Are the Flames actually a playoff team?

[iamca]

If they continue to go with the roster they have, even with goaltending heroics, I think they will miss the playoffs.

I usually look at the all star break as the litmus test. If they are where they are now, which I don’t expect them to be, Conroy could add a top 6 forward.

I hope they stick to the strategy of continuing to build a stronger franchise and add draft capital.

Let the younger players play and bring up the deserving AHL players as well.

In the meantime, keep playing entertaining hockey and be a challenging team for opponents.

I think Huska deserves more credit than he’s received at 100+ games coached so far.


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[NegativeSpace]

Of course the further along a season goes the easier it is to determine whether a team has a decent chance to make the playoffs.

Obviously they need to score more and generate some more offence for when the goaltending takes a small step backwards.

[GranteedEV]

half the teams in the league make the playoffs. It's not a very high bar in all honesty. Heck talent-wise they might even be comparable to the 2018 VGK in some regards. Not that I see anything resembling the Jack Eichel trade in the future. I guess we gotta hope some later draft pick(s) pan out well beyond realistic expectations a la Nikita Kucherov / Brayden Point, and then Parekh hits his ceiling.

[stemit14]

Watching Buffalo and Anaheim made me think… it really is hard to plan or predict how a rebuild will go. For every Pittsburgh, Colorado or Chicago (2010-2015)… there is a Buffalo, Ottawa, and Detroit. They all spent multiple years at the bottom of the league. They all got skilled players through the draft to build a new core to the team… yet some of those teams turned to powerhouses while others just can’t seem to get out of the rebuild - they seem stuck trying to get over that hill.

It’s easy to say the first 3 teams got “generational” talents and the others didn’t. That’s likely the best explanation but it’s hard to plan a rebuild around that. For example… I don’t think there are any players with a Crosby/MacKinnon type talent level in the upcoming 2025 draft. You could argue there is that kind of talent in the 2026 and 2027 drafts though. So is it just a matter of being bad at the right time and winning the lottery on the right draft? The oilers were just perennially bad and stayed there through incompetence until they got a generational player.

Ottawa, Buffalo and Detroit all have lots of good young talent but are their rebuilds doomed to fail because they don’t have those pieces that would be considered top 5 players in their position in the league? I don’t know. I guess there are teams that win championships without those types of players (St. Louis) but it does seem rare.

Florida: best two-way center in the league (is also a top 5 all around center in the league), top 5 goalie in the league and a top 5 winger in the league
Vegas: top 5 center in the league, top 5 defenceman in the league and a top 5 winger in the league
Colorado: best center in the league, best defencemen in the league and a top 5 winger in the league
Tampa Bay: best winger in the league, top 5 defenceman in the league and best goalie in the league

It seems like it takes more than just good talent to win the cup and have a successful rebuild - you have to have 3 of the best players at their positions. And it’s tough to luck out and get those players no matter what.

Good thing is that the flames might already have one of the most important pieces in the organization - Wolf could legit become one of the top 5 goalies in the league if he continues to develop the way he has. Also, who knows what Parekh becomes… he has the offensive skillset to be a top 5 defenceman in the league but it’s likely a few years before we know if he reaches that kind of potential.

Of course, I’ll cheer for the flames to make the playoffs… if the young players continue on their development, they will quickly become the new core of this team (if they aren’t already). If it turns out this play is unsustainable next season and they struggle, it will be a good year to do that to get hopefully that elite level center in what could be the biggest draft of the decade in 2026.

[Samonadreau]

Looking little deeper Flames are bottom 10 in
- GF/60
- pp%
- pk%.
- FO win%

And 3rd in team save percentage.

Seems like a bottom 10 team that has been propped up by goaltending.

Bottom line this team will go as far as the goalies take them. If they fall off a bit, but not completely, there's a good chance this is a 17th-22nd place team.

If Wolf stays Vezina Calibre and Vladar continues having a good season then they likely remain in a playoff spot.

[troutman]

69.2%

https://www.hockey-reference.com/friv/playoff_prob.fcgi

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by iamca

If they continue to go with the roster they have, even with goaltending heroics, I think they will miss the playoffs.

I usually look at the all star break as the litmus test.

I use game 81 as a litmus test myself lmao. If they're in a playoff spot by then, they I assume they're a playoff team for sure!

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by #-3

what happened to sports stats club? can't find it.

Good question. I just noticed their site is dead today. Maybe the Capitals bought it?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Good question. I just noticed their site is dead today. Maybe the Capitals bought it?

