[PGT] Calgary Flames 2 Washington Capitals 3 (OTL - Shootout)

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Agree with the Kadri criticism. His body language doesn't look like he wants to be here. Great that the Flames signed him long term.

If you could see my body language, it’d tell you I don’t want him to be here either.

[FBI]

I actually thought we played pretty decent and I was entertained. I must be crazy I guess.

[N-E-B]

This team gives me 09-13 Flames vibes. This is team will likely finish 7th-12th in the conference for the next 6 years. They’ll pick in the 13th-18th range in the draft.

I’ve resigned myself to that. That doesn’t mean I don’t have hope. 7th-8th could mean a wild card or a 3rd place finish in the division. I still think, at least this year and maybe next year, we can make the playoffs. But I don’t let myself get overly high or low on this team.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

The ideal /dream (non being a good team) scenario is Markstrum plays great , Flames stink , and at the deadline you trade Markstrum and all UFAs

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Sadly Mr. Edwards may have something to say about that.

It’s actually more like “Markstrum” will have a say. His NMC was apparently super important to him signing here. And not just as a negotiating factor for later trades. He wanted to not have to move.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Poe969

The Flames aren't as bad as some are making them seem to be. They're also not as good as some others are making them out to be. It's almost as if this is a very "ok" team that won't be a contender but not bad enough to think about getting a top draft pick. I feel like I've seen this before... On a completely unrelated topic, what prospect is slated to be drafted 15th next year?

The Flames should almost certainly be good enough to stay above Anaheim, San Jose, Chicago and the Coyotes this year. So they have a floor of 12th in my opinion. Over 82 games they are almost certainly below the Avs, Stars, Wild, Oilers, Vegas and LA. Question is can they sneak into a WC spot to play a first place team in the playoffs or do they finish between 9-12? Any significant drop off where they compete for a top 5 pick is a couple years off. In 3 years or so they should have a string of years where they consistently compete for a top 5 pick.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

The Flames should almost certainly be good enough to stay above Anaheim, San Jose, Chicago and the Coyotes this year. So they have a floor of 12th in my opinion. Over 82 games they are almost certainly below the Avs, Stars, Wild, Oilers, Vegas and LA. Question is can they sneak into a WC spot to play a first place team in the playoffs or do they finish between 9-12? Any significant drop off where they compete for a top 5 pick is a couple years off. In 3 years or so they should have a string of years where they consistently compete for a top 5 pick.

The powerful Central teams really don't matter since 3 of them are going to make the playoffs no matter how good or bad the Flames are.

Have to beat the Nashville, Seattle, Winnipeg, Vancouvers of the world.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by butterfly

The powerful Central teams really don't matter since 3 of them are going to make the playoffs no matter how good or bad the Flames are.

Have to beat the Nashville, Seattle, Winnipeg, Vancouvers of the world.

Yes and they could do it. Need to avoid injuries on the backend, if they lost one of Anderson or Weegar to injury it would be real tough. It will be tough to squeak in if they trade Hanifin but if they keep him for this run and then lose him in the offseason they could get one of those WC spots. Up front I don’t think injuries really matter too much unless they get a lot of them. The forwards look painfully interchangeable.

[marsplasticeraser]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

This team gives me 09-13 Flames vibes. This is team will likely finish 7th-12th in the conference for the next 6 years. They’ll pick in the 13th-18th range in the draft.

I’ve resigned myself to that. That doesn’t mean I don’t have hope. 7th-8th could mean a wild card or a 3rd place finish in the division. I still think, at least this year and maybe next year, we can make the playoffs. But I don’t let myself get overly high or low on this team.

This is the problem with our ownership. They have no plan or strategy to win a cup. The only outcome of what they are trying to do is to perpetually be mediocre. There is no way to be a champion without repeated high draft picks AND a good scouting department so those picks aren’t busts.

[Poster]

i didnt see anything on this but maybe I missed it.... how has Ruzicka looked and who has he been playing with?

[SutterBrother]

Can we still blow it up, or is it too late?

[SportsJunky]

Meh, they should have won that game. They'll win some that they don't deserve as well. Guys like Kadri and Huberdeau will figure it out. Would be nice to have a high-end sniper with a motor on this team but those are hard to acquire.

[Tsawwassen]

Postgame links
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/games/2568619/
https://www.espn.com/nhl/recap/_/gameId/401559273
https://www.foxsports.com/nhl/calgar...boxscore-40054

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

The Flames should almost certainly be good enough to stay above Anaheim, San Jose, Chicago and the Coyotes this year. So they have a floor of 12th in my opinion. Over 82 games they are almost certainly below the Avs, Stars, Wild, Oilers, Vegas and LA. Question is can they sneak into a WC spot to play a first place team in the playoffs or do they finish between 9-12? Any significant drop off where they compete for a top 5 pick is a couple years off. In 3 years or so they should have a string of years where they consistently compete for a top 5 pick.

Sample size is too small right now but Arizona looks surprisingly good so far this season in the two games they have played.

[mjk123]

Lots of shots, again not many goals!

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by SutterBrother

Can we still blow it up, or is it too late?

Trade deadline this year is actually an incredible time with Lindholm and Hanifin at their current cap hits. If the season goes south, the path is still there.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Schiefele re-signing only helped Lindholms potential value too

[ForeverFlameFan]

Positives: Ruzicka is a sleeper top 6 player on this team. He just needs to be more consistent.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser

This is the problem with our ownership. They have no plan or strategy to win a cup. The only outcome of what they are trying to do is to perpetually be mediocre. There is no way to be a champion without repeated high draft picks AND a good scouting department so those picks aren’t busts.

Well, there is a way. STL had one 4OA from 11 years before. And Vegas made it from other team cast-offs and good trades.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Well, there is a way. STL had one 4OA from 11 years before. And Vegas made it from other team cast-offs and good trades.

St. Louis also got a once in a generation goaltending performance from an ECHL/AHL goalie (that he hasn’t been able to replicate).

Vegas was an expansion team, and pretty much the most desirable free agent market out there.

Neither can be planned for by the Flames. So the question has to be, what can the Flames do? So far, it seems they’re committed to attempting to win with an under-skilled “depth first” approach. It doesn’t seem like a good plan to me, because generally speaking Stanley Cup Champions are built on elite talent on non-UFA market contracts.

[SuperMatt18]

I still don't think you absolutely need to have a top 3 pick to win a cup, if you draft well enough and have strong asset management you could still win.

Drafting early just makes it easier but also doesn't guarantee anything.