[Rumour] Dailyfaceoff: Flames might go big game hunting this summer

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by chummer

What is max for Marner? 7x14?

7x19M if the cap is 95M.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

7x19M if the cap is 95M.

and we will name a room in the new building after his newborn!

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by InternationalVillager

Rantanen/Marner
Heiskanen/Parekh
Oettinger/Wolf
Duchen/Kadri
Hintz/Huberdeau
Coronato/Johnston

Still the question is who's your Robertson....

But you can't say that with internal growth + Marner that this team can't compete.

At this point, the only close comparison in that group is Duchene/Kadri

[traptor]

Marner is the only big name UFA I would pursue, because he is the only truly elite UFA available.


Going after guys like Boeser and Bennett are the exact types of moves that will keep us in the mushy middle.
They will also lose so much fan engagement. People are tired of doing the same old mushy middle ####, especially when we're having our noses rubbed in it extra hard because of what they're doing up North.


A trade could make some sense if it's a young enough target with enough ceiling.

[HitterD]

Originally Posted by InternationalVillager

Rantanen/Marner
Heiskanen/Parekh
Oettinger/Wolf
Duchen/Kadri
Hintz/Huberdeau
Coronato/Johnston

Still the question is who's your Robertson....

But you can't say that with internal growth + Marner that this team can't compete.

I'd think Coronato would better compare to Robertson (shooting winger, 40 goal upside IMO) than Johnston, who is currently the #1 C on Dallas by icetime.

That's probably the biggest piece missing if you are looking at Dallas as a model, is that 1-2 punch at C, and the Flames dont have it yet, and certainly not in the age bracket to have the upside Johnston is showing.

I don't know what the solution is to get the Flames that kind of C depth, but I do agree that adding Marner for no asset cost, would be beneficial to getting the Flames closer to that level.

[Royle9]

FWIW I’ve heard Marner has no interest in any other Canadian team outside of Toronto.

“Highly doubts” any Marner to Calgary talks, unless Calgary makes him the highest paid winger perhaps… money talks I suppose.

[Calgary4LIfe]

While I would prefer a rebuild, I can also see the Flames becoming successful with the right signings over the next few seasons. Calgary hasn't been a destination - cold weather tax, small market tax, not a contender. It is a tough draw. However, Conroy has also been all-class - picking up Frost and Farabee was noted around the league, there are no 'scandals' any longer about the Flames in any way, the new arena is around the corner... I guess we will see. Flames have always been able to sign second and third-tier UFAs, but just not the top-tier ones, even if they happened to offer the most money (like Richards, for example, which was a blessing in hindsight).



Here are the available forwards:
https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-age...ion/f/type/ufa


Nobody outside of Marner is a 'star' player, and nobody that I think I would buy a ticket to watch. I think Marner re-signs in Toronto, and if not, he goes to the USA as rumoured. Let's go through some of the others, however.


If the Flames are adamant about going up and not down, then my next favourite target is Bennett. I don't think he qualifies as a 'top producer', but he does in the playoffs for me. Sign guys that are great in the playoffs. I also think that Bennett can be effective as he ages and goes down the lineup.


Ehlers is probably next for me on that list. I like him as a player, but I really have him in 'tier 2'. Not a guy I would allocate top-line dollar on, but certainly a guy that can help drive offence.


Tavares - Yeah, he had a great season... but he is declining, and he certainly feels like the next Brad Richards, right? Not great foot-speed already. Almost 35 years old, so... I would avoid it unless he wants to sign 1 year deals, but then what would really be the point here? I don't think the intention is to grab producers on short-term deals, right? So cross off Duchene and Marchand from that list as well. Definitely cross off Giroux.



Boeser? I like him as a player, but I think he goes to the Wild. Plus, is he a guy you want to allocate a huge contract on? I am not sure. He would help offensively though.


The return of Mangiapane? 30 goal scorer? I like him as a player, but I think he was on his way out before Washington came calling. Maybe if he signs a cheap deal? I would doubt that he would be interested returning here.


