Lines that Huska will try at camp

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Yes

Figured. I can tell I'm ready for the season to start. It's not even 9:30 am on the first official day of camp and I'm impatient for tidbits of some kind of information to come from the rink. Players probably aren't even there yet

[Monahammer]

My kids are just starting to become interested in hockey, finally. So I really want them to watch a few games where the flames are winning this year! It can cement them into fanhood, which will be a feat since we live in Edmonton. My son is already well on the train, says GFG anytime someone even mentions the oilers, and is very excited to hear that back and forth Let's go Oilers- Go Flames GO! at the battle of Alberta. But my daughter is still impressionable and I think has been saying LGO to get under my skin.

All that said, I am hoping that we trade away one of Weegar or Andersson early in the season. Without both I don't think we have a remote chance of finishing out of the bottom 5. But thats where we need to finish.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Leeman4Gilmour

Figured. I can tell I'm ready for the season to start. It's not even 9:30 am on the first official day of camp and I'm impatient for tidbits of some kind of information to come from the rink. Players probably aren't even there yet

I'm in the same boat, excited to see all the names for who is at camp even though I'm pretty sure I know them all lol

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The point is nobody would have in their right mind predicted that 14-15 Flames team could make the playoffs either.

It's easy to talk in absolutes but in reality isn't the case.

This team should be in line for a top 5 pick, I hope like hell that the pick 1st overall, but that's what we all would have said in 14-15 too.

It could be a top 5 pick, it could be a top 10 pick, they could sneak into the 8th wild card spot. Honestly think all those things are on the table with this roster. The top 5 pick is hopefully the most likely outcome, but it's also not a guarantee at all.

I honestly think this back end compares really closely to the 14-15 one:

Weegar = Giordano: 30 year old late bloomer coming off a great season where they solidifed themselves as a legitimate top pairing d-man

Andersson = Wideman: Offensive focused player that was coming off a down season but had high offensive potential and the fan base wanted to trade

Brodie = Bahl: 24 year old dman coming off their first 82 game season as NHLer that showed a lot of promise.

Bean = Russell: Former 26/27 year old highly touted Columbus Blue Jacket prospect that had shown some potential but struggled with staying healthy at the NHL level

Pachal = Engelland: Penciled in as the physical 6th dman that can also play on the PK.

The only real difference is Smid vs Miromanov...but Smid was gone after only 28 games that year.

Couple good posts, SuperMatt. This team looks fairly weak on paper, but it doesn't look as bad as San Jose or Chicago have been the last couple of years where you could have confidently guaranteed a bottom five finish.

It's a little less than the Seattle/Utah/Buffalo (my add) teams, which all could surprise and finish close to a playoff spot but could also end up bottom five.

It's really doubtful, particularly with the state of the team and potential fragility of some of the older guys who may want out if this team sucks from day one, but if they come out of the gate hot and they motivate each other like in 14-15, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility they push for the playoffs.

Again, I doubt it'll happen, and I figure they'll finish close to the bottom five, and certainly in the bottom five if they start out poorly and are forced to trade a guy like Andersson. This is generally my preference, as I'd like to see them with a couple top 3-5 picks in the next two years to set them up to be competitive for the next decade.

[dino7c]

We don't need to go back to 2015

Gudbranson and Zadorov were gonna be one of the worst third pairings of all time and would be getting walked every shift if we go back a couple years to pre-season predictions. See the Gudbranson signing thread and the preseason thread when the Oilers scored a breakaway goal with him on the ice. Plenty of bottom 5 team predictions even. We have post history. Now that team won the division I'm not suggesting such things but conceding bottom 3 (even if that is your wish) is silly before a game is played.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dino7c

We don't need to go back to 2015

Gudbranson and Zadorov were gonna be one of the worst third pairings of all time and would be getting walked every shift if we go back a couple years to pre-season predictions. See the Gudbranson signing thread and the preseason thread when the Oilers scored a breakaway goal with him on the ice. Plenty of bottom 5 team predictions even. We have post history. Now that team won the division I'm not suggesting such things but conceding bottom 3 (even if that is your wish) is silly before a game is played.

Plenty of questions with that team coming into the season. They also had a top line of Tkachuk - Lindholm - Coleman to start. Johnny was being phased into a secondary role.

What a wasted shot at the the world title. That game 7 ot win felt like a monkey off our back that would catapult us to the WCF at the least to waste 8 days with Colorado.

[DJones]

If Conroy manages to pull off getting Bahl and Miromanov as legitimate top 4 guys as throw ins for trades last year, he deserves all of the awards.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by DJones

If Conroy manages to pull off getting Bahl and Miromanov as legitimate top 4 guys as throw ins for trades last year, he deserves all of the awards.

Or maybe Bahl wasn't a throw in and was somebody the Flames valued. Devils were just in a position with Hughes / Nemec and wanting to add vets around them that they choose to move him.

He was a guy that played top 4 minutes at times for the Devils last year (3rd in total TOI, 17:22 per game) and actually made every player he skated with better.

Not quite sure why people ever had this idea he was a throw in. He's a 24 year old former 2nd round pick that already has 148 NHL games to his name.

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

He's being overlooked for sure.

Played in all 82 games for the Devils, had the 2nd lowest offensive Zone faceoff start % on the team behind only Brendan Smith, and played the third most minutes.

