Flames rank No. 32 of 32 in ESPN's NHL Future Power Rankings

[mile]

Huska probably gonna use this as bulletin board material

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

That’s…odd. I would have thought that having $10.5M attached to a 56 point winger and $6M attached to an AHL quality goalie would have had a bigger impact against the absolute bangers of Hanifin, Lindholm, Andersson, and Tanev contracts. The bit on the Flames does close with the fact that their perceived window will slam shut in short order.

The truth is that their actual performance will likely regress to their mean. PPGish winger and starting NHL goaltender.

Exact team was predicted to go deep in the playoffs last year. Always an useless excercise lol

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Have ya met Columbus? Or any other terribly run team? How are the Flames 32nd?

It’s projecting this season plus the next 3 seasons.

Look at Columbus’ prospect pool. That’s why.

The future for this team is murky, and probably represents one of the bigger ‘swing’ teams in the league.

If anything, I think Boston should be down closer to Calgary and Vancouver. I’d probably slap Boston as 32nd.

[Savvy27]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Their response to their dysfunctional coach and inadequate general manager was to replace them with their assistants, showing no clear direction change after apparently wanting keep both their GM and Coach in place.

Perhaps there was not a change in direction, but in a sense that would show more dysfunction than what they decided to do.

Craig Conroy was hired to be a general manager one day and was literally groomed for the role for over a decade. And Ryan Huska was a hotshot junior coach brought in to be a head coach in the NHL one day and spent 5 years as an assistant after spending time as an AHL head coach. Both moves were part of a lengthy succession plan.

Really the only strange thing about it is that both changes happened in the same off-season.

It's bizarre that the Wranglers could come first in the AHL and that not even be mentioned when talking about the pipeline.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

It’s projecting this season plus the next 3 seasons.

Look at Columbus’ prospect pool. That’s why.

Management DISASTER. Babcock is all I need to say. Yet the Flames have the worst management? #### that.

[Dan403]

I love it.
Put it up on the Locker Room wall.
Frame it and bring it with you on road trips.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

Perhaps there was not a change in direction, but in a sense that would show more dysfunction than what they decided to do.

Craig Conroy was hired to be a general manager one day and was literally groomed for the role for over a decade. And Ryan Huska was a hotshot junior coach brought in to be a head coach in the NHL one day and spent 5 years as an assistant after spending time as an AHL head coach. Both moves were part of a lengthy succession plan.

Really the only strange thing about it is that both changes happened in the same off-season.

It's bizarre that the Wranglers could come first in the AHL and that not even be mentioned when talking about the pipeline.

AHL success doesn’t project NHL success, generally speaking. The Flames biggest strength in the AHL was Wolf, and that’s a tough spot to project as to whether AHL success will mean NHL success. Outside of Wolf, that AHL success wasn’t accomplished on the back of projected high end NHL’ers.

[SuperMatt18]

Are Flames really in a worse position than say a team like Boston? Or Florida?

If Florida (who finished with fewer points last year than the Flames) missed he playoffs would they be 32nd? They have a worse prospect pools and even fewer upcoming draft picks?

[activeStick]

Love it, keep fueling the fire

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Management DISASTER. Babcock is all I need to say. Yet the Flames have the worst management? #### that.

Haha, fair. Although you could almost argue that they just pressed the fast forward button on their mistake. The Flames nuked a season under Darryl, but the Jackets knocked that out of the park without even playing a single game! Efficiency!

Spittin’ Chiclets also weighed in on the Flames, and paints a much more optimistic picture than this.

I still think ESPN has a point though. The next 3 seasons of this team, right now, is a murky mess.

[N-E-B]

Not sure we should be 32nd, but not surprising we're near the bottom of the list. We have an okay roster right now but no blue chip prospects coming up.

[Erick Estrada]

Two of the team's top three centers and half the blue line is pending UFA. Basically the same as the Bruins except the part where one team has potential to lose four of their top 6 defenders. Also while there appears to be some serviceable prospects, there's not a single blue chip prospect in the organization. If we were looking at the Flames from afar I would expect many of us would look at them differently.

[dissentowner]

Why on Earth would anyone take anything ESPN says about hockey seriously??? They have a long history of not knowing jack squat about what they are talking about in regards to the NHL

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Not sure we should be 32nd, but not surprising we're near the bottom of the list. We have an okay roster right now but no blue chip prospects coming up.

The future cap situation is not great for this team. Of course, we have to see how it plays out on the ice this season, but power rankings are based on recent results so I can't fault them too much. Our two biggest contracts were signed for short term success with the knowledge that they would likely be a problem in the future.

As for the prospects, I think this team has a lot of decent depth and several prospects with NHL upside, but we do lack the really high end prospects because the Flames rarely ever draft very high. Wolf and Coronato could change all that of course.

[Redrum]

Prospects are a bit low, but hard to argue against the cap management. I wonder if this is assuming a Lindholm signing. If not that would put them in a really distant 32nd.

[Reggie Dunlop]

This is an outrage

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

If it was just ranked on prospects or young players, I would think the ranking is ridiculous. But for cap projections, yes, the Flames are in a terrible position.

The Flames' cap situation isn't great. But that is true for a LOT of teams. Some are quite a bit worse.

[dustygoon]

Good.

Either we are underdogs, or I feel validated in thinking this team is stuck in the mud.

I win either way.

[Knut]

Did Spurs write this ??

[ForeverFlameFan]

Keep underrating the Flames.

Can’t wait for them to prove everyone else wrong.