Worst team in the league - Are we "OK" with it?

[Hackey]

A bottom 5 finish would be great. They might actually land a core piece. Doing it for a few seasons would be even better because even McKenna is not going to turn this team elite. McKenna with a couple strong support players and the Flames current/future depth might. Without at least 2 or 3 stars you're likely not competing for Cups in this league. Obtain them however you want but we all know the easiest way is the top end of the draft.

[troutman]

The schedule has been tough. I expect Flames to finish between 20-25, unfortunately. We really need a lottery win.

[Finger Cookin]

No problem being OK with it for a week, a month, or a season. Don't want to blink and all of a sudden look back to this season 15 years later as the start of becoming a Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit, or Edmonton.

[bluejays]

I'm in agreement with bottoming out for Gavin. However, rather than ruining Wolf in the process, I'd opine to have a fall guy who's mentally strong, come in and split the games this year with Wolf, so Wolf's confidence doesn't hit badly. ie: bring in a mediocre career backup who can take those losses in stride and play half the games. Wolf has to have things to hold onto, and that means not playing every game. Further I'd do deals to bolster the young guys on the blue line so that we're losing games by one and not blowouts, but also developing young guys on the backend. Draft the BPA.

[Southside]

I just dont know. I went over to tankathon and sitting in last place on my sims only got Flames 1OA once. Dropped to third in at least 4 of the 10.

[Roof-Daddy]

Hahaha

Just went to tankathon to sim the lottery for the first time.

Flames dropped to 3rd overall and it was Tampa jumping 7 spots to get Gav 1st OA

Took 7 tries to stay at 1st OA

Ugh

[Jason14h]

You can’t have the league rig a lottery in your favour if you’re not in the lottery !

Don’t you automatically get a franchise player if you build a new arena

[Goriders]

I think season is going to be what it is. The Flames are the worst goal scoring team I have ever seen and they have potential to be the worst ever. It’s early but the wtiting might be on the wall.

That being said. I still like watching competitive games rather than the games being a foregone conclusion. So if the goal changes to bottoming out I guess I’m okay with it if:

- they keep enough vets around so that they don’t develop a culture where losing is accepted
- they don’t destroy Wolf’s confidence by playing him every night
- they dump miromanov so younger D like Kuznetsov can play
- they find a way to dump Sharangovich so younger forwards like Gridin can play
- get it over with and dump anderson to make room for younger D
- start giving Parekh PP1 time

If they do the above and actually give young players a chance to play so you could watch them develop I think I could stomach what I think is coming. I’m okay watching kids you can see improvement in fail than overpaid clubs like Sharangovich and borderline NHLers like Bean and Miromanov flounder around every night.

[Freddy]

I look forward to a few wins and the Flames getting back to “overachieving” like they did last year; me, personally, I have a tough time being on a team with teammates of a “tank” mentality. Loser culture attracts losers.

[GranteedEV]

I am not worried about Wolf.

Goalies have down years and up years. A down year is perfect for a tank.

The key to a successful season is that Parekh is playing 20+ a night by December and we're in the running for a star forward in the draft, and we get a good first round pick for Andersson. Even making the playoffs wouldn't be a success next to those outcomes

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Won't be for long. we still play in the worst division in hockey and Wolf still gives us a chance every game.

The Oilers, Kings, and Knights look like teams that have already peaked although the Knights have a bit of runway with Marner and Eichel still being in prime years so there will be drop off but the Sharks and Ducks will probably start to ascend in coming seasons so the Flames need to avoid the mushy middle where they currently reside with the Canucks. A poor season leading to a top 3 pick would go a long way to getting a head start on a rebuild.

The Flames have one blue chip prospect in Parekh and a handful of good looking prospects that have potential to fill out some key roles of a roster, they just have to attain a few more blue chippers to stay in the mix with the Sharks and Ducks. The Flames have already missed the playoffs three years running so to get out of this rut they are going to have to totally bottom out and it's actually what I'm hoping for this year. I don't want to get too excited about the possibilities of McKenna with the chances of the lottery screwing the Flames but it's one of those key draft years where one of the most gifted prospects in the last decade is available and the timing couldn't be better for the Flames. I really hope they see this through as this organization deserves an opportunity to get McKenna.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Hahaha

Just went to tankathon to sim the lottery for the first time.

