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

[Enoch Root]

And they are 6-6-5 with Vladar in net, it's not like they are SJS when he is between the pipes.

Also, Vladar has started 9 of their 15 road games (where they are awful). Wolf has played primarily at home (11 of his 17 starts).

Wolf has clearly been the better goalie, but they aren't a significantly different team with Vladar in net.

Wolf is 1-4-1 on the road, giving up 26 goals
Vladar is 3-3-3, giving up 30 goals

At home, Wolf is killing it. And that is a big reason why they are too high in the standings right now.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

What happened to your forwards ? One of the worst scoring teams and can’t generate much quality either. You spent all summer telling us that.

When your team can barely manage to get 3 goals it’s the goalie bailing you out. We saw it with Kipper carrying David moss into the playoffs.

I certainly didnt tell you they would be scoring lots of goals...I said they had forward depth, they do. Your "its all Wolf" narrative is wrong although he is a factor for sure. Like did you honestly say he is Kipper right now. Vladar and his average at best stats being .500 totally kills your argument too.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

And they are 6-6-5 with Vladar in net, it's not like they are SJS when he is between the pipes.

Also, Vladar has started 9 of their 15 road games (where they are awful). Wolf has played primarily at home (11 of his 17 starts).

Wolf has clearly been the better goalie, but they aren't a significantly different team with Vladar in net.

Wolf is 1-4-1 on the road, giving up 26 goals
Vladar is 3-3-3, giving up 30 goals

At home, Wolf is killing it. And that is a big reason why they are too high in the standings right now.

They’re 5th in the division as play resumes after Christmas.

If not for 7 OTLs, they’re tied with Seattle and only four points up on the Sharks.

They can’t win on the road, and they couldn’t score with a handful of 50s in a house of ill repute.

I just don’t see how there isn’t a massive cratering in the second half.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I don’t think the coaches get nearly enough credit. They have this team fighting well above their weight class. Give Huska a team with more talent, and he could maybe take them somewhere.

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

That is the one area where Conroy did not try to put out a bottom five team, coaching. Huska is an elite coach who has this team punching above their weight.

Yes, and Dissentowner fully agrees with you guys.

[traptor]

If this team is serious about making the playoffs, at what point do they let Wolf take over the crease?

He's been the better goalie so far this year by a decent margin.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Again Vegas is a bad example. So which teams won a cup without a top 5 pick?

Just the Bruins? They had Seguin but he wasn’t really a key cog.

How will the Flames get elite talent ?

Winnipeg has always been a flawed team. Much like the Treliving Flames bouncing in and out of the playoffs one good year a bad year. I suspect they will be bounced easily again this year.

The point is that this is almost like saying "which teams won without a Canadian on the roster".

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Yes, and Dissentowner fully agrees with you guys.

He most certainly does not.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

The point is that this is almost like saying "which teams won without a Canadian on the roster".

One needs to be a franchise in the NHL in order to win the Stanley Cup.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

The point is that this is almost like saying "which teams won without a Canadian on the roster".

It’s clear a few and probably more can’t stomach a rebuild and that’s fine. Instead of wasting pages and pages going on about how the team is not far off just some free agents away just say you don’t want to see a full on rebuild. It was hilarious seeing the poster being confused seeing the Flames in the door closed contention cycle in the GDT.

Another that compared Parekh to Evander Kane, can’t answer how teams get elite talent skirting around the question.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

It’s clear a few and probably more can’t stomach a rebuild and that’s fine. Instead of wasting pages and pages going on about how the team is not far off just some free agents away just say you don’t want to see a full on rebuild. It was hilarious seeing the poster being confused seeing the Flames in the door closed contention cycle in the GDT.

Another that compared Parekh to Evander Kane, can’t answer how teams get elite talent skirting around the question.

I don’t think more than one person has said they should load up on UFAs and even that person did not say that, that is just something that you made up in your own head.

As to getting elite talent you can pull a Carolina and load up on picks. They have one guy on their roster who was a top 5 pick and he is probably their 4th best forward, surpassed by guys who were not top 5 picks. Carolina is set up pretty well for many years to come. Or you can pull a Boston who was an elite team for more than a decade and got almost no juice from their top 5 pick. Vegas is another example of a team that used a boatload of picks to become an elite team without a top 5 pick. The Jets are another team that took a similar approach.

Pretty sure most fans can stomach a rebuild, I for one have been calling for the Flames to load up on picks since about 2018. But I ain’t going to lose much sleep if they don’t get a top 5 pick because you don’t need one to build a Stanley Cup contender.

The Flames biggest problem is that they don’t have any centers in the system, not that they do not have a top 5 pick.
Hope this helps.

[Bingo]

Flames win and the Florida loss last night puts the gap between the teams in draft position at 5.

This may not be that big of a deal even if they don't slide into a bottom ten spot.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

They’re 5th in the division as play resumes after Christmas.

If not for 7 OTLs, they’re tied with Seattle and only four points up on the Sharks.