Granlund? 33 already, so I think he doesn't fit. He has also been 'meh' - good enough producer, but not a guy I would target really.



I feel like I have crossed the 'top player' line long ago, so let's just ignore decent players like Appleton and Roslovic. Take a shot at Drouin? Don't think he will move the needle here at all.


Aside from the top names, there are actually a lot of good players that I like, but probably none that I would sign. Flames need to trade players away since there are too many forwards. One guy that I was hoping that the Flames take a run at this off-season was Olivier, but Columbus re-signed him already. About the only guy left that I would have an interest in is Jeannot. Yes, his name isn't a popular one right now after Tampa dramatically over-paid for him, and he stopped producing. However, he is a great skater and hits like a truck, and he is definitely a tough customer. Would help Calgary out right now in protecting young guys coming up the lineup like Parekh, and with Klapka in the (hopefully) top 6, having Jeannot in the bottom 6 will help make the Flames really hard to play against. I think he would fit the style of the team well, and if he rebounds, then that's gravy, and you either keep him or flip him.


I like Brock Nelson too, but he either re-signs in Colorado or goes back to NYI. Plus, he is 33 - I don't think it makes much sense to sign him, and he doesn't fit the long-term structure.


My prediction is that Calgary doesn't sign anyone. Again, there isn't anyone outside of Marner that would make someone buy a ticket to watch. That's how I look at it - if the goal is to sign a top player, then by definition it should be a 'star player' who people buy tickets to watch, right? I don't see anyone on the list that excites me other than Marner. Based on history, I just don't see the Flames being very active on the UFA market this year, except maybe signing a 4/5 defencemen.

[TheIronMaiden]

Big game hunting doesn't mean UFA's exactly, could be trades no?

[Monahammer]

Rantanen/Marner RW 91 gp 119P / RW 67gp 62P
Heiskanen/Parekh D 85 gp 61P / D 0 gp 0 P
Oettinger/Wolf G 57 gp 2.51 GAA .915%/ G 0 0 0
Duchene/Kadri C 61 gp 35 p/ C 52 gp 44 P
Hintz/Huberdeau C 88 gp 67 P / LW 26 g 21p
Johnston/ Coronato C 48 gp 30 p/ RW 0 0

The dallas group posted contains 3 core centers. Ours contains 1.
The dallas group are all proven performers, and the team wasn't really a strong competitor before last year.
Even if we do (very little chance) add marner, Marner still doesn't = Rantanen, the piece that is seemingly pushing the scales over the edge for Dallas.
Even if we did, we are severely lacking in relevant center depth. To compate apples to apples you'd need to ditch coronato and huberdeau and add Backlund and Frost. That would make it look like an even less favorable matchup.
I love Parekh, but no one has really advertized the day one 2 way play level that Heskainen showed.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I'm fine with a 1 year deal for Frost. He needs to show a lot more.

Not me. What’s the point of a one year deal that walks him to UFA status July ‘26? For the hope that he scores 20 goals so we get more for him at the deadline than if we trade him now?

I would just move him now and let someone else deal with it. Otherwise it’s just another distraction until he either extends or we trade him prior to the deadline.

[FBI]

Uh pass on Marner for 7x19 lol

[SuperMatt18]

In the end I think the Flames have been pretty consistent in that they arent willing to go as deep as Chicago, San Jose, etc went in their teardown to guarantee a top 5 pick.

They took at shot at being bad this year IMO (No proven goalies, 2 proven d-men, suspect forward group, lowest salary cap in the league) and somehow landed in the 16th OV pick.

So now you have to make a decision...do you tear it down even further to try and be even worse which maybe still doesn't guarantee a top 5 pick.

Or do you try to build more gradually just by continually adding talent via the draft, FA, and trades, but never really bottoming out.

Personally I think as long as the asset management remains strong (move out the aging players for picks / prospects, dont sign retirement contracts for 29+ players, focus on trying to bring in elite talent) then it's fine.

There is more than one way to win as long as management is patient and makes long term decisions without selling out for the short term.

