You’re The GM

[Beninho]

I’ll make mine simple, do whatever it takes to find an elite #1 C. You cannot become a consistent contender without one. This C must be big, fast, skillful and hard to play against. The reason the last rebuild did not work is Monahan and Bennett did not pan into one. Until the Flames get one ,any attempt at contending will almost certainly not work. If they feel they can only get an elite C through rebuilding well thats what I would do. The Eichel trade was the chance to not have to rebuild to find an elite C, I don’t envision another opportunity like that in the near future but who knows.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

First move as GM is to take Sutter out behind the Saddledome and Ol' Yeller him. We'll tell the kids that we sent him out of province to live with long lost relatives, but we know we did the right thing and put him out of hockey's misery.

Next is get Coronato signed. Get him inked and ready to start his career with the Flames. I think its doable. If not, I'm possibly looking to move him at the draft if it can help us move up. I think I get him signed though.

Next is to prepare for the draft and try to recoup as much draft capital as possible. This window may have been missed by the team's indecision prior to the trade deadline though. Teams are hesitant to trade their firsts at the draft, but going to have to try.
We need the prospects in the system. Have to look at the team long-term and try to figure out who we can live with and live without. Because of the amazing work Treliving did at negotiating long-term deals we are looking at a core of Huberdeau, Kadri, and Weegar. No one is taking those contracts on, so we're looking elsewhere to lose some money on the cap. Based on contract status Backlund, Toffoli, Lindholm, Hanifin, Tanev, Zadorov, Gilbert, and Kylington are all players I'm taking calls on. Mangiapane is another guy I'm listen to offers for. If the right packages of picks and prospects come along, all of them could be gone. Backlund and Toffoli are the guys I'm actively trying to move because of the years they just had. Try to get a 1st and as many 2nds as possible. The 2023 draft is supposed to be the best in a couple of decades and the 2024 is supposed to be relatively weak, so try and get your assets now. I suspect we've missed the window and the only guys I'm going to get interest on are Backlund and Toffoli. That wouldn't disappoint me.

The only guy I have any concern over losing is Lindholm. I'd be trying to get his name on a contract extension, so he isn't available unless something blows my hair back, but if I don't have something done before the start of the season, I'm looking at moving him for the best package I can get. Might be one of the few players I roll the dice on and see if I can recoup a monster package at the next deadline.

Next, hire a coach who gets the game and understands the game is about speed and quick transition. I want to hear candidates come in and say they use player's strengths and find ways to minimize their weaknesses. I want to hire a coach that looks at the depth chart on the team and recognizes where players should be slotting and finding players to fill those gaps rather than try and fit a dozen square pegs into one round hole. The guys that comes in and says he's looking forward to playing Huberdeau and Kadri together leave quickly and don't have their parking validated.

So I wouldn't mind going into the new season with a lineup of:

Huberdeau-Lindholm-Coronato
Dube-Kadri-Mangipane
Pelletier-Zary-Coleman
Ruzicka-Schwindt/Jones-Duehr

Hanifin-Andersson
Weegar-Kylington
Gilbert-Zadorov
Stone

Markstrom
Vlader

That's around a $76M salary cap hit, so a little room to make some improvements around the edge if needed. Final thing is to have multiple plans for action throughout the year if certain targets aren't being hit and certain players aren't achieving the production expected. Not going to be caught without a plan and not going to be holding my breath waiting to see if the team comes together. If we're not clearly in the mix by Christmas I'm looking to the future and start moving upcoming UFAs. Mediocrity will not be accepted. If we're not going to be top ten, we're going to be bottom five and get those top picks so we can become a top 10 team for years to come.

So, if Hanifin and Lindholm don't sign extensions and Calgary is playing well at the deadline, do you styme their playoff changes by trading both?

[GioforPM]

I don't think a rebuild from scratch is possible right now.

So:

Trade Vladar, go with Wolf/Markstrom. I think that total goalie salary is palatable.
Cut Lucic and Lewis loose, go with a kid 4th line.

Depending on attitudes on re-signing, keep Lindholm, Backlund for sure. Toffoli if it's reasonable. I know Toffoli has had a decent year but he's also the easiest to replace and most likley to have skills in decline. Sign Hanifin if possible. Tanev can be traded if a good deal comes along.

End up with these lines

Huberdeau-Lindholm-Dube
Pelletier/Mangiapane-Kadri-Toffoli (if he stays)/Mangiapane
Coronato-Backlund-Coronato
Duehr-Ruzicka-Ritchie/Zary/Schwindt

Hanifin-Rasmus
Weegar-Zadorov
Kylington-Stecher
Gilbert

I'm not married to those D pairings - whoever gels on top 4.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

So, if Hanifin and Lindholm don't sign extensions and Calgary is playing well at the deadline, do you styme their playoff changes by trading both?

