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

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Hanifin got a pretty strong return with an unprotected 1st in a good draft year and a 3rd that had a good chance of becoming a 2nd but Vegas lost in the first round. Mirimanov was a toss in but overall it was a decent return.

If you want to criticize the Hanifin trade, it might be the value they put on Miromanov. I got the feeling the Flames didn't see him as a throw in. In hindsight, a younger prospect with more upside would have been nice.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

If you want to criticize the Hanifin trade, it might be the value they put on Miromanov. I got the feeling the Flames didn't see him as a throw in. In hindsight, a younger prospect with more upside would have been nice.

It would have been some long shot prospect that has similar value to Miramanov

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I would wait until we see who that 2026 1st is first. Could tip the scale back on that trade.

Vegas has been burning the candle at both ends to stay competitive. If they have an off year that's a lottery bullet in a talented draft.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Well, we could have got nothing for him. He wasn't going to sign. So, our options are we keep him and finish higher in the standings, miss the playoffs and he walks, or we get the best possible return we can which we did.

Now we have a 2026 1st unprotected for a team that has gutted its prospect base, with injury prone players. They don't have any real way of improving the team.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Bahl or Holtz it's pretty similar value. Holtz probably a slight edge. Flames ended up retaining salary anyways. And sure he didn't need to trade Markstrom but I think Markstrom had one foot out the door based on how he reacted to the trade that didn't go through.

As far as Andersson goes I think this deadline or off season is the best time to deal him. We waited on Hanifin and that return was pretty bad for the player. You wait until the last second to trade Andersson and you could be in a similar situation. Just my preference to get the deal done earlier where you actually have some leverage and a team gets him for more than one playoff run.

That is simply not true.

The Flames could have had Holtz and refused. They pushed for Mercer, but in the end, settled on Bahl. Pretty obvious and clear that neither team valued Holtz as high as Bahl, and they are looking pretty justified by that, based on current performance.

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Well, we could have got nothing for him. He wasn't going to sign. So, our options are we keep him and finish higher in the standings, miss the playoffs and he walks, or we get the best possible return we can which we did.

Now we have a 2026 1st unprotected for a team that has gutted its prospect base, with injury prone players. They don't have any real way of improving the team.

This. It may be a low chance but there is still a chance that that this trade turns into a massive win for the flames. Calgary still has that hope unlike San Jose who, at this point, knows that the Vegas 2025 1st round pick they got for Hertl won’t be a very high one.

Hoping for a long playoff run for Vegas to the cup final this year that results in a Stanley cup hangover next season.

[butterfly]

It’s not too bad yet. Both New York teams are tied for the 5th pick and they’re only 4 points out of the playoffs with a bunch of pressure.

Flames still have a lot of time to secure a premium pick.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by traptor

I would not be upset if they started to slide.

It's been a fun year. We stayed competitive for a good chunk of it and didn't get our faces caved in.


Sliding into a top 5 pick now would make it an overall fantastic season.

They have a better chance at winning the cup

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dino7c

They have a better chance at winning the cup

We are 6 points from falling into the top 5 pick territory if Seattle and the 2 New York teams turn it around.

I don't see the Kraken or Islanders improving, but we still have a good shot at keeping our pick and falling into a top 8 pick.

6 of the next 7 on the road, with 2 sets of back to backs. We have 5 road wins so far. It could get ugly fast.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

We are 6 points from falling into the top 5 pick territory if Seattle and the 2 New York teams turn it around.

I don't see the Kraken or Islanders improving, but we still have a good shot at keeping our pick and falling into a top 8 pick.

6 of the next 7 on the road, with 2 sets of back to backs. We have 5 road wins so far. It could get ugly fast.

This is misleading due to the amount of teams involved. There are 12 teams between the Flames and 5th last.

12 bad teams would need to pass the Flames to get a top 5 pick...its not realistic at all

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dino7c

This is misleading due to the amount of teams involved. There are 12 teams between the Flames and 5th last.

12 bad teams would need to pass the Flames to get a top 5 pick...its not realistic at all

Just like winning the cup isn't realistic. I count 7 teams behind us that have built rosters to be a playoff team this year.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by dino7c

This is misleading due to the amount of teams involved. There are 12 teams between the Flames and 5th last.

12 bad teams would need to pass the Flames to get a top 5 pick...its not realistic at all

It is realistic, because the Flames could hit the skids and pass all those teams at the same time.

A 12 game winning streak to get into contention for winning the division? Unlikely. A 12 game skid? Much easier to do.

Not saying they're going to, but it is definitely within striking distance.

STL, NYR, NYI, UTA, DET, SEA, OTT, PIT are all teams that are unlikely to fall much.

I would not be at all surprised if NSH has a strong 2nd half.

CBJ, MTL, ANA are all playing much better

The only teams that seem unrealistic to be catchable, if the Flames started sliding, are BUF, SJS and CHI. And even BUF could have a better 2nd half.

Not saying all these teams are going to PASS the Flames, I am saying that I think they will all continue along ats they have to this point. And all the Flames need to do is start losing to blow right by most of them.

Definitely a possibility. Trade Andersson and it switches to strong possibility.