They can’t win on the road, and they couldn’t score with a handful of 50s in a house of ill repute.

I just don’t see how there isn’t a massive cratering in the second half.

Not really true because if you just randomly remove OT losses you actually have to remove the Sharks (6) and Kraken (2) so the Flames would still be up on them.

In the end the Flames are 5-0-7 in OT. They do lead the league in OT games at 12, but it's because they tend to keep every game tight.

In then end the thresholds remain the same:

Playoffs: 0.585 - 96 points
Bottom 10: 0.486 - 80 points
Bottom 5: 0.440 - 72 points

Flames have 41 points (0.586) with 47 games left (94 available points)

Playoffs: 55 points - 0.585 pace (if they keep current pace they should get in)
Bottom 10: 39 points - 0.415 pace
Bottom 5: 31 points - 0.330 pace

At this point I don't think bottom 5 is even possible, I just don't see a way this team starts playing .330 hockey.

Even Bottom 10 is a bit of a stretch....18-26-3 would have to be their record the rest of the way and that seems tough when they are 17-11-7 now.

[Sylvanfan]

Right now I think either one is going to be hard. Which one of the current teams in the playoffs is going to fall out? Many will say Edmonton because you're saying what you want and not what you really think. Vancouver maybe is a bit volatile. But Colorado, Dallas, Vegas with Edmonton are certainly getting in. Winnipeg needs 43 points in 45 games to get to 96. Minny needs 48 in 46. Leaving L.A. as the other team who maybe could fall back. So I guess with the two of them in the Division that does help out.

Falling down to 10 or lower. That too may be hard to do. Hopefully it's a draft where the Florida and Jersey picks maybe let you find a diamond in the rough that got overlooked.

[dino7c]

Take away 25% of their points and they arent good at all lol

This thread

[Roof-Daddy]

I figured this team was going to be scrappy and win a lot more games than most predicted, especially if they got strong goaltending. And I was confident they would because Wolf has been an absolute stud at every level so far.

However, I am surprised that they are doing this well despite getting sweet F all on offense from Sharangovich, Kuzmenko and the injured Mantha. If Sharangovich and Kuzmenko were doing what they were doing last year as Flames, we'd probably have another 4 or 5 wins IMO.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

They’re 5th in the division as play resumes after Christmas.

If not for 7 OTLs, they’re tied with Seattle and only four points up on the Sharks.

They can’t win on the road, and they couldn’t score with a handful of 50s in a house of ill repute.

I just don’t see how there isn’t a massive cratering in the second half.

As others have said - weird take to just ignore their OTLs (while not ignoring everyone else's).

Here is a take that I think is more relevant: the Flames have lost 11 of 35 games in regulation. Less than one in three. VGS leads the league with 8 regulation losses. WSH is the only other team under 10, with 9. And only 4 teams have 10. So there are 6 teams in the NHL that have lost fewer games than the Flames, in 60 minutes of hockey.

Some of the teams with more losses: FLA, DAL, CAR, TOR, COL, NYR, NJD, BOS

I keep waiting for the wheels to fall off too, but facts are facts: they haven't. And after almost half a season, the Flames' record is not dissimilar to DAL, VAN, COL and BOS. They deserve some credit for that.

Bonus fun fact: there are 9 teams with 11 or fewer regulation losses, and 5 of them are in the Pacific!

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I figured this team was going to be scrappy and win a lot more games than most predicted, especially if they got strong goaltending. And I was confident they would because Wolf has been an absolute stud at every level so far.

However, I am surprised that they are doing this well despite getting sweet F all on offense from Sharangovich, Kuzmenko and the injured Mantha. If Sharangovich and Kuzmenko were doing what they were doing last year as Flames, we'd probably have another 4 or 5 wins IMO.

If you had said at the start of the year that Sharangovich, Kuzmenko, Mantha and Pospisil would have 13 goals at Christmas combined, I would have said that they would be sitting bottom 3 in the NHL.

[Groot]

Would there be any RFA players this offseason that the Flames could target? After last year with St Louis, seeing more offer sheets wouldn't surprise me. Is there anything the Flames can possibly do there? Throw a $9 million x 3 year contract at a top C RFA and give up a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 2026. Names that standout are Wyatt Johnson, Mason MacTavish, JJ Peterka, Marco Rossi.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If you had said at the start of the year that Sharangovich, Kuzmenko, Mantha and Pospisil would have 13 goals at Christmas combined, I would have said that they would be sitting bottom 3 in the NHL.

Defense has been a surprise for me this year. For sure thought they’d be bottom 5 but they are playing well as a unit.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Groot

Would there be any RFA players this offseason that the Flames could target? After last year with St Louis, seeing more offer sheets wouldn't surprise me. Is there anything the Flames can possibly do there? Throw a $9 million x 3 year contract at a top C RFA and give up a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 2026. Names that standout are Wyatt Johnson, Mason MacTavish, JJ Peterka, Marco Rossi.

Please no.

The Flames luck would have Wolf get injured game 1 and then you're giving up the 1st that is McKenna