This is a rebuild

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

Which will the get them another version of Crosby/Lemieux.

I just read a pundit saying a fitting end to Crosby’s career will be mentoring a young superstar, the way he was mentored by Lemieux. Which sounds nice and all. Except for the part where he spends his last few seasons in the NHL playing for a terrible team that loses all the time.

[devo22]

looking at the roster, I'd also be shocked if we didn't finish bottom 3 next season. After the trade deadline, they finished the season with a 7-13 record in the last 20, which is a 57 point pace over a full season ... that would have been 30th in the league last season. And that was with Markstrom. Maybe a team or two can outsuck us, but at this point, I would expect our 2025 1st rounder to be the highest pick in franchise history.

[Jason14h]

I am more pessimistic then most - This team had the following:

Coleman, Backlund, Weegar all have career years at advanced ages
Kadri with the 2nd most points in his career
Shags having a breakout year
Top 3 goaltending in the first half
Almost no injuries

And they still finished 10th worse (And bottom 5 after trading their guys and not replacing with anything of significance in the offseason)

If only a few of the good thing go wrong we are very bad this year. And there isn't a lot of unknowns that could go really well

- Goaltending could surprise
- Kuz could continue at his pace after joining the Flames
- A rookie could surprise
- Huberdeau becomes a 100 point guy

We don't have any blue chip prospects joining the team this year ( Unless Parekh makes the team and steps up_

The team that looks poised to plummet into a bottom 3 pick this year is us.

Finges crossed

[redmile04]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I am more pessimistic then most - This team had the following:

Coleman, Backlund, Weegar all have career years at advanced ages
Kadri with the 2nd most points in his career
Shags having a breakout year
Top 3 goaltending in the first half
Almost no injuries

And they still finished 10th worse (And bottom 5 after trading their guys and not replacing with anything of significance in the offseason)

If only a few of the good thing go wrong we are very bad this year. And there isn't a lot of unknowns that could go really well

- Goaltending could surprise
- Kuz could continue at his pace after joining the Flames
- A rookie could surprise
- Huberdeau becomes a 100 point guy

We don't have any blue chip prospects joining the team this year ( Unless Parekh makes the team and steps up_

The team that looks poised to plummet into a bottom 3 pick this year is us.

Finges crossed

Looks good and I agree, but you never know as you mentioned with the unknowns. 14/15 we were supposed to be in Mcdavid contention and won a round!

[dissentowner]

Every NHL season there are at least two teams on either side of the coin that surprise everyone with being worse than they should be and the others being surprisingly competitive.

[TheIronMaiden]

I have to laugh.

That new Fan960 show with those Goof Oiler fans were going off about how the Flames were directionless and how frustrated their fans must be.

They could not have been more out of touch. It seems for the first time since 2014 the Flames are optimistic about the future. and Folks could not be more thrilled with out accumulation of young players and picks.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I see bottom 5 for sure, perhaps worse. The defense and goaltending are simply going to be not good enough.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by redmile04

Looks good and I agree, but you never know as you mentioned with the unknowns. 14/15 we were supposed to be in Mcdavid contention and won a round!

Yes but they had Monahan and JG join and play big parts in this team

There’s no JG waiting to join this team. I don’t think there’s a SM

And that team had the most luck in nhl history

Anything can happen , but this team is as well positioned as ever to be bad

[shutout]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I see bottom 5 for sure, perhaps worse. The defense and goaltending are simply going to be not good enough.

I am thinking that they are going to finish 12 or 13.
That the goaltending and young defensemen will be working hard to prove that they are NHL capable and that the internal competition for jobs will have them playing to their best.
I think that they have enough skill and experience up front that they won't fall into long losing streaks and that with a full year under Huska the team will be better situated to start off well and the coaching staff will have learned lessons on in game transitions and how to deploy players and line combinations better.

[Shazam]

I'd be stunned if they finished that high.

I think there'll be a lot of hard working players but the lack of experience is going to be tough to overcome.

