I think leaving Sharangovich on the wing would be the best idea unless we are tanking. Sharangovich was obviously better there and we have Pospisil and Zary who both WANT to play C and most likely can.
Flames have too many players wingers and dmen right now (good problem). Hanley should just be put on waivers before camp IMO.
I think leaving Sharangovich on the wing would be the best idea unless we are tanking. Sharangovich was obviously better there and we have Pospisil and Zary who both WANT to play C and most likely can.
Flames have too many players wingers and dmen right now (good problem). Hanley should just be put on waivers before camp IMO.
To elaborate, I don’t think there is room for a Coronato or Stromgren to start in the NHL assuming Pelletier is prioritized due to waiver eligibility. This isn’t even taking Hunt and Duehr into account. Assuming that Pelletier starts in the bigs and the Flames eventually trade Mantha, Kuzmenko, Rooney at least and a small possibility of Coleman, most the guys will be cooking in the AHL for half the season - which may be ok.
Defense is even tougher. The top 6 seems settled (some combination of):
Weegar - Andersson
Bean - Miromanov
Bahl - Pachal
Hanley
It makes no sense to rush Parekh or Hunter B.
Solovyov is ready for bottom pairing duties right now.
Kuznetsov should be the no6 (sink or swim situation).
Grushnikov and Poirier are very close but could use another 1/2 season in the AHL to dominate in ‘their own craft’.
It wouldn’t hurt Hunter B. to have 1 full AHL year.
Basically, in 2026, we have 6 D kids that are “ready”.
Hanley is the only one dropping off for sure. I hope we get a haul for Rasmus. I’ll be interested to see how the rest of the D look this year other than Weegar.
I don’t actually know what his lines would be, but I just know he said his lines would have those four things: the 4 centres (Kadri, Backlund, Zary and Pospisil, with Pospisil as 4C), Pelletier and Coronato in the top 9, Pelletier with Backlund and Coleman. So, I’m guessing as to what the lines would be, because I don’t believe he put a picture on the screen.
I can almost 100% guarantee you he had Mantha on line 4 (or forgot he exists) over Sharangovich.
To elaborate, I don’t think there is room for a Coronato or Stromgren to start in the NHL assuming Pelletier is prioritized due to waiver eligibility. This isn’t even taking Hunt and Duehr into account. Assuming that Pelletier starts in the bigs and the Flames eventually trade Mantha, Kuzmenko, Rooney at least and a small possibility of Coleman, most the guys will be cooking in the AHL for half the season - which may be ok.
Defense is even tougher. The top 6 seems settled (some combination of):
Weegar - Andersson
Bean - Miromanov
Bahl - Pachal
Hanley
It makes no sense to rush Parekh or Hunter B.
Solovyov is ready for bottom pairing duties right now.
Kuznetsov should be the no6 (sink or swim situation).
Grushnikov and Poirier are very close but could use another 1/2 season in the AHL to dominate in ‘their own craft’.
It wouldn’t hurt Hunter B. to have 1 full AHL year.
Basically, in 2026, we have 6 D kids that are “ready”.
Hanley is the only one dropping off for sure. I hope we get a haul for Rasmus. I’ll be interested to see how the rest of the D look this year other than Weegar.
Yeah, for a rebuilding team, things are pretty tight when it comes to open roster positions.
I can see Hanley being an up and down player, like a Gilbert, DeSimone, or Oesterle. But still, that is only the #7 spot. I can see Solovyov stealing that spot out of camp.
We'll have to see how Pachal does. I thought he played really good for a waiver pick up and is relatively young still. I didn't even really know about him before the Flames acquired him, so I don't know if maybe he just had a new team bump, and maybe turns back into waiver material. He could still be a guy that moves up and down.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
I think line combos are incredibly hard to figure out right now because there are simply too may bodies. A few things to build around that we know (but aren't set in stone):
1) Mantha was brought in specifically to help get Huberdeau going, so I imagine they get put together on the same line at the start of the season at least.
2) Conroy spoke about both Zary and Pospisil being centres - maybe they alternate? Who knows.
3) Pelletier requires waivers. I can't see Conroy risking sending him through waivers. He either gets traded, or he stays on the team.
Trying to put lines together from this is difficult. It is probably a good bet to start with pairings:
X - Kadri - Kuzmenko
Huberdeau - X - Mantha
X - Backlund - Coleman
Lomberg - X - X
Find homes for: Shrangovich, Zary, Pospisil, Pelletier as players you can't waive and lose for nothing. Add in Coronato who I would bet doesn't get sent down this season. Add Klapka on the 4th line probably. Still have pieces left over in Rooney, Dueher and Hunt (and, if signed, Schwindt).
The hardest question to answer is which player takes the remaining top 9 centre spot between Huberdeau and Mantha. I think it is a battle between Zary and Sharangovich. The loser of that battle goes and plays top-line LW alongside Kadri and Kuzmenko. However, if Zary loses that battle, maybe you put Pospisil up next to Kadri who looked good there already? Move Zary down to the LW spot alongside Backlund. However, isn't that an ideal spot to get Coronato/Pelletier into the lineup? Better there than on the 4th line, right?
Meritocracy can take a backseat this year. You aren't going to risk losing Pelletier on waivers when you don't know what he will be a couple of years from now, when you are certain that guys like Rooney, Schwindt, Hunt and Dueher will not be here. That would be beyond silly and shortsighted.
Just too many bodies, but that's probably a good thing this year as that means more players traded. You still need to make further room next season as well for the new batch being drafted or coming up through the system.
