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

[MrButtons]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Time for some load management with Wolf.

BuT wHaT aBoUt ThE cAlDeR

[Funkhouser]

I believe!
[in us to fail]

I want the 10th pick.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Just shows you what Backlund means to the team. Even if he isn't producing, he is keeping a line above water.

Team has been carried by 30 plus year olds, not a good recipe for success.

6-10-1 doesn't seem that out of reach if Backlund is out an extended amount of time. Frost is being throw into a role he admitted hes never played or concentrated on before.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Those metrics are putrid. Teams really tighten-up in the stretch drive, and the Flames just can't find games in which they out-work other teams any longer - every team is working hard. They are showing to be a bottom 5 team now being kept in games by Wolf. It is only going to get worse without Backlund in the lineup.

[SuperMatt18]

I'm not sure 6-10-1 and 84 points is bad enough though.

You have to get below the Islanders (whose roster is pretty ugly right now) and they are at .515, 9th place Boston is .500.

Detroit is 3-7-0 in their last 10 too and have the hardest remaining schedule, Islanders have the 5th hardest schedule remaining.

I still think you'll have to be at 82 points to guarantee bottom 10. Which is 5-11-1 and that's going to be tough.

In terms of the underlying play they've had a bad stretch of games that's been magnified by maybe the hardest stretch of the season in terms of quality of competition (Toronto, Colorado x 2, Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida, Carolina, Dallas since Feb 1) and in the games against other teams they got a lead and tried to hold on (Montreal, Vancouver, Kraken x 2).

IMO that's been a bit of an issue of late, just invite pressure and get absolutely run over when they go into a shell to try to hold a lead. Cost them against Vancouver, and earlier against Seattle. Almost cost them against Montreal and Philly (although they had enough of a lead in that one they could sit back).

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I'm not sure 6-10-1 and 84 points is bad enough though.

You have to get below the Islanders (whose roster is pretty ugly right now) and they are at .515, 9th place Boston is .500.

Detroit is 3-7-0 in their last 10 too and have the hardest remaining schedule, Islanders have the 5th hardest schedule remaining.

I still think you'll have to be at 82 points to guarantee bottom 10. Which is 5-11-1 and that's going to be tough.

The team might be hitting a wall as well, and Backlund being injured doesn't help.

At some point the pipe will burst if you keep getting caved in nightly.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Lol, I had just signed in to post these numbers. Absolutely brutal.

It seems this team goes as far as Backlund can take them. He looked off for well over a month, before the injury happened. This team just keeps taking on water without a line that can effectively neutralize the opposition's top forwards on a nightly basis.

I also keep catching myself on the thought that we are really missing a hard matchup defensive defenseman like Tanev, Ekholm, Roy, or McDonagh. A steadying presence on the back end as much as Backlund is up-front. Hopefully Conroy has someone in mind in the offseason if the plan remains a retool. I wonder if Cam York can become that in a few years? He's just an intriguing target now that he's in Tort's doghouse.

[Bingo]

Interesting that ten days ago there was a good chunk of fans that wanted Backlund scratched or demoted.

[Icon]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I still think you'll have to be at 82 points to guarantee bottom 10. Which is 5-11-1 and that's going to be tough.

Seems doable for team tank.

L @ Leafs
L @ Rangers
L @ Devils
W @ Isles
L vs Kraken
L vs Stars
L @ Oilers
L @ Avs
W @ Utah
W vs Ducks
L vs Knights
W @ Sharks
OTL @ Ducks
L vs Wild
W vs Sharks
L vs Knights
L @ Kings

5-11-1

Sure there's a couple "winnable" ones in there, obviously depends what version of the Flames shows up for those.

I'm guessing we see something more like 6-8-3, landing us right where nobody wants to finish.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Interesting that ten days ago there was a good chunk of fans that wanted Backlund scratched or demoted.

Regardless of where you sit on the Backlund spectrum, the fact is that the Flames are very weak down the middle and losing both Backlund and Zary at the same time is a hit the lineup simply can't withstand.

[Enoch Root]

It's Kadri, Frost and duct tape right now

[flamesgod]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Interesting that ten days ago there was a good chunk of fans that wanted Backlund scratched or demoted.

Still do, would much rather see Zary playing center in the top 9 then rotting away on the 4th line.

[howard_the_duck]

Just go streaking one direction or the other.

Being a hair away from a top 10 pick, that certainly feels like the right place for them to be when I watch this team.

Hoping this road trip begins to solidify the direction. However, I'm sure it'll be more like 1-1-1 here we come!

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Interesting that ten days ago there was a good chunk of fans that wanted Backlund scratched or demoted.

Yeah, the notion of Backlund as the 4th line C was silly/premature, but also likely to result in a pointless argument.

I think all Flames fans would agree that Backlund wasn't as effective/dominant on both sides of the ice this season. I just had a hard time figuring out if Backlund was struggling because of his age, from fatigue playing 18+ mins a night, or due to playing through an injury.

That said, I'm a huge Backlund fan, so he deserves the credit for everything he has done for this organization.

[Wastedyouth]

I can't figure the team out, haha. Every time I am resigned to the mushy middle or even playoffs, they start playing like dog####. Then I hope for a fall to 10th pick and they go on a run.

I really hope Huska and Conroy will commit to getting to the 10th pick if it becomes obvious out of this road trip.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Regardless of where you sit on the Backlund spectrum, the fact is that the Flames are very weak down the middle and losing both Backlund and Zary at the same time is a hit the lineup simply can't withstand.

Guess we'll see starting Tuesday when Zary is back.

To me he doesn't fill that void at all.

He's a good young player that can drive play, but isn't used to defend against the league's best.

With Backlund you get 15 minutes a night of five on five hockey against matchups where things don't tend to go wrong.

They can't make up those 15 minutes because they are thin as you point out.

But Zary isn't going to change that.

[Macho0978]

Whether this team gets the top 10 pick or not I think it's better they fall down the standings the rest of the way.

By the 1st month of the next season or so the following players will be:

Backlund 36 years old
Kadri 35 years old
Coleman 34 years old
Huberdeau 32 years old
Weegar 31 years old.

Wolf is this teams MVP, after that these guys are what is driving this team to be close to a playoff team. If they fold without Backlund, it should show Conroy how far off this team will be when he is gone.

Backlund is 37 before the season ends next year.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

I can't figure the team out, haha. Every time I am resigned to the mushy middle or even playoffs, they start playing like dog####. Then I hope for a fall to 10th pick and they go on a run.

I really hope Huska and Conroy will commit to getting to the 10th pick if it becomes obvious out of this road trip.

How?
What steps do you want them to take to try and move down the standings?
Only start Vladar?

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

How?
What steps do you want them to take to try and move down the standings?
Only start Vladar?

Or pull the the goalie for all 60 minutes.

[Hockey-and_stuff]

Not having Backlund for the forseeable future is going to crater this team.

I know his play hasn't been stellar the last few months, but we're about to see just how bad this team is without him on the roster.