Yup. If that's what it takes to stay on track to getting where the team wants to be, then so be it. Not going to make the same mistake that others have made in the past. If you're not part of the long-term solution you're part of the short-term problem. If you're not going to be part of the team that challenges for the cup, then you're going to be traded for assets that probably will. I don't buy the Sutter "just get in and you never know" bull####. You build for greatness, not mediocrity. I loved that Yzerman showed no fear in moving players he knew weren't going to be part of a championship team for futures that could definitely support that goal. If players want to play out the string and not be committed to what is going on here in Calgary, then screw them and bring in players that will.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Easy to say they can just deal with the cap in the summer but Flames had to pay a first to dump one year of Monahan's contract and next summer doesn't look much better unless the cap jumps higher than expected.

Do you think Toffoli worth more than Chychrun? Arizona was adamant on not taking back cap and took a lesser return to do so.

Monahan? He is done. Backlund and Toffoli are having great seasons.

Ottawa got a good deal assuming they climb the standings. But Arizona could get a top 12 pick. That’s much better than 25 or later in this draft. I’m not expecting that good of a first for Toffoli. That would be a home run of a trade if we did get it.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Monahan? He is done. Backlund and Toffoli are having great seasons.

Ottawa got a good deal assuming they climb the standings. But Arizona could get a top 12 pick. That’s much better than 25 or later in this draft. I’m not expecting that good of a first for Toffoli. That would be a home run of a trade if we did get it.

No, if a team wants to just deal with it in the summer, they will add that cost to acquiring Toffoli without a cap dump coming back. Dumping cap isn't cheap. Monahan was just an example and the Leafs paid a first to dump a year of Marleau.



I bet any trade for a Toffoli or Backlund would have had a worse player with term coming. The just pick trade may have just been the Hurricanes.

[GioforPM]

Man, OT, but in hindsight they could have kept Monahan and still signed Kadri, with an aggressive LTIR. He’s played 25 games.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Man, OT, but in hindsight they could have kept Monahan and still signed Kadri, with an aggressive LTIR. He’s played 25 games.

He was healthy at the start of the year. No chance of going on LTIR when he would have been healthy all year, as if he didn’t play, he wouldn’t have gotten injured.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

He was healthy at the start of the year. No chance of going on LTIR when he would have been healthy all year, as if he didn’t play, he wouldn’t have gotten injured.

I’m sure Lucics back could have flared up if he was a team player !

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I’m sure Lucics back could have flared up if he was a team player !

Why would Lucic have agreed to sit out an entire season?

Do you really think the flames would commit insurance fraud and ask Lucic to participate in it with them?

[DylanScores]

Does Kylington have a contract after this season or is he RFA/UFA?

[madmike]

I honestly don’t think this team is that far off. They’d easily be in a playoff position if it weren’t for the goaltending. But they’re also not a powerhouse and I don’t see any easy way to fix that. You need elite players to be a legit Cup contender and the Flames just don’t have those.

With the contracts they have, they don’t have much choice but to roll most of the current lineup back. Use Lucic’s spot for Coronato maybe. If they want to keep him (and they should) they may need to sweeten things by at least letting him compete for an NHL position.

The only other change would be to dump Vladar and run with Wolf. Given the season he’s had I don’t think Vladar would fetch much unfortunately.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by DylanScores

Does Kylington have a contract after this season or is he RFA/UFA?

He has 1 more season after this at 2.5M aav and then is UFA

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by madmike

I honestly don’t think this team is that far off. They’d easily be in a playoff position if it weren’t for the goaltending. But they’re also not a powerhouse and I don’t see any easy way to fix that. You need elite players to be a legit Cup contender and the Flames just don’t have those.

With the contracts they have, they don’t have much choice but to roll most of the current lineup back. Use Lucic’s spot for Coronato maybe. If they want to keep him (and they should) they may need to sweeten things by at least letting him compete for an NHL position.

The only other change would be to dump Vladar and run with Wolf. Given the season he’s had I don’t think Vladar would fetch much unfortunately.

This is the way I see it too.

It makes it tough though, because a bunch of contracts are expiring next season so if we are trending towards the playoffs next season, we run the risk of losing some key pieces for nothing again.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Why would Lucic have agreed to sit out an entire season?

Do you really think the flames would commit insurance fraud and ask Lucic to participate in it with them?

He doesn’t sit the whole season ! He sits until another injury

Most NHL contracts aren’t actually insured , and aren’t insured for parts of seasons usually . This is actually a big misconception that people think contracts are all insured

Obviously it was tongue in check , but other teams seem to rotate guys on LTIR with back issues

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

So, if Hanifin and Lindholm don't sign extensions and Calgary is playing well at the deadline, do you styme their playoff changes by trading both?