Looking at his pairing usage is a bit interesting, he had 4 main partners:

Marino: 553 minutes - 51.9% xGF - 43.2% ozone
Marino w/o Bahl - 50.8% xGF - 49.10% ozone

Smith: 240 minutes - 49.9% xGF - 37.8% ozone
Smith w/o Bahl - 45.9% xGF - 43.8% ozone

Nemec: 200 minutes - 53.4% xGF - 49.1% ozone
Nemec w/o Bahl - 52.3% xGF - 52.6% ozone

Miller: 100 Minutes - 61.5% xGF - 58.9% ozone
Miller w/o Bahl - 52.5% xGF - 61.8% ozone

Every single partner that Bahl played more than 100 minutes with actually had a better expected goal outcome when partnered with him than they did without him.

And that's even considering that when partnered with Bahl they had less favourable zone starts than they did when they weren't paired with Bahl.

IMO he should be a big add for our second pair and reminds me of an Erik Cernak or Alexander Romanov type.

Edit: It extends to Devils top forwards too:

Hughes+Bahl: 272 minutes - 58.2% xGF - 59.2% O-Zone
Hughes - Bahl: 700 minutes - 52.4% xGF - 68.3% O-Zone

Bratt + Bahl: 371 minutes - 58.3% xGF - 46.5% O-Zone
Bratt - Bahl: 753 minutes - 55.6% xGF - 58.1% O-Zone

Hischer+Bahl: 324 minutes - 56.5% xGF - 40.2% O-Zone
Hischer -Bahl: 632 minutes - 53.1% xGF - 53.7% O-Zone

I don't know but getting a 24 year old, 6'6" d-man, who seems to make all of his linemates better while actually playing tougher minutes seems to be a pretty big win.

[EVERLAST]

Bahl wasn't a throw in . I've heard several interviews about the guy and he's solid
. Can't remember where but 2 guys compared him to Regher and maybe hits a
little harder .

https://youtu.be/I33M0pFCdfY?si=q-IxhXS8eISVKKnKhttp://https://youtu.be/I33M0pFCdfY?si=q-IxhXS8eISVKKnK

[DJones]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Or maybe Bahl wasn't a throw in and was somebody the Flames valued. Devils were just in a position with Hughes / Nemec and wanting to add vets around them that they choose to move him.

He was a guy that played top 4 minutes at times for the Devils last year (3rd in total TOI, 17:22 per game) and actually made every player he skated with better.

Not quite sure why people ever had this idea he was a throw in. He's a 24 year old former 2nd round pick that already has 148 NHL games to his name.

I mean, trading a young big top 4 guy for a goalie is insane. From that alone I don't think New Jersey valued him that highly. I guess it's possible they have so many other prospects they figured why not.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by DJones

I mean, trading a young big top 4 guy for a goalie is insane. From that alone I don't think New Jersey valued him that highly. I guess it's possible they have so many other prospects they figured why not.

Or they had their season tanked by shoddy netminding last season and valued Markstrom highly. Who knows. Let's hope the guy is a top 4 and works out.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by DJones

I mean, trading a young big top 4 guy for a goalie is insane. From that alone I don't think New Jersey valued him that highly. I guess it's possible they have so many other prospects they figured why not.

Ot they think he is actually a bottom pairing guy and was playing up due to injuries. Flames clearly valued him more than Holtz though

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by DJones

I mean, trading a young big top 4 guy for a goalie is insane. From that alone I don't think New Jersey valued him that highly. I guess it's possible they have so many other prospects they figured why not.

To me he really feels like a 4/5 type of guy, that probably can be your 4 but on a cup contending team he's ideally a 5.

You hope he can be a comparable to Erik Cernak in Tampa Bay - who is a guy that has generally been a #4 for Tampa Bay (maybe a 3 now) but really plays tough defensive and physical minutes for that team..

For New Jersey he was a guy that was used in the defensive zone a lot, and had strong defensive metrics in terms of shot and chance suppression.

The big thing he needs to do though is improve his skating and first step to really reach that potential, as it will allow him to play more physical without the risk of getting caught and contribute more in transition.

So if Daneille Fujita can help him improve that then we are laughing.

[dino7c]

NJ was also desperate for a goalie

[GreenLantern2814]

Sharangovich-Kadri-Kuzmenko

Give it a whirl, Husk.

[gvitaly]

I found this interesting comparison of all our depth D, in terms of what they brought last year, according to JFresh.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1835767244317466914

That's a lot of red. I also think Bahl is better than what it shows. Hanley was a bit of a surprise for me.

[dino7c]

Bahl is 24...these numbers are as he was learning to be an NHLer
still 77% Even Strength D and 82% PK

7 dmen is going pretty deep too, this is 9 with Raz and Weegar.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I found this interesting comparison of all our depth D, in terms of what they brought last year, according to JFresh.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1835767244317466914

That's a lot of red. I also think Bahl is better than what it shows. Hanley was a bit of a surprise for me.

Hanley's war card is abysmal for a player that spent 75% of his season playing sheltered minutes in Dallas. He didn't look on the Flames either and I'm fully expecting him to be one of the first guys on the waiver wire before the season starts.


It would be interesting to see Miromanov's numbers when he's not being propped up by Weegar.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by boogerz

Hanley's war card is abysmal for a player that spent 75% of his season playing sheltered minutes in Dallas. He didn't look on the Flames either and I'm fully expecting him to be one of the first guys on the waiver wire before the season starts.


It would be interesting to see Miromanov's numbers when he's not being propped up by Weegar.

His card is based on 49 NHL games...20 of which were with the Flames

[Enoch Root]

compare all these to Giordano's 88 pts, then ask if any of it offers any real-world value