Top storylines heading into the season

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Some additional story lines that I am looking at this season:

• Will the Flames lose a player to waivers? Will they claim one?

  I think they'll lose at least 1 D on waivers, and Kerins upfront. No claims.

• Hot or cold start? I think the start will decide the season.

  My brain says it should be a cold start, so I'm fully waiting for them to go 5-2 out of the gate to prove me wrong.

• Backup - who will it be, how good will he be, and how many games will he play?

  Prosvetov, 22 games. A bit inconsistent. A very good positional goalie, that lets in the occasional softie(Markstrom light)

• Coleman - Deadline trade, or re-sign?

  Do you mean Backlund? He will re-sign, retire a Flame. Coleman won't be able to re-sign until next July, I think he will be traded at the deadline or next summer.

• Huska - entering the year without a deal. How quickly does he get extended, or does he move on?

  He will get extended before Christmas

• Does Kadri regress? Or does he continue flipping father time the bird?

  I think he's going to have a slow October, before turning it on in November, the rest would depend on where we are in the standings.

• If the Flames do end up bottoming-out, does Conroy declare a rebuild, or just go about things as he has been (which IMO is rebuilding without saying it).

  Business as usual. Talk about what a great player we're going to get at the draft and making space for young guys to take a step.

• How will the defence hold up this year overall - pre and post Andersson?

  A lot would depend on which Backlund we get, but I actually think the D will be better than last year. Bahl and Pachal should take another step. Andersson is going to be a man on a mission. I also expect the D and transition game to be quicker this year with Parekh. Post trade, we'll be stuck in our own zone for long shifts, without giving up too many high danger chances.

[AC]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1968371062166659186
Every player wearing #25 for their photo.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Some additional story lines that I am looking at this season:

• Will the Flames lose a player to waivers? Will they claim one?
• Hot or cold start? I think the start will decide the season.
• Backup - who will it be, how good will he be, and how many games will he play?
• Coleman - Deadline trade, or re-sign?
• Huska - entering the year without a deal. How quickly does he get extended, or does he move on?
• Does Kadri regress? Or does he continue flipping father time the bird?
• If the Flames do end up bottoming-out, does Conroy declare a rebuild, or just go about things as he has been (which IMO is rebuilding without saying it).
• How will the defence hold up this year overall - pre and post Andersson?

1) Waivers - No and No. I think we will be pretty strategic with call-ups. And we likely do not claim anyone unless an LD that should have never been put on waivers goes on waivers. I am thinking of a defenseman like Fabbro of the Preds last season. Columbus got a free middle pairing D.

2. Hot/Cold start - I don't think it matters on how we start to the season. *Maybe* if we start bad, then the talks of Andersson getting traded intensify. Otherwise, our goal is to make the playoffs with the current roster we have, and a hot or cold start doesn't really change that direction.

3. Backup - Like I said in the other message, it's Prosvetov's to lose. It will be 20-30 games, hopefully as many as we can to allow Wolf to rest if we have a good backup. Otherwise, Wolf is playing 60 games in order for us to have playoff aspirations.

4. Coleman - I don't think we re-sign him given the congested forward group we already have now. But, we are also NOT in a hurry to trade him. He still has another year on his deal, and with the cap going up he could very well be a great deadline piece either this TDL or next TDL depending on the offers.

5. Huska - It's going to be an interesting year on how we deal with Huska. I love him as a coach, and I do want to see how he fares with a franchise-altering player like Parekh. If he does extremely well with Parekh, I think that gives Conroy the green light to talk an extension. It is important to have your coaches bringing out the best in your top talent players. Let's see how he fares with that.

6. Kadri regression - As long as Kadri is 1C, I doubt there is any kind of regression. We do not have a 1C replacement for him as of right now, so even if some sort of father time comes trickling in, I still see Kadri as a 30G, 65-70 point center that plays in all situations.