Flames dropped to 3rd overall and it was Tampa jumping 7 spots to get Gav 1st OA

Took 7 tries to stay at 1st OA

Ugh

Yep ... finish last and you still only have a 1/4 chance of drafting first.

But 100% chance of drafting top 3

[stemit14]

It’s likely for the best. As a fan, I watch every game and I cheer for the team to win every game but I accept the losses way better when the team is rebuilding.

People debate whether rebuilds work or not and, ultimately, it takes some luck, timing, good drafting and development for a rebuild to be successful.

The lottery luck can be cruel sometimes. Detroit is a good example of poor luck. They spent years at the bottom of the league including historically bad seasons but never got to pick in the top 2. What goes around comes around though as their rebuild followed nearly 2 decades of being a dominant team so I can’t feel sorry for that franchise. Flames are more due for some luck than virtually any team in the league - #ItWasIn.

The timing part is also tricky. Not all draft classes are created equal so bottoming out to coincide with the right draft is important. Look at 2012 draft class - Yakupov, Murray, Galchenyuk and Griffin Reinhart go top 4. Just one year later, it’s McKinnon, Barkov, Druin and Jones in the top 4. Good news is, this looks like a good draft class to bottom out for.

The drafting and development is the most rollable part of the rebuild. Especially with the franchise player your team hopes to get at the top of the draft. Look at every draft ever and there is likely at least one player taken in the top 10 who, in hindsight, likely should not have been selected even in the first round. That cannot happen for a rebuild to be successful. You have to hit a home run with those top ten picks. I like the flames drafting these days so I have confidence in their decisions should they get a top pick this year.

[Canada 02]

I've been watching North Dakota. It would be bonkers to have Verhoeff and Parekh anchor the right side for the next 20 years

[gvitaly]

I'm more than okay with it.

Win against the Oilers - check
Have leads in games - check
Keep the culture and hard work - check

This season I personally have a ton to cheer for regardless of the standings. Now hopefully the top guys start playing better before the fire sale.

[Fan69]

Too early to tell yet and be all doom and gloom but if their was a season to bail this might be it. While mckenna is consensus number one the top ten in this draft looks great at this point. Not just good but great. Frankly to me their isnt much of a gap from mckenna to the next guys like keaton, lawrence, bjork, stenberg. At the end of the day mckenna is a winger.

Now dont get me wrong anybody landing mckenna is going to be thrilled but i think the top ten may be littered with franchise guys. Tynan lawrence being a huge personal favourite with bjork early on.

Get a first for andersson, get a second for Coleman. Dont think anyone else has any value and i dont think Kadri requests a trade.

Wslk out of a deep draft with 3x1 2x2 and 2 x 3 for draft selections.

We walked out if a weak draft with Reschny and Potter this draft is way better and we probably pick higher.

[FlamesAddiction]

I am totally fine with it and it actually makes me excited to think we could get a chance to get something close to a generational talent out of it, or hopefully at least a future franchise player.

The don’t expect it to last though and expect the team to climb up eventually outside of the bottom 10. Watch Huberdeau pick this year to get 90 points while the rest of the team sucks enough to keep in the middle.

[Lewis_D]

If they do finish with a good chance at drawing #1 overall, watching that lottery will be one of the most stressful things ever.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by fotze2

So I last checked and we are the worst team in the standings. I have to admit, I am strangely cool with it. A lot of young guys will play and we can see them, tickets will be cheap, see Gridin up and down, maybe basha and others, and just maybe Mckenna.

What are people thinking?

The cap is nearly $100M.

The payroll is $84M, and $10.5M of that is Jonathan Huberdeau who hasn’t played yet.

It’s tough to win when the other team has $20M or $30M extra worth of NHLers.

No, I don’t have a problem with it. They have a good enough goalie that they may not get many more chances to be the worst team in the league.

[Bingo]

Feels so much better without chaotic conditions on their first round pick this year.