Defence is probably even more competitive. Substitute Pelletier's name for Solovyov's, and you find a way to put him on the team meritocracy be damned. It doesn't matter if Grushnikov shines a bit brighter in the preseason, you send him down rather than lose Solovyov for nothing, unless you are reasonably sure that he is not in your long-term plans anyway. The only difference on defence is that there are more bodies that will need some NHL time to help their development along - Poirier, Grushnikov, Kuznetsov and probably Jurmo too. Maybe Morin surprises, though he probably gets sent back down. Brzustewicz may earn some NHL time too, but he has never played pro before, unlike the previously mentioned defencemen.
There will be more room by the trade deadline. From now until then, I do not envy Huska's job.
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Meritocracy can take a backseat this year. You aren't going to risk losing Pelletier on waivers when you don't know what he will be a couple of years from now, when you are certain that guys like Rooney, Schwindt, Hunt and Dueher will not be here. That would be beyond silly and shortsighted.
There will be more room by the trade deadline. From now until then, I do not envy Huska's job.
I think there are always some other things that need to be factored in and the decision making flow chart for players changes depending on different situations.
Meritocracy is one of the nodes that has to be on there, but I think it has more gravity when team expectations are really high. It doesn't get ignored completely otherwise, but I don't think it is as focused on when a team is rebuilding. Other things like asset management, for example potentially losing a player that may not be 100% ready now but is in the long term plans, can override merit. Player development is another one. For example, does Coronato develop better in the AHL at this point, or does playing in the NHL help his future more even if it comes with some hiccups.
Even though Huska is the HC and generally decides lines and where the ice-time goes, Conroy needs to hands on. He'll ultimately needs to decide the roster and can set expectations similar to what he did with Sharangovich last season. Conroy mentioned that he intervened about Shanangovich's ice-time at the beginning and told Huska that he wasn't a 4th liner and expected him to play up the line-up.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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I can almost 100% guarantee you he had Mantha on line 4 (or forgot he exists) over Sharangovich.
For sure. I have Sharangovich on my first line. I was just thinking of all the talk that Mantha is to play with Huberdeau, and Mantha is a pump and dumb candidate.
I actually don’t think it works to have both Coronato and Pelletier in the top-9, which is why I’m advocating:
The problem with putting Pelletier on the 4th line is that, so far under Conroy and Huska, the belief is that prospect shouldn't be in the NHL if they are relegated to the 4th line as it is not conducive to their development, unless they are 4th line types. Conroy has spoken about this already in the media, about how he thinks that prospects aren't being given real opportunity by playing on the 4th line.
Huska has been really good about that as well, keeping top 9 guys off the 4th line except during periods where players are struggling. Sharangovich, Pelletier, Coronato and Kuzmenko are all players that were on that line at some point last season, but not for long. When Coronato and Pelletier weren't playing themselves off of that line (or perhaps a spot never opened up in the top 9) they were sent back to the AHL.
However, things get interesting now this season with so many bodies and Pelletier being waiver-eligible, so perhaps he either plays off the 4th line, sits as the 13th forward, or at some point between camp and the end of the season, earns a spot higher up in the lineup. I am betting he earns it. Still believe this kid will be a good long-term support player for the Flames.
It wouldn't surprise me to see a rotation of players through the team game on game this year, with each of Pelletier,Coronato et al, taking turns playing and sitting. We have the cap space to keep them up and we don't need to expose any of them to waivers, unless we think their time would be best served with thhe wranglers, like Coranato last season.
I can see some of the waiver-exempt players going back and forth between the Flames and Wranglers, but not just sitting. The kids need to play regularly if they're going to develop.
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A 45 minute interview with Conroy from yesterday. A lot of candid questions and some juicy responses. Conroy is always very generous with his time with these guys.
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The problem with putting Pelletier on the 4th line is that, so far under Conroy and Huska, the belief is that prospect shouldn't be in the NHL if they are relegated to the 4th line as it is not conducive to their development, unless they are 4th line types. Conroy has spoken about this already in the media, about how he thinks that prospects aren't being given real opportunity by playing on the 4th line.
Huska has been really good about that as well, keeping top 9 guys off the 4th line except during periods where players are struggling. Sharangovich, Pelletier, Coronato and Kuzmenko are all players that were on that line at some point last season, but not for long. When Coronato and Pelletier weren't playing themselves off of that line (or perhaps a spot never opened up in the top 9) they were sent back to the AHL.
However, things get interesting now this season with so many bodies and Pelletier being waiver-eligible, so perhaps he either plays off the 4th line, sits as the 13th forward, or at some point between camp and the end of the season, earns a spot higher up in the lineup. I am betting he earns it. Still believe this kid will be a good long-term support player for the Flames.
I kind of think Pelletier might be a 4th line/PK guy - not sure he has the skillset to be a top 9.
Pinder might have been under the influence of something
Not even a question. Watch todays episode. It was why Dean was in such a pissed off mood. If you know, you know. So easy to see and probably the most awkward show I've ever seen.
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Not even a question. Watch todays episode. It was why Dean was in such a pissed off mood. If you know, you know. So easy to see and probably the most awkward show I've ever seen.
I don’t understand your post, that was classic Barn Burner. Pinder played devil’s advocate like always and he was kind of annoying like always. To insinuate that he was under the influence isn’t fair at all to Pinder
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I don’t understand your post, that was classic Barn Burner. Pinder played devil’s advocate like always and he was kind of annoying like always. To insinuate that he was under the influence isn’t fair at all to Pinder
I'm not going to go any farther into this. I respect the guys and I know he reads here. Enough said.
