This is a rebuild

[CliffFletcher]

Look at the roster the Flyers had on opening night last season. It’s certainly no better than the one the Flames will be icing on opening night. If anything, the D and goaltending are worse:

Sanheim-Walker
York-Seelor
Zamula-Staal

Ersson
Hart

Edit: As for scoring, Konecny led the team with 68 points, followed by Tipped with 53 and Farabee with 50.

Funny things can happen with coaching and chemistry.

[TheIronMaiden]

I think the Flames goal moving into this off season was not to make the worst team in the NHL.

It was to turn over the roster and prepare the foundation for a good team in 2 years time.

I am fine if we miss out on a top 5 pick because the team plays well at points of the season. As long as they prioritize youth, and accumulating picks ( which they have been in all instances).

[Roof-Daddy]

IMO the forward group is a little under rated and we have a solid top 2 defenseman with Weegar and Andersson.

How bad (or good) this team is going to be will depend largely on:

Miromanov (26)
Bahl (24)
Bean (26)
Pachal (24)
Solovyov (23)
Grushnikov (22)

And also Wolf/Vladar.

I think they will put up more of a fight than people want to believe but will ultimately end up in a top 10 draft position pre lottery

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I think the Flames goal moving into this off season was not to make the worst team in the NHL.

It was to turn over the roster and prepare the foundation for a good team in 2 years time.

I am fine if we miss out on a top 5 pick because the team plays well at points of the season. As long as they prioritize youth, and accumulating picks ( which they have been in all instances).

I think the stage has been set, and what happens from here on out is a 'whatever happens, happens' situation.

The team on paper is not a good one. Management has given them just enough tools to be able to retain a 'never give up' culture, while also providing a roster with a low enough ceiling that barring unforseen grand slams development-wise, should limit the team to being somewhere along the lines of a bottom-10 to bottom-5 team.

[MisterJoji]

This will be a key year to see if Huska is the guy or not, long term. Team will likely be terrible but as long as there’s growth in key areas, you can’t ask for much more. Play hard and let Conny keep cooking.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

IMO the forward group is a little under rated and we have a solid top 2 defenseman with Weegar and Andersson.

How bad (or good) this team is going to be will depend largely on:

Miromanov (26)
Bahl (24)
Bean (26)
Pachal (24)
Solovyov (23)
Grushnikov (22)

And also Wolf/Vladar.

I think they will put up more of a fight than people want to believe but will ultimately end up in a top 10 draft position pre lottery

That defense is going to get caved in by any team with two good lines.

Don’t change a thing.

[Jason14h]

This team must aim to get two top 3 picks in the next 2 drafts. If not this will be a painful rebuild .

If you can get those superstar potential picks and add to this group with some luck and good use of cap we have a very promising foundation.

[traptor]

On paper I think we're a bottom 5-10 team but I don't think we're a bottom 5 team.


I'd still rank our roster ahead of the sharks, ducks, blackhawks and blue jackets.

I'd put us in the mix of that next grouping.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by traptor

On paper I think we're a bottom 5-10 team but I don't think we're a bottom 5 team.


I'd still rank our roster ahead of the sharks, ducks, blackhawks and blue jackets.

I'd put us in the mix of that next grouping.

That's probably accurate at the moment, but I don't think Conroy is done trading vets.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Carlson and McTavish could have break out years for Anaheim. The defence is thin.
As long as we stay in the mix with those and bums we should be ok.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by traptor

On paper I think we're a bottom 5-10 team but I don't think we're a bottom 5 team.


I'd still rank our roster ahead of the sharks, ducks, blackhawks and blue jackets.

I'd put us in the mix of that next grouping.

I think Chicago and Columbus stand a very good chance to progress beyond us.

[Oil Stain]

My hope for Flames fan is that Calgary management doesn't try to push out of the rebuild too early. It really sucks to watch a team be in the basement for five years, but it is worse to watch a team be in the basement for 2-3 years to come out of it as a mediocore team.

Yzerman received a lot of praise for all the vets he added in Detroit, but looking at how the team stands today, they don't look like more than a playoff bubble team.

I think the best move for a rebuilding team is to be bad until you are sure you have acquired 2-3 game breakers.

[memphusk]

Your team acquired 2 and still are no good.

[Roof-Daddy]

The Flames acquired 3 "game breakers" in the last rebuild. One of them in the 4th round, one on the 3rd round and one 6th overall.

Unfortunately the rules allowed for the 3rd rounder to just up and decide to never play a game for us and we had to trade him for pennies on the dollar.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

It really sucks to watch a team be in the basement for five years, but it is worse to watch a team be in the basement for 2-3 years to come out of it as a mediocore team.

Yeah. We know.

[dissentowner]

All I know is if this team is remotely competitive there is going to be a lot of negativity thrown at them for trying to win on here.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

All I know is if this team is remotely competitive there is going to be a lot of negativity thrown at them for trying to win on here.

I don't think so, can't blame the players for trying to win and there might be hand wringing if they are doing better than expected but on paper this team blows. As long as Conroy doesn't pivot then players will just be increasing their trade value.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

All I know is if this team is remotely competitive there is going to be a lot of negativity thrown at them for trying to win on here.

There will definitely be a large contingent of people losing their #### if that happens.

But if it does, Conroy can start trading out players again. And how he behaves this year (buyer or seller) will really dictate the future of this organization.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

There will definitely be a large contingent of people losing their #### if that happens.

But if it does, Conroy can start trading out players again. And how he behaves this year (buyer or seller) will really dictate the future of this organization.

Yeah, I forget, what were the positions pre and post TDL last season? They went on a real slide when the pending UFAs were traded. This season there are 7 pending UFAs, though none as sought after as Hanifin/Tanev/Lindholm/Zadorov/Toffoli - the biggest trade bait will be Kuzmenko and Mantha and maybe Vladar depending on their seasons. But they could also make moves with guys who are a year away like Andersson, Backlund, Bean, Pospisil, Miromanov, etc. And I sippose a team might even be interested in Kadri with $7M no longer being as big a cap hit.

It's pretty possible that in 2 years the only current vets still around will be Huberdeau, Weegar and Sharky.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Yeah, I forget, what were the positions pre and post TDL last season? They went on a real slide when the pending UFAs were traded. This season there are 7 pending UFAs, though none as sought after as Hanifin/Tanev/Lindholm/Zadorov/Toffoli - the biggest trade bait will be Kuzmenko and Mantha and maybe Vladar depending on their seasons. But they could also make moves with guys who are a year away like Andersson, Backlund, Bean, Pospisil, Miromanov, etc. And I sippose a team might even be interested in Kadri with $7M no longer being as big a cap hit.

It's pretty possible that in 2 years the only current vets still around will be Huberdeau, Weegar and Sharky.

On March 3rd, they were T-9th in the west, with a .542 P%

From then on, they went 8-14-0 , a .364 P%

Yes, if they were concerned about the standings, and wanted to ensure a bottom 10 spot, they could look to trade Andersson or Weegar, Coleman or Kadri. Any of those guys would take the wind out of their sails again.