Toffoli back to the level we saw him play in Montreal, since he needs someone to dish him the puck. I have no problem with Lindy being our #1 and not sure why the other thread is suggesting Stutzle etc.

Dube - Monahan - Tkachuk
Maybe a bit slow but Dube can bring some speed, Chucky can show us if he can carry a line.

Bread - Backlund - Coleman - Don't know why we ever break up the 3B line (or why we have not called them that yet). Also don't know how Bread gets more than Lindholm, hopefully can get him signed around $4.0-4.5m and not the $5.0m+ people are projecting.

Then try and trade Lucic to someone trying to reach the cap floor (or he could retire or be bought out if he doesn't want to move, his actual cash owing is actually only around $1.0m this year if I'm recalling correctly which would be attractive to a team potentially or less on the table if he wants to retire). Re-sign Lewis especially and Jarnkrok if the price is right otherwise get a young gun or two up here to win a spot. They are getting their own playoff experience right now! Lewis' experience was key in the run but remember all our guys have got more now.

For Defense Gudbranson at least hopefully wants more stability but Zadorov might be gone, unless he wants stability too, since he's also bounced around a bit too. I think another year of experience for our guys is a good thing as 3 of them are still relatively young (Hanifin, Andersson, and Kylington especially if he can bulk up). Stone also strikes me as a guy looking for stability so could be enticed to re-sign especially if Zad goes and opens up a top 6 spot. Alternatively if both Gudbrandson and Zad are gone it gives Mackey or Valimaki a chance to win a spot like Oliver did. And let's hope and pray that Tanev's recovery is more like 4 than 6 months.

As someone who has up and left my place of employment to move for a secondment and then returned home, there is something to be said for the known (being Calgary for JG).

With Connor making $12.5m and Leon making $8.5m up north, if Johnny and Chucky want to stay, it might be easier than we think, given their stars outperformed ours. If they stay, this team is certainly closer to Cup than many teams that have the cap space to add them. So why wouldn't you want to stick with the known?

Anyway, just some ideas.

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530670251251204096

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530674022593306624

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530677798356017157

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530651504436121600

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530655148346724353

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530662699100782593

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530658923232960518

https://twitter.com/user/status/1530666473080905732

[bluejays]

The problem with keeping guys like Tkachuk around is he will maximize his salary every opportunity possible. So when you go to Gaudreau or someone else high in skill, what incentive is there for them to take less (and possibly lower than Tkachuk), when they're arguably a better player? I think it sets a precedent at the higher end of the salary spectrum and in a salary cap world the percentage more can be handcuffing for making other moves. Tkachuk should be put out to the market to see who would bite (and no doubt the price for him would be good because of his mini-Marchand reputation). The assets if done right could set the Flames up for a good future.