Making the playoffs or keeping our top-10 first round pick 2025?

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

That Ducks team had Getzlaf and the cusp of superstardom as well. I know O’Rielly had a con smythe run but was he ever considered elite? He has never had a point per game season in his career

Yeah he is a difficult one, I wouldn't classify him in that elite group. So we have 2 now.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

That Ducks team had Getzlaf and the cusp of superstardom as well. I know O’Rielly had a con smythe run but was he ever considered elite? He has never had a point per game season in his career

17th overall Getzlaf

Flames have at least 4 firsts in the next 2 years...some of you act as though they have traded away all their picks

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dino7c

17th overall Getzlaf

Flames have at least 4 firsts in the next 2 years...some of you act as though they have traded away all their picks

2003 was one of the best draft classes of all time, none of 25 or 26 are projected to be anywhere close. 26 does have something special though, so if we carter its better next year than today.

[You Need a Thneed]

can someone simplify our first round pick status for me again?

if we pick in the top 10, we keep it, but give away next years?

other than that, we give away the better pick between ours and florida's?

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

can someone simplify our first round pick status for me again?

if we pick in the top 10, we keep it, but give away next years?

other than that, we give away the better pick between ours and florida's?

If its top 10 we can keep it and they Floridas pick. If its outside top 10 they get the better of ours or Floridas pick this year.

Nothing rolls over.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

can someone simplify our first round pick status for me again?

if we pick in the top 10, we keep it, but give away next years?

other than that, we give away the better pick between ours and florida's?

There are more complicated scenarios but they are now all highly unlikely to happen. So it basically is
- If the pick is top 10, we keep the pick and Montreal gets the Florida pick
- If the pick is 11 or later, Montreal gets the higher of the Flames and Florida picks. Currently that is a different of 5 positions in the draft.

That's it.

[redmile04]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Yeah, Andersson has to go, not a long-term piece on this team. His play is also getting worse.

Correct but will the flames agree? I feel like time after time, they move a player after its the right time to do so, generally when stock is lower.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

2003 was one of the best draft classes of all time, none of 25 or 26 are projected to be anywhere close. 26 does have something special though, so if we carter its better next year than today.

Are you going to be posting in this thread 100 times a day until then?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by redmile04

Correct but will the flames agree? I feel like time after time, they move a player after its the right time to do so, generally when stock is lower.

There are 3 obvious times to move Andersson, none of them being right now unless someone pays up

- In advance of this year's deadline
- This off-season
- Next year's deadline

Of that list, #3 would seem to be the worst in terms of maximizing the price. So it comes down to the first two.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I don't really see Wolf keeping the Flames in the mushy middle. No one player will really do that, even a goalie.



I think of the Flames' team in terms of building a house. Wolf is definitely one of those walls propping up the team right now. There is a solid foundation of a youth and veteran mix. What are the other walls? I argue Weegar and Andersson are. Backlund for sure is. Kadri and Huberdeau have been. Coleman may be. Well, some of these walls could be load-bearing, or maybe they aren't. One or two get knocked down, the entire building may collapse. You may end up with a foundation and a the Wolf wall standing, but that's not a house any longer. Kadri is 34 - regression will set-in sooner than later. Andersson may get traded as well.


I would absolutely LOVE to add a Martone, Hagens or Misa this year. However, if I got to pick, I am picking the following two drafts instead with McKenna and Dupont. It makes it easier to stop worrying about where this team finishes. Teams can only win the lottery twice, so I will be crossing my fingers for the next two drafts, not this one. It for sure makes it easier to enjoy the wins.


As for finishing in the mushy middle and giving up a good pick, that sucks. Drafts aren't really linear - you have drop-offs at varying picks at times. This removes a lot of flexibility. For instance, Flames were able to trade down twice and still grab Zary because they obviously viewed a number of players at a certain ledge. It seems to me that there could be two or three ledges between Calgary's pick (11th let's say for the worst case scenario) and Florida's pick at 32 if they win again. Obviously if they pick 24 and 25, it may only be a minor nuisance (as long as Montreal doesn't pick the prospect that Calgary wants - maybe that will be a ledge, or more likely just worrying for nothing). However, it is a sunk cost here. It was a disaster because the Flames paid a 1st in order to make room to sign an expensive older player so they can better compete, only to pivot without any success at all and have to cough it up at the start of a rebuild. That does suck. Losing Florida's 1st round pick - even at 32 - sucks for the rebuild. However, it isn't some crisis that has ruined anything. The crisis was averted when Conroy took over as GM and sold vets for futures. For me, that's the crisis that this organization did a masterful job of somehow avoiding. That was a LOT of trades. "Burn it to the ground" teams don't trade that many players out for futures.