7. Flames bottoming out / Conroy plan - Given the work our scouts have done in the last couple of drafts, there is really no need to panic on where we land in the standings. If we land in the bottom 10 and have a shot at McKenna, great. If we are in a WC spot, or barely out of the playoffs again, fine. This next draft is deep, and I would also argue that we have already been in a rebuild. We're just doing it in a way where our roster is still competitive.

8. Defense, pre/post Andersson - We could definitely have some struggles post-Andersson if traded. I do expect a bounce-back season, he wants to get paid. Don't think it will be from us, but you never know if he is willing to drop his cap hit demands a little with an 8-year deal. At the right price, it could definitely be worth keeping Andersson as your #3, middle pairing RD down the road.

[Yanda]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

Looked at the game logs and they both had roughly the same proportion of starts against teams that went to the playoffs. I think where this talking point got started is that Calgary and Dustin wolf struggled in February and March and Vladar saw more action in March against some tougher competition to alleviate the load (or quite possibly to showcase him for a potential trade).

But Wolf turned it around for the final playoff drive and got all but the last start, in April, finishing that month 5-1-2 with decent numbers.

It’s possible that with a weaker backup, Wolf doesn’t get a break if he needs it and his numbers suffer, but the guy is mentally strong. Doubt he drops below .900 unless the team’s defence takes a huge step back.

Im basing my opinion on the first half of the season when Wolf was fairly heavily sheltered. I didnt actually look at the split, my apologies for the lack of research. I think your right, he will probably be around .900

[Calgary4LIfe]

I messed up - somehow I thought Coleman was entering the last year of his deal. Ooops!

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Yanda

1. Parekh wont miss any of training camp, I dont see any excuses. I dont expect Lane Hutson type rookie numbers, will likely play 3rd line minutes with PP1 time.

2. Klapka is a bottom 6 agitating winger, there is no evidence to support him being an all-star calibre power forward.. weird question

3. Wolf was heavily sheltered last year and I think many people forget just how many of the hard starts Vladar took on. With or without Anderssons -30~ +/- I see the team taking a bit of a step back. The Come-Back Flames is unsustainable and I see Wolf putting up a good season but unrealistic to think he will put up an All-star season in year 2.

4. Who cares, replacement level player.. so whoever is hot and not being a defensive liability. No reason to include Zary, hes playing more than 10-12 minutes a night even as a center.

5. I dont see the immediate roster spot, one of Farabee, Sharangovich, Coleman or Klapka would almost need to lose there roster spot at this point. I guess if Klapka has a bad camp or if multiple people are injured. Who exactly would he be playing instead of?? Better off on the Wranglers getting used to his new frame than splitting 4th line time with Lomberg/Klapka.

6. I dont see Pospisil falling off like Duehr/Jooris. The amount of hits he got last season is encouraging and he seems to train hard in the off-season, I think he was working out with Honzek but maybe im wrong. I dont see him getting more than 30-40 points but he doesnt need any more to be an effective player on this team. I actually see Sharangovich falling off again this year, the length of that contract was desperate and a huge mistake. Dont see Farabee being around after this contract, need space for Honzek, Gridin ect.

7. Coronato can be a 60-70+ point player this year. He is going to get alot more ice time, and higher quality ice time.

8. I think Kirkland will still get some shootout goals when hes in the lineup, but I dont think the streak he went on is realistic.

9. Hopefully asap, if were going to miss the playoffs we need those McKenna points.

10. I dont think he will make the team out of camp but I see Cooley being the backup come December. The team sure has loaded up on minor league goalies, if they actually want to develop Sergeev they need him playing.

11. Hopefully, the only things I want to see more than McDavid leaving Edmonton is seeing Chicago/Pittsburgh not get McKenna.

He played on the top line the last 10 games of the season or so and was VERY GOOD...he also looked good on a bad team at the World Championships. Klapka looked unstoppable at times.

[Vinny01]

To me the biggest storyline is if the yo-yo that has plagued this franchise since their surprise run to the second round in 2015 continues. We rarely see a consistent team year over year.