Ovechkin is in charge of it while hes on IR.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Looking little deeper Flames are bottom 10 in
- GF/60
- pp%
- pk%.
- FO win%

And 3rd in team save percentage.

Seems like a bottom 10 team that has been propped up by goaltending.

Bottom line this team will go as far as the goalies take them. If they fall off a bit, but not completely, there's a good chance this is a 17th-22nd place team.

If Wolf stays Vezina Calibre and Vladar continues having a good season then they likely remain in a playoff spot.

The goaltending has been great. No question.

But there is MUCH more to this story than goaltending. This team just dominated 2 of the top teams in the league, and the 2 best road records (before they came to Calgary) in back to back games.

Give the rest of the team some credit. They deserve it.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The goaltending has been great. No question.

But there is MUCH more to this story than goaltending. This team just dominated 2 of the top teams in the league, and the 2 best road records (before they came to Calgary) in back to back games.

Give the rest of the team some credit. They deserve it.

True.

I especially give credit to Bahl, who has been gobbling down hard minutes like Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. What a game-changer that trade has been so far!

Coronato and Zary have arrived, too. A lot of this year's question marks have suddenly turned into exclamation points.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The goaltending has been great. No question.

But there is MUCH more to this story than goaltending. This team just dominated 2 of the top teams in the league, and the 2 best road records (before they came to Calgary) in back to back games.

Give the rest of the team some credit. They deserve it.

And what are the chances that the Flames scorers continue to run cold. Last couple ganes have had some positive signs on that front.

Yegor had been scoring at a 14 point pace before the Rangers game, suspect he is still a 50 point guy minimum and assuming he is healthy for the rest of the season will produce as such.

Kuzmenko is producing at a lower rate than he did in the first half of last year with Vancouver. Does that last for the rest of the year?

Kadri is producing at his lowest rate in the last 11 years. He has 3 points in his last 4 games which is more like his career average. His numbers likely will continue to improve going forward.

If all 3 of those guys start producing it will be a significant bump for the Flames offence.

[Bonded]

I hope they don’t add anyone and just keep things rolling. Don’t need Hamonic 2.0

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

And what are the chances that the Flames scorers continue to run cold. Last couple ganes have had some positive signs on that front.

Yegor had been scoring at a 14 point pace before the Rangers game, suspect he is still a 50 point guy minimum and assuming he is healthy for the rest of the season will produce as such.

Kuzmenko is producing at a lower rate than he did in the first half of last year with Vancouver. Does that last for the rest of the year?

Kadri is producing at his lowest rate in the last 11 years. He has 3 points in his last 4 games which is more like his career average. His numbers likely will continue to improve going forward.

If all 3 of those guys start producing it will be a significant bump for the Flames offence.

Yup. All the sticks were cold there for a while.

Zary and Sharangovich look to be warming up, but much of the team is still running cold. If the offense gets hot (an dit will sooner or leater), they could ring up some Ws

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bonded

I hope they don’t add anyone and just keep things rolling. Don’t need Hamonic 2.0

Yes. Run with the good play. Enjoy it. Revel in it.

But don't spend futures.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes. Run with the good play. Enjoy it. Revel in it.

But don't spend futures.

They should spend all the futures they can, with one stipulation.

Those futures should be short contracts on the Edmonton Oilers. A bear could make a killing on that market.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes. Run with the good play. Enjoy it. Revel in it.

But don't spend futures.

I would put one caveat on that. A young center they see as a top six.

with Zary looking more comfortable at centre adding an already nhl center with upside to this squad, making our center depth, Kadri, mystery center, Zary, Backlund. That looks pretty good to me?

We need a center to start loafing minutes from Kadri and backlund moving forward.

With all of the wingers and defenders coming up im all for expending from strength to weakness. Said for a while we should use one of our wing prospects to get a center.


Question always is who is that center someone is willing to give up?

[Calgary]

Not a hope in hell.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Fan69

I would put one caveat on that. A young center they see as a top six.

with Zary looking more comfortable at centre adding an already nhl center with upside to this squad, making our center depth, Kadri, mystery center, Zary, Backlund. That looks pretty good to me?

We need a center to start loafing minutes from Kadri and backlund moving forward.

With all of the wingers and defenders coming up im all for expending from strength to weakness. Said for a while we should use one of our wing prospects to get a center.


Question always is who is that center someone is willing to give up?

Yes, we need a young center. I wouldn't call that spending futures, I would call it continuing to execute the plan.

[edslunch]

Goal differential is the single best indicator of a team’s quality. The Flames’ GD is quite poor relative to their position, so they’re not a legit playoff team IMO. The good news is that is entirely based on GF, which seems like something that can improve.