Top 5 is becoming out of reach - though don't underestimate what can happen when you snowball. Exhibit A was the Coyotes last season. Buffalo and NYR this season too. Things can happen. However, top 10 is still very possible. If it happens, well, that's reassuring. If it doesn't, then hopefully it is playoffs and we get this likeable group play for a little longer, and that will be really fun. If they finish just outside of the playoffs - well, that certainly is the worst-case scenario, but it is also not the end of the world. I will move on to looking forward to this team probably taking down a wall or two, and being very much in the mix for the McKenna sweepstakes. It will require an effort to get there, but the Flames are only one or two load-bearing walls away from it.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by dino7c

17th overall Getzlaf

Flames have at least 4 firsts in the next 2 years...some of you act as though they have traded away all their picks

Only the top 5 count. The rest are worthless.

[dino7c]

Huberdeau, 3rd overall
stop crying

Its a 32 team league, they probably won't win the cup no matter what they do. Some people need to learn just to enjoy hockey I think or its not really worth it. I mean the Oilers tanked for 15 years, won 4 lotteries, got McDavid and Drai, and STILL can't win a cup. Tanking has never gone so "good"/lucky and its still not enough.

Flames have multiple firsts and the 2nd most cap space in the NHL to go along with a top rookie goalie. Its not so bad TBH. If the season ended today they drop 5 spots for their first, first round pick. Its really not the end of the franchise.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Goriders

That’s kind of my point. Six top 5s and only one is an elite player. So if we drafted them all six years of being a bottom feeder to get one elite talent.

The dome or new arena would have early 90s attendance by then.

We weren’t bad enough .

5th and 6th don’t get you elite talent very often . MT will be one of the best 6th overall pick ever

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Only the top 5 count. The rest are worthless.

Hey guys 20 years ago an elite Center went at 17th in the best draft in NHL history - so the Flames CAN totally get one there . (Even though we won’t even have a top 17 pick in all likelihood in this draft )

No one is saying it’s impossible - but it’s also just as likely another team drafts a falling elite Center mid / late first then the Flames

It isn’t like all the other teams don’t know how to draft and will let good players fall to us because they are incompetent

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

There are 3 obvious times to move Andersson, none of them being right now unless someone pays up

- In advance of this year's deadline
- This off-season
- Next year's deadline

Of that list, #3 would seem to be the worst in terms of maximizing the price. So it comes down to the first two.

What would happen if we finished say 11th-16th outside the playoffs, and then won a draft lottery and moved up 10 spots? Is it top 10 lottery protected or top 10 final standings protected?

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Hey guys 20 years ago an elite Center went at 17th in the best draft in NHL history - so the Flames CAN totally get one there . (Even though we won’t even have a top 17 pick in all likelihood in this draft )

No one is saying it’s impossible - but it’s also just as likely another team drafts a falling elite Center mid / late first then the Flames

It isn’t like all the other teams don’t know how to draft and will let good players fall to us because they are incompetent

Good players are found in all rounds every draft

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

What would happen if we finished say 11th-16th outside the playoffs, and then won a draft lottery and moved up 10 spots? Is it top 10 lottery protected or top 10 final standings protected?

lottery protected

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

What would happen if we finished say 11th-16th outside the playoffs, and then won a draft lottery and moved up 10 spots? Is it top 10 lottery protected or top 10 final standings protected?

It's the pick not the standings.

If we move up does that hurt us in 26 from winning #1 overall?

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

What would happen if we finished say 11th-16th outside the playoffs, and then won a draft lottery and moved up 10 spots? Is it top 10 lottery protected or top 10 final standings protected?

Yeah it's based on final position. So if they Flames managed to win the lottery and climb, the Flames would keep that pick.

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

It's the pick not the standings.

If we move up does that hurt us in 26 from winning #1 overall?

You cannot win the lottery more than twice in a five year window.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Good players are found in all rounds every draft

We have good players, that is the whole point of this argument.

You used the best draft of all time like it comes around every other year.

We need ELITE players. Stars. You can go to free agency or the trade route to get good players.