[redmile04]

Originally Posted by dino7c

they have a better chance at winning the cup

lol

[EDMONTONisNG]

The NHL is a weird league (relative to say, the NBA where there is relatively no unpredictability). Look at NYR. They just dropped off a cliff. Anything can happen with 40ish games left.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

It is realistic, because the Flames could hit the skids and pass all those teams at the same time.

A 12 game winning streak to get into contention for winning the division? Unlikely. A 12 game skid? Much easier to do.

Not saying they're going to, but it is definitely within striking distance.

STL, NYR, NYI, UTA, DET, SEA, OTT, PIT are all teams that are unlikely to fall much.

I would not be at all surprised if NSH has a strong 2nd half.

CBJ, MTL, ANA are all playing much better

The only teams that seem unrealistic to be catchable, if the Flames started sliding, are BUF, SJS and CHI. And even BUF could have a better 2nd half.

Not saying all these teams are going to PASS the Flames, I am saying that I think they will all continue along ats they have to this point. And all the Flames need to do is start losing to blow right by most of them.

Definitely a possibility. Trade Andersson and it switches to strong possibility.

2nd half of the season is the real indicator of where things settle anyways. There always teams that seem to get their poop in a group and go off on runs in the 2nd half. I like the Flames effort but I don't think they have the ponies to keep up.

Question will be if they can slide into the top ten of the draft and escape the entire Monahan trade conditions.

[Rhett44]

I'd rather get a top pick than 4 games of playoffs.

But, it looks like the Flames are trying to do the most Flames thing ever, and finish 9th or 10th in the west.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by EDMONTONisNG

The NHL is a weird league. Look at NYR. They just dropped off a cliff. Anything can happen with 50ish games left.

Poorly run organization that just spends money on anything that is around, and never drafted the proper foundation for long-term sustainable success despite going through the motions and completely blowing it.

They had 1st and 2nd overall picks in 2020 and 2019, and did this:

2019 2nd overall: Kaapo Kakko
2019 3rd overall: Kirby Dach
2019 4th overall: Bowen Byram
2019 5th overall: Alex Turcotte
2019 6th overall: Moritz Sieder
2019 7th overall: Dylan Cozens

Poor draft year, poor timing, but also at least 3 players selected directly after their pick have all had significantly better careers so far.

2020 1st overall: Alexis Lafreniere
2020 2nd overall: Quinton Byfield
2020 3rd overall: Tim Stutzle
2020 4th overall: Lucas Raymond
2020 5th overall: Jake Sanderson

Each of the next 4 picks, including much more important positions in C and D, all better than their 1st round pick. You could argue Byfield has taken his time, but he has effectively the exact same PPG as Laf.

Effectively, the Rangers are a terribly managed team. They spend their money recklessly, and if it weren't for some key players choosing New York City of lifestyle reasons, they'd be completely boned. Poor at drafting, worse at developing, and I'd say bad at trading.

[SuperMatt18]

After a strong first 20 games (11-6-3; .625), the Flames have settled into being more of a .500 team over their last 19 games (7-8-4; .474, 8-8-4 if you go back to 20 games)

If you look at 10 game segments:

Game 1-10: 5-4-1 - 0.550
Game 11-20: 6-2-2 - .700
Game 21-30: 3-5-2 - .400
Game 31-39: 4-3-2 - .556

I believe it was always Peter Maher that said you get the best indication of what a team is from game 20 to game 40 and I think that around .500 or maybe slighlty better is probably the truest indicator of what this Flames team is.

So in terms of their remaining 43 games and the pace they play the rest of the season

Playoff Pace: .604 - 52 points of 86 available remaining (95 points - 0.579)
Current Pace: .551 - 47 points (90 points - 0.549)
Last 19 game pace: .474 - 41 points (84 points - 0.513)
Bottom 10 pace: .430 - 37 points (80 points - .488)
Bottom 5 pace: .383 - 33 points (76 points - .463)

They are really starting to settle into that mushy middle where they pick 12-16 and give the pick to Montreal. They either need to step their game up again to get back into the playoff position, or they need to bottom out a bit to fall into the bottom 10.

Now the thing that might get them into the bottom 10 is if their poor road play continues. They are 13-6-3 at home (.659 point percentage at home), compared to 5-8-4 on the road (.412 on the road) and have 24 road games remaining vs 19 home games.

The other thing would be if they were to make a trade to move some of the veteran assets...

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The other thing would be if they were to make a trade to move some of the veteran assets...

The defining act of the season will be the trading, or retaining of Rasmus Andersson.

Path 1: They keep him, lose their 1st round pick to Montreal.

Path 2: They trade him, draft in the top-10 (+ the haul for Andersson).

To me this is the ultimate short-sighted vs. future oriented action. Big decision for Conroy, and I really hope he trades him.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

The defining act of the season will be the trading, or retaining of Rasmus Andersson.

Path 1: They keep him, lose their 1st round pick to Montreal.

Path 2: They trade him, draft in the top-10 (+ the haul for Andersson).

To me this is the ultimate short-sighted vs. future oriented action. Big decision for Conroy, and I really hope he trades him.

Path 3: They trade him but not until the deadline.

It is all well and fine to say trade him now, but if the required price isn't being met, do you do so anyways just to drop down the standings?