2015- 3rd pacific 2nd round
2016- bottom 5 in the league
2017- first wildcard swept 1st round
2018- missed playoffs 10th in west
2019- won division 2nd overall in the league
2020- bubble team made playoffs
2021- bubble team missed playoffs
2022- won the division top 5 in NHL
2023- 9th in the West
2024- bottom 10
2025- 9th in the west
2026- ?

I am not sure what this team will be. I can see this team struggling with heightened expectations with a few players adjusting to big new contracts while other players continue to age. On the other side I see a few players with the fire to make their Olympic squads and a growing confidence in the combination of youth and veterans playing in front of a potential superstar goalie.

Based on the last decade we are due for a down year since I can’t see this team being good enough to have a season where they are at the top of the league and they were on the bubble last year. Maybe we get a sneak into the playoff bubble year to keep things different.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dino7c

He played on the top line the last 10 games of the season or so and was VERY GOOD...he also looked good on a bad team at the World Championships. Klapka looked unstoppable at times.

A couple of the star players on that Czech team spoke pretty highly of him and his potential as well. Who knows if he would have the consistency or not to reach another level, but it is definitely worth it to continue the experiment and see. Obviously expecting him to become a star top 6 forward is probably a lot, but I think he could be a guy that cycles up and down the line-up.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Not too worried about Andersson getting dealt, I just hope he stays healthy for the entire season.

[Vinny01]

Not sure where to put this but interesting to hear Friedman on 32 thoughts. Parekh is very honest in his interviews. Friedman says that is how he is wired and it could be some of the reason he slipped in the draft. Insinuating that his personality possibly rubs people the wrong way? Hard time deciphering that message

[FBI]

Seems like he gets down on himself pretty fast

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Not sure where to put this but interesting to hear Friedman on 32 thoughts. Parekh is very honest in his interviews. Friedman says that is how he is wired and it could be some of the reason he slipped in the draft. Insinuating that his personality possibly rubs people the wrong way? Hard time deciphering that message

Bukauskas example was weird. He sets it up like Parekh says something super confrontational and juicy. His two examples? Parekh said he understands that there's a lot of pressure on him to make the team and he understands he's expected to break camp with the Flames this year... Uhhhhh.... yeah.

Why would a team be concerned about their young top prospect acknowledging the simple facts that Huska and the team have acknowledged themselves? They all know what's going on.

Friedman's comment makes sense in the no-personality NHL that some teams may have passed on Parekh in the draft cause he is confident and outspoken. That might be true.

But it's also likely one of the reasons why Calgary is hammering culture so hard and reenforcing accountability. They can take high upside players with a little too much cockiness because if the culture is strong enough, most young players will get in line with the work ethic and accountability-even if they maintain their personality.

Weegar will be really important for his development, as a 7th round pick, Weegar's earned everything he's gotten. And even if Parekh has talent, he's going to go through a learning curve.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I enjoyed the stuff on the pod about him. Including that he said "I don't know what to do with my hands", and speculating if he was referencing Talledega Nights. Fun stuff.

[EVERLAST]

This is where i wish we still had Tanev to help Zayne.
Trying to think of another D man we've had that did, said and led the room in a way it just takes pressure off of everyone.

I know to some degree that Warrener was like that but who else have we had on the back end that just made everyone better? Maybe even a defensive coach?
Anyone ?

It's crazy to me how I think our D core could possibly be pretty stellar
In the league within a 2 to 3 season window . I really see it this way. ....and man it's been a long time coming.

[FBI]

Weegar should be really good for Zayne

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by FBI

Weegar should be really good for Zayne

Yes, when Zayne is ready for the big minutes and matchups that playing with Weegar entails. Let's ease him in a bit rather than throwing him into the deep end.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

Yes, when Zayne is ready for the big minutes and matchups that playing with Weegar entails. Let's ease him in a bit rather than throwing him into the deep end.

Whether they play together or not, Weegar seems like the right kind of mentor for a hugely talented kid like Parekh in between shifts and games.