McKenzie: Galiardi may play center for the Flames

[flamesfan55]

A word of mouth rumor.

Someone told me that TJ and his best friend went boating this summer. His buddy ended up drowning and TJ tried to save him but was not able to. If this is true it would be interesting to see if this affects his game mentally?

[Kaine]

Originally Posted by flamesfan55

A word of mouth rumor.

Someone told me that TJ and his best friend went boating this summer. His buddy ended up drowning and TJ tried to save him but was not able to. If this is true it would be interesting to see if this affects his game mentally?

I know (knew) the parties involved and yes this is sadly very true. I'm not sure how this will effect him but it's always hard losing a friend.

[GreenLantern]

I don't really see the point in Feaster adding established players right now as they will only come at the cost of young talent.

I feel like we have beat this argument to death in previous threads.

[flamesfan55]

Originally Posted by Kaine

I know (knew) the parties involved and yes this is sadly very true. I'm not sure how this will effect him but it's always hard losing a friend.

Thanks for clarifying that. Extremely sad story, hopefully all parties join together and get through this.

[Pontine]

Originally Posted by flamesfan55

A word of mouth rumor.

Someone told me that TJ and his best friend went boating this summer. His buddy ended up drowning and TJ tried to save him but was not able to. If this is true it would be interesting to see if this affects his game mentally?

that's horrible. Condolences to those impacted.

[kehatch]

The Flames are probably just keeping their options open. Assuming they want Cammalleri at wing (sounds like it) then the only top 9C they have in the NHL are Backlund and Stajan.

I am sure they hope one of Knight, Monahan, Granlund, or Horak make the team and are ready for a top 9C role. But having a back up plan if one of them doesn't isn't a bad idea.

Plus, we are assuming that nobody gets injured. Having a winger ready to move to C in case of injury isn't a bad idea either. I like that idea better then spending assets or contract space to go out and get another top 9C. Not only is that a waste of assets, it also makes it even tougher for one of the kids to make the team.

[herashak]

We have a injury prone center in backlund and trade bait in stajan. nobody wants knight, reinhart or monahan starting on the top line for more than a game or two.

[Vinny01]

I still get the feeling the flames will end up with RoR around the deadline or next summer. The Avs won't want to pay him, there is interest between the player bad team in the past, and Burke will want to make a splash. Obviously nothing can happen until March

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I still get the feeling the flames will end up with RoR around the deadline or next summer. The Avs won't want to pay him, there is interest between the player bad team in the past, and Burke will want to make a splash. Obviously nothing can happen until March

Maybe, but the fact is that the Flames were unable to trade for him last season and Colorado matched the offer sheet. So he will be REALLY expensive to acquire. Remember that Flames ownership vetoed a trade to acquire Seguin and O'Reilly won't come much cheaper.

Plus, he will be expensive to keep. It will take 6.5 million to qualify him. That is cornerstone franchise player money.

You get five (maybe six) guys to build your franchise around. They are the guys you pay more then 5M per to on long term contracts. They take about half the teams salary.

Is O'Reilly a guy to build the franchise around? If the Flames think so then paying a large price to get him and signing him to a big long term contract isn't out of the question.

Personally I think O'Reilly could be a core guy once you already have your Duchene, Tavares, Toews, etc. But the Flames aren't there yet. I think giving up the assets and paying that type of salary when you don't have any other core pieces ready is the wrong thing to do.

[korzym12]

This year's a write off.

Not worth getting worked up over Galiardi at C if it moves us closer to the #1 pick.

[DeluxeMoustache]

When C's get thrown out (and linesmen are not shy to do this), wingers take draws. Also Iggy was the first choice for draws on his strong side. Having wingers improve their faceoff capability is prudent. Move along. Nothing to see here.

[Kool Keef]

Originally Posted by kehatch

Remember that Flames ownership vetoed a trade to acquire Seguin and O'Reilly won't come much cheaper.

They did? According to Ken King, ownership has never vetoed anything. The interview is currently at http://www.sportsnet.ca/960/ on the front page. The relevant stuff starts at around the 13 minute mark.

[Pontine]

Doesn't hurt to experiment this year and try different players at centre/face-offs to see who could possibly take on those roles.

[Enoch Root]

I would guess that at least 9 or 10 guys play C for the Fames at some point this year, probably more

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by kehatch

Maybe, but the fact is that the Flames were unable to trade for him last season and Colorado matched the offer sheet. So he will be REALLY expensive to acquire. Remember that Flames ownership vetoed a trade to acquire Seguin and O'Reilly won't come much cheaper.

Plus, he will be expensive to keep. It will take 6.5 million to qualify him. That is cornerstone franchise player money.

You get five (maybe six) guys to build your franchise around. They are the guys you pay more then 5M per to on long term contracts. They take about half the teams salary.

Is O'Reilly a guy to build the franchise around? If the Flames think so then paying a large price to get him and signing him to a big long term contract isn't out of the question.

Personally I think O'Reilly could be a core guy once you already have your Duchene, Tavares, Toews, etc. But the Flames aren't there yet. I think giving up the assets and paying that type of salary when you don't have any other core pieces ready is the wrong thing to do.

You can take him to arbitration to lower his QO to 5.1M or something like that. If we could get him for that, ROR-Monahan down the middle would be solid.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Goodlad

I think McKenzie is reading too much into things. Sure Calgary tried converting guys to center, but does anyone really thing Edmonton is going to make Hall a center. They're just telling guys to work on their face-offs.

Hall may play centre if Hopkins is unable to start the season. So I would say McKenzie is probably on ten right track here.

[The Original FFIV]

Now it is time to panic and freak out about Galiardi becoming our 3rd line C: Don't know why we wouldn't audition our natural C instead of converting a winger to C. You can convert C to wing, but hard to convert a wing to C.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/stein...mber-4-center/

[TurnedTheCorner]

Hopefully this is more of an audition, "see how it goes" thing instead of a "Galiardi is a center to start the regular season" thing. If it's already decided and done, I'm not a fan of the decision.

[Coach]

If he can win draws and play the position who cares?

[Gary83]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Now it is time to panic and freak out about Galiardi becoming our 3rd line C: Don't know why we wouldn't audition our natural C instead of converting a winger to C. You can convert C to wing, but hard to convert a wing to C.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/stein...mber-4-center/

Before an NHL game is even played yet? Yes, that seems like the perfect time to panic.

If Galiardi is playing 4th line C then I'd absolutely prefer that over Monahan. No point worrying about anything until the opening night roster.