With the cap increase from 83.5m —> 87.5m, the Flames will have roughly 20m cap space to utilize with only Kylington as the only notable player to re-sign this off-season.
Hope to see some pillow deals signed by the Flames with the end goal being them having more TDL bait a year from now.
I think CC has done pretty well in a changed trade market. It's pretty clear that GMs are no longer willing to move A grade prospects for rentals--those entry level cost controlled contracts are too valuable to expect for an expiring UFA. 1st and conditional 2nd/3rd picks are the tradeable asset du jour and CC has done well by that reality. He has also gone after B level prospects he likes and I appreciate that--no one knows how those play out but it will be fun to watch. And most importantly, the rebuild is clearly on and that's something we weren't entirely sure about just a few months ago. GFG
They rarely trade A prospects before. It was a pipe dream by some people.
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Didn’t know what thread to post this in so I’ll post it in here. In hindsight, this video I made did not age well:
-Markstrom has been the team MVP
-Kadri has turned it around and is on pace for 70+ points
-Huberdeau’s production has gone up since the beginning of 2024
-Phillips has been put on waivers twice
But tbh, it’s probably a good thing that it aged badly
I think alot of people are going to be in shock when they finally realize this team is not going to make the playoffs at least for the next 5 years, this is a rebuild, not a retool, this team has no stars and was just gutted
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Just before the Hanifin trade was announced, Sec posted that the Hanifin trade wasn’t. What he was talking about!!! So Sec what was the smoke you were talking about and is it still coming down the track?
I think alot of people are going to be in shock when they finally realize this team is not going to make the playoffs at least for the next 5 years, this is a rebuild, not a retool, this team has no stars and was just gutted
Oh well, if that's the case so be it.
I get almost as much enjoyment anticipating and watching off ice moves anymore anyway. If they bottom out, at the very least we'd know where the team sits and the direction they're going..up. In the past ten years or more we've never really known what was going on. If it's five years of good draft picks and player development, I'm interested, as long as they can stick with a plan.
Rebuilds are not fun, I really hope they can hit some home runs with the draft picks. Tod Button has been with this team since 97-98, and in that time we’ve had some very bad first round picks, although we have seen some improvement in recent years.
So, do they trade Markstrom, and what is the reasonable expectation? (Holtz and a 1st seems way too good. I feel like the deal would’ve already been done if that was offered.) Those seem to be the pressing questions.
I think alot of people are going to be in shock when they finally realize this team is not going to make the playoffs at least for the next 5 years, this is a rebuild, not a retool, this team has no stars and was just gutted
Yeah, it’s likely a very long rebuild.
They have no players today you can safely identify as core players of a playoff team in 5 years.
Zary is likely the closest.
And with high draft picks sprinkled out over the next 3 years, those picks in 2026 will take some years to develop.
Now, the good news is Calgary will be so bad that we should get some really high picks. Turning those picks into elite players is crucial to the 5 year plan, or it just keeps getting extended.
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So, do they trade Markstrom, and what is the reasonable expectation? (Holtz and a 1st seems way too good. I feel like the deal would’ve already been done if that was offered.) Those seem to be the pressing questions.
And does anyone else get traded?
Take it for what it's worth, but NHL radio this morning said that originally the trade was close but NJ wanted retention with their offer (Calgary wanted extra than the verbally agreed deal for retention). They couldn't agree on the value of retention, so Calgary walked away.
When NJ came back (without retention), it was assumed that Calgary's view on trading Markstrom had changed (perhaps from Markstrom's frustrations?). From this I assume that NJ's original offer expected retention and that was the hang up.
They need to get elite talent, either bottom out or get lucky with their picks. The key is not to become Edmonton or Buffalo. Edmonton got insanely lucky landing McDavid, otherwise they would still be in the mud like Buffalo. Whether it is bad ownership, management or losing culture, many things have to go right to get to the top.
Panthers are an example of how a team that was totally irrelevant and mismanaged has been able to turn it around. But it's only been the last three years that they have become a true contender. That's nine years after they drafted Barkov. Not saying it has to be to that long because the Panthers started from zero, with bad ownership and an empty prospect pool. But it will take long and a lot of things has to be in sync from top to bottom to become a cup contender.
They have no players today you can safely identify as core players of a playoff team in 5 years.
Zary is likely the closest.
And with high draft picks sprinkled out over the next 3 years, those picks in 2026 will take some years to develop.
Now, the good news is Calgary will be so bad that we should get some really high picks. Turning those picks into elite players is crucial to the 5 year plan, or it just keeps getting extended.
Glass half full for me. But look at my name and well...LOL.
Conman gives me a giddy confidence that things will turn out quite well within 3-5 years if we show patience and a bit of sacrifice now.
I see Zary, Coronato, Wolf, and at least a couple of our current D prospects as core pieces in 5 years. But translation to the NHL game is still a question mark for most of them.
Sharangovich is also a wildcard. If he can score like he is and still play center. He will still be a fixture here then and at least a 2C.
Keep selling at deadline any pending UFAs and sell high on vets as opportunity presents...take a chance on promising players having a down year......sign a good vet on one year deals so you can flip them at deadline...believe in your scouting and development team...weaponize the cap space...Canadian teams cannot compete on an even playing field in UFA market...Conman playbook.
Take it for what it's worth, but NHL radio this morning said that originally the trade was close but NJ wanted retention with their offer (Calgary wanted extra than the verbally agreed deal for retention). They couldn't agree on the value of retention, so Calgary walked away.
When NJ came back (without retention), it was assumed that Calgary's view on trading Markstrom had changed (perhaps from Markstrom's frustrations?). From this I assume that NJ's original offer expected retention and that was the hang up.
Not sure if that's anything new but makes sense.
Makes sense based on what we know. A deal was likely close, Markstrom was asked to waive and agreed, maybe Conroy took the deal for final approval and was told if we're retaining we need more, Jersey gets pissed about this and the deal falls apart, Markstrom is pissed now because he assumed the final piece of the deal was his approval, everything goes quiet, Jersey comes back and says will do the deal no retention if that was a sticking point, Flames are now reluctant to go back to Markstrom after how everything played out. Also, trading UFAs is easy when your not in a playoff spot. Trading your MVP with term is a tougher call. One they should make but here we are.
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Conroy is now 8 picks in, 0 picks out in his tenure.
9 if Dallas makes the Finals this year.
Hopefully we finally have a GM that doesn't bleed picks all the time and realizes that they are life blood of a successful organization, especially a small market Canadian org with a 40 year old out dated falling apart arena with sub standard player amenities that struggles to attract or even keep high end players.
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