ADSF- (1)Florida vs (4)NY Islanders (Islanders win 4-2)

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by blender

Good management by the Flames to play the patient game. He is a good player, but paying older guys for career years past is bad news for sure.

You could also say though that they missed an opportunity to trade him at peak value, since there was no way a guy who had a career year at his age was going anywhere but downhill.

[blender]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

You could also say though that they missed an opportunity to trade him at peak value, since there was no way a guy who had a career year at his age was going anywhere but downhill.

True, but would the return at the draft last year been much better than what they got at the deadline this year? Honest question.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I think so. Not that Treliving didn't get a great return, because he did.

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by Bezer

Not to pee on the grave here but can we determine where the Flames pick with Florida's second from the Hudler trade?

Read post 543

[dino7c]

another deadline "winner" out in the first round

[activeStick]

Wow that sucks. .. really wanted a game 7

[blender]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I think so. Not that Treliving didn't get a great return, because he did.

Fair enough. Definitely would have been some interest in a 70-point Lady Byng winner, I suppose.

[curves2000]

Did anybody see Hudler's ice time??? 11:20 total. That seems awfully low considering the game went into the halfway mark of double OT. He is still an effective player and with a player who has the fresher legs in a long game, I figured he would have had some more playing time.

In any event I am of the opinion that if we can bring him back for a lower AAV deal than great. He does have a good effect on the young guys and has good chemistry with our top line. The Flames management probably has a better idea as to what happened this year with him performance wise. If he truly was injured and was trying to play through it than its understandable. If he just wasn't as engaged in the team this year cause of hurt feelings contract wise than that's another. People forget but he did have a letter on his jersey last season and it was taken off this year for whatever reason.

Hopefully he continues his career with or without the Flames. I enjoy watching him play.

Good series!

[Da_Chief]

Glad the Isles won. Little bit of this series I saw they were the better team. Congrats Isles, Tavares is a beast.

[dino7c]

Hudler is not coming back...did anyone watch the Flames this season?

no way they bring him back

[Magnum PEI]

Feel bad for the Panteras, they were the better team in all but one of the games I saw. But Tavares was the best player. Obviously they have a bright future and if Ekblad and Barkov keep developing on their current trajectory I think they will end up being contenders at some point.
I couldn't root for them because of Luongo and Jagr. Never have liked them.

[Da_Chief]

What a goal by Tavares. Love it.

Now the Panthers can give the Flames their 2nd round pick, hopefully the Flames draft an awesome player with it.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Hudler is not coming back...did anyone watch the Flames this season?

no way they bring him back

The Johnny-Monny-Huds line was on fire right before we traded Hudler. Bring him back if the dollars make sense.

[JiriHrdina]

zero chance the Flames bring Hudler back, for many reasons.

1. Last year's performance was in-line with his historical averages. The player he was 2014/2015 in the annomally not the norm.
2. The team is too small. Hudler is small. No fit.
3. Hudler is slow and is slowing

And finally I don't believe he is a guy that is great in the room. That's personal opinion but I think they are happy to move on from him.

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by dino7c

another deadline "winner" out in the first round

It's tradition!

[albertGQ]

Why would we bring Hudler back? Let the kids play or use that money to sign a real UFA

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Magnum PEI

I couldn't root for them because of Luongo and Jagr. Never have liked them.

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

zero chance the Flames bring Hudler back, for many reasons.

1. Last year's performance was in-line with his historical averages. The player he was 2014/2015 in the annomally not the norm.
2. The team is too small. Hudler is small. No fit.
3. Hudler is slow and is slowing

And finally I don't believe he is a guy that is great in the room. That's personal opinion but I think they are happy to move on from him.

All that is fine, but I see it this way.

We have nobody who really fits onto that top line right now. If we want to be proper play off contenders heading into March next season, we need to find someone who can play alongside Monahan and Gaudreau. Obviously there are other issues, but finding a line mate for those 2 is also a problem that needs solving.

If we win the 2nd or 3rd lottery, we might peg Laine/Puljujarvi in there, but I doubt they make the top line of the team right out of camp. We get Matthews, I don't see him skating with those 2. If we don't win the draft, I don't even see Dubois, Tkachuk or Nylander making the team next season and thats if we even take a forward. So, can we hope that the draft fills that slot? I'm not so sure. I also doubt we trade for a player?

So, free agency. Well, with us needing to add the salary of a starting goaltender and needing to extend Gaudreau, Monahan and Colborne, we probably won't have enough cap room left to target a major free agent winger, barring some magic from Treliving with Wideman and Raymond. Maybe Treliving can pull off some magic on that front, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

What about internal options? Colborne, Bennett, Ferland, Shinkaruk, nobody really looked like a long term fit on that top line. Do you go into the season hoping an internal option(including our 2016 1st rounder) can fit onto the top line? Seems a bit of a stretch. You can hope, but what happens if nothing materializes come opening night?

For me, if Hudler finds himself out of options(and I think he might) and he were willing to accept a 1 year deal(2 max) at a cheap cap hit(no more than $2m-$3m), I'd be willing to do it.

I'm just not sure who plays on our top line next season that is a long term option. So why not bring back a proven guy who has chemistry with those 2 on a cheap short term deal? If he's adamant about wanting term and salary though, you obviously steer well clear.

[hwy19man]

1 at 2 in double overtime

New York wins the series 4-2.
http://scores.nbcsports.com/nhl/recap.asp?g=2016042412
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/islanders-panthers-eliminated-overtime-tavares-1.3551159
http://sportsstats.cbc.ca/hockey/nhl-boxscores.aspx?page=/data/NHL/results/2015-2016/recap75526.html

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Just a couple more notes and then we can put this one to bed.

The Panthers have lost their last 8 straight overtime playoff games going all the way back to the Stanley Cup Final against Colorado. It's pretty hard to not even accidentally score an OT goal in 8 games. Pretty bad luck with 3 OT losses in this series, 2 of them in double OT.

The Panthers were also the 2nd best team in the playoffs in terms of Shot Attempt % Close at 56.5%, a good indicator of a team carrying the play (Stars best at 59%). Islanders were 2nd worst with 43.47%, ahead of only the Minnesota Wild.

Give them credit, the Panthers tried to shut down Tavares but were unable to do so. Had they done that, this series would probably have been over in 5 games in favor of the Panthers.

Unfortunate for Florida. They deserved better.