Going after somebody like Marner is fine IMO...just don't go overspend on the Boeser and Bennett's of the world.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Elite talent is hard to find and is rarely available at a prime age, so I think it makes sense to bid heavily when it is there. Every team in the league would sign Marner if they had the cap space.

Pretty easy decision if it was me.

[FanIn80]

Also, it needs to be said that whomever we acquire to boost our scoring will have to be someone that can create and finish their own chances. Our entire roster outside of Kadri and Parekh (and Coronato in a year or two) are complimentary pieces with (outside of Huberdeau) questionable finishing capabilities.

[Monahammer]

I hate that "took a shot at it" narrative. Sure, they sat on their hands, but there were 2-3 obvious other moves they could have made to drop further.

Look at how the team fell apart when down one extra defensemen for stretches. You exit one more defensemen and one more forward pre christmas this year and we'd be using our top 10 pick. That would have been a real "took a shot at it". Instead, they pretty much did what they always do, tried to fill the roster with some underperforming vets, made a trade for mid roster players, and played on. Clearly, they're still not allowed to say "that R word".

Not building the franchise properly now just means we will have to do it later. And the Wolf's too good to let it happen later crowd need only go look at John Gibson for a test case.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Divorced from reality

Or trying not to make seasons tickets sound like a crappy purchase.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I hate that "took a shot at it" narrative. Sure, they sat on their hands, but there were 2-3 obvious other moves they could have made to drop further.

Look at how the team fell apart when down one extra defensemen for stretches. You exit one more defensemen and one more forward pre christmas this year and we'd be using our top 10 pick. That would have been a real "took a shot at it". Instead, they pretty much did what they always do, tried to fill the roster with some underperforming vets, made a trade for mid roster players, and played on. Clearly, they're still not allowed to say "that R word".

Not building the franchise properly now just means we will have to do it later. And the Wolf's too good to let it happen later crowd need only go look at John Gibson for a test case.

Or they would have gotten punted out of the top 10 by the draft lottery and handed Montreal the 11th overall pick.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I hate that "took a shot at it" narrative. Sure, they sat on their hands, but there were 2-3 obvious other moves they could have made to drop further.

Look at how the team fell apart when down one extra defensemen for stretches. You exit one more defensemen and one more forward pre christmas this year and we'd be using our top 10 pick. That would have been a real "took a shot at it". Instead, they pretty much did what they always do, tried to fill the roster with some underperforming vets, made a trade for mid roster players, and played on. Clearly, they're still not allowed to say "that R word".

Not building the franchise properly now just means we will have to do it later. And the Wolf's too good to let it happen later crowd need only go look at John Gibson for a test case.

It's not a narrative, it's a fact.

They took a shot at it in the offseason. They were pretty much a cap floor team and moved out a lot of pieces the 12 months prior without really adding any players or major UFAs.

They were a team that missed the playoffs 2 years in a row and had moved out Toffoli, Zadorov, Lindholm, Hanifin, Tanev, Mangiapane and Markstrom without adding any major pieces in UFA to replace them.

On paper they were much worse than the team that finished with the 9th OV pick last year and most pre-season predictions had them finishing bottom 5-7.

Once the season started and they were in a playoff spot they weren't going to crater their own season, especially with no major pending UFAs to move.

Sure they could have moved Andersson or maybe Coleman. But really that's it. Kadri didn't want to be traded. Huberdeau was still untradable. They shouldn't be trading Weegar. Backlund re-signed to be captain.

The only real logical move they didn't do was moving Andersson, and I think they should have moved Andersson going back to the 2024 draft.

But honestly I think they just would have went and signed another dman then in FA and probably doesn't change this past season much anyways.

To me not moving Andersson was more of a failure in terms of not maximizing the return for the asset, not some failure in not committing to a tank.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

Or they would have gotten punted out of the top 10 by the draft lottery and handed Montreal the 11th overall pick.

Sure, maybe. But that would have actually been "giving it a shot" rather than what we did. I'm not focused on the pick here, I'm talking about this narrative that this season was a legit attempt at a rebuild on the fly. It wasn't.

[Bonded]

Why do we care about this article? Am I missing something that gives it legitimacy?