I wouldn’t wait until the trade deadline. Start discussions now. If no response by training camp start the calls to other GMs.

[traptor]

Given that a rebuild is not an option, identify the long term core, who is signed longterm and who you want to go forward with. Try and get younger with this core.

At the moment the primary core would be:
Kadri, Huberdeau, Lindholm, Dube, Coleman, Mangiapane, Pelletier, Hanifin, Andersson and Weegar.

There are some tough players to move on from but I think you need to explore moving out: Toffoli, Backlund, Tanev and Zadorov . See if there are any good options to move out one of Vladar and Markstrom. I'd put some feelers out for Mang too and see if there is any interest.

If you can move out some of these guys for quality assets I would look at RFA trade market, e.g. Fiala and Debrincat last season. Maybe someone like Bratt becomes available.

Figure out if kylington is coming back next season. Do everything you can to get coronato to sign.
I think they're testing Dube at C to see if they can move someone out. Potential Lines:


Huberdeau - Lindholm - Coronato
Mang - Dube - Coleman
Pelletier - Kadri - Trade
Ruzicka - Lewis - Duehr
UFA

Hanifin - Rasmus
Kylington - Weegar
Zadorov - Stretcher
Gilbert - Stone

Markstrom
Vladar/Wolf/UFA

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Yup. If that's what it takes to stay on track to getting where the team wants to be, then so be it. Not going to make the same mistake that others have made in the past. If you're not part of the long-term solution you're part of the short-term problem. If you're not going to be part of the team that challenges for the cup, then you're going to be traded for assets that probably will. I don't buy the Sutter "just get in and you never know" bull####. You build for greatness, not mediocrity. I loved that Yzerman showed no fear in moving players he knew weren't going to be part of a championship team for futures that could definitely support that goal. If players want to play out the string and not be committed to what is going on here in Calgary, then screw them and bring in players that will.

Why not trade them before the season then

Keeping them just to trade at the deadline regardless of standing seems like the worst of both worlds (unless you hope to negotiate throughout the season but that seems weird as you know what you have in these two already)

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by traptor

Given that a rebuild is not an option, identify the long term core, who is signed longterm and who you want to go forward with. Try and get younger with this core.

At the moment the primary core would be:
Kadri, Huberdeau, Lindholm, Dube, Coleman, Mangiapane, Pelletier, Hanifin, Andersson and Weegar.

There are some tough players to move on from but I think you need to explore moving out: Toffoli, Backlund, Tanev and Zadorov . See if there are any good options to move out one of Vladar and Markstrom. I'd put some feelers out for Mang too and see if there is any interest.

If you can move out some of these guys for quality assets I would look at RFA trade market, e.g. Fiala and Debrincat last season. Maybe someone like Bratt becomes available.

Figure out if kylington is coming back next season. Do everything you can to get coronato to sign.
I think they're testing Dube at C to see if they can move someone out. Potential Lines:


Huberdeau - Lindholm - Coronato
Mang - Dube - Coleman
Pelletier - Kadri - Trade
Ruzicka - Lewis - Duehr
UFA

Hanifin - Rasmus
Kylington - Weegar
Zadorov - Stretcher
Gilbert - Stone

Markstrom
Vladar/Wolf/UFA

I agree with this, but everything will be dependent on who wants to stay and who does not. IMO the best plan move forward is re-sign anyone that wants to stay, as long as the deal is something you are comfortable with that player move forward. Someone like Tanev or Backlund need to take money that factors in potentially being 4th line center or 3rd pairing dman by the time the contract is up.

Anyone who wants to bet on themselves or does not want to talk this summer, needs to move. If Zadorov wants to stay but Hanifin wants to test free agency, sign Zadorov.

No matter what happens, they need to make room for Cornonato and Zary at minimum. 2 forwards need to go, these guys need to be in the top 9, not 4th line.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Why not trade them before the season then

I stated that was the intent. I don't think the Flames would get the value they need out of these guys at the draft. No one is likely to move a high pick in this draft, so they would be players you trade in season or at next deadline. The important thing is to get maximum value out of these guys. Define what that looks like and make the deal when you hit that target. Timing shouldn't matter.

Keeping them just to trade at the deadline regardless of standing seems like the worst of both worlds (unless you hope to negotiate throughout the season but that seems weird as you know what you have in these two already)

You trade them when you think you can get best value. To me, that is finding the best mix of prospects and picks or a cost controlled young guy that you feel is about to pop. If someone offers that before the season starts, take it and run. The extra money may allow you to pay for free agents that you can possibly flip at the deadline for more picks we desperately need. I doubt we're going to find any saviors in the free agent market so instead try and use it to find some of those extra picks the last guy traded away. Don't leave a single rock unturned as we try and retool.