[Enoch Root]

I think they finish 4th or 5th. And I can't see any way that they're higher than maybe 8th.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I think they finish 4th or 5th. And I can't see any way that they're higher than maybe 8th.

I agree. Unless Wolf Proves to be a .920 sv% goalie this team will bottom out.

That said, I am hopeful that next season will be the last of the bottom out years. Flip Kuzenmenko at the deadline, and start to focus of building up rather than tearing down.

[Lanny_McDonald]

We should be at the bottom of the division. Our blueline is terrible which means Wolf and Vladar are going to be facing lots if high danger chances. Even with a pretty decent group of forwards, the blueline is arguably the worst in the conference and that is going to be the team's undoing.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by shutout

I am thinking that they are going to finish 12 or 13.
That the goaltending and young defensemen will be working hard to prove that they are NHL capable and that the internal competition for jobs will have them playing to their best.
I think that they have enough skill and experience up front that they won't fall into long losing streaks and that with a full year under Huska the team will be better situated to start off well and the coaching staff will have learned lessons on in game transitions and how to deploy players and line combinations better.

I just don't think you can over-come that blueline plus I think Wolf, at best, will be an average goalie next year. If he establishes himself as a starter in the NHL that would be amazing. Then it's a matter of if he can be a premium starter. But for next year - I think that's out of reach

Bad blueline + avg goalie = bottom of the standings.

Just too much to overcome.

[Icantwhisper]

Team will look good for first 10-15 with the energy of the kids carrying the team, can only keep the energy so high for so long before this team starts crashing to earth and finishes bottom 5, which is fine for where we are at.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I just don't think you can over-come that blueline plus I think Wolf, at best, will be an average goalie next year. If he establishes himself as a starter in the NHL that would be amazing. Then it's a matter of if he can be a premium starter. But for next year - I think that's out of reach

Bad blueline + avg goalie = bottom of the standings.

Just too much to overcome.

Yeah, the points percentage after the deadline matched the eye test watching the games. Defense and goalie tandem are bottom 5 and no game breakers amongst the forwards. I think people don’t realize how bad the defense is lol.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I see bottom 5 for sure, perhaps worse. The defense and goaltending are simply going to be not good enough.

Over the course of the season I expect that goaltending will become a major topic as neither guy has ever been a starting goaltender in the NHL and Wolf is probably going to be work in progress. We all realize the consequences of them finishing 11th or better but the reality is that with more talent from top to bottom they still picked top ten this season so an awful lot would have to go right for them to even match this season's point total and it looks like competition in the Western conference will be pretty fierce this season making for more separation between the good and bad teams.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I just don't think you can over-come that blueline plus I think Wolf, at best, will be an average goalie next year. If he establishes himself as a starter in the NHL that would be amazing. Then it's a matter of if he can be a premium starter. But for next year - I think that's out of reach

Bad blueline + avg goalie = bottom of the standings.

Just too much to overcome.

Not to mention we will have stretches where the puck won't be going in often. When most the team has at least a 90-point guy and our top guy is putting up 70, that might be the lowest leading scorer for any team this year other than SJ

[blankall]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I have to laugh.

That new Fan960 show with those Goof Oiler fans were going off about how the Flames were directionless and how frustrated their fans must be.

They could not have been more out of touch. It seems for the first time since 2014 the Flames are optimistic about the future. and Folks could not be more thrilled with out accumulation of young players and picks.

Flames just traded their starting goaltender and are replacing him with a tandem of a career backup and a guy with 18 total GP. The Flames are also dead last in cap space used. If that doesn't scream intentionally bottoming out, I don't know what does. What about that is possibly a mixed message. The direction is clearly to the bottom of the standings.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Every NHL season there are at least two teams on either side of the coin that surprise everyone with being worse than they should be and the others being surprisingly competitive.

I think the best comparable for this is the Flyers. They had a 75-point season, dumped a bunch of guys and almost made the playoffs.

Big difference for me though would be that the players the Flyers dumped weren't that good.