Making the playoffs or keeping our top-10 first round pick 2025?

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I trust in Vancouver to suck enough to keep the Flames in the race.

As long as that door is somewhat open, there won't be any give up in the group.

[dino7c]

Vancouver lost again...

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Canucks face the Hurricanes and Toronto back to back, meanwhile the oilers face... the blackhawks.

[SutterBrother]

I hope ownership is willing to turn our cap space into assets. We aren’t bad enough this season to draft well, so the rebuild needs to be fueled by eating dead money in exchange for picks.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by SutterBrother

I hope ownership is willing to turn our cap space into assets. We aren’t bad enough this season to draft well, so the rebuild needs to be fueled by eating dead money in exchange for picks.

Cap space doesn't have as much value any more. Lots of teams have plenty and it's going to keep going up quite a bit the next few years. Crappy timing for us for sure.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Cap space doesn't have as much value any more. Lots of teams have plenty and it's going to keep going up quite a bit the next few years. Crappy timing for us for sure.

24 teams have less than 2M in cap space, more than half the league is over the cap...its value might not be at an all time high but its certainly there. Cap going up won't matter because players will just be getting bigger deals based on % of cap.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by dino7c

24 teams have less than 2M in cap space, more than half the league is over the cap...its value might not be at an all time high but its certainly there. Cap going up won't matter because players will just be getting bigger deals based on % of cap.

As Burke said a few years ago, it makes zero sense for every team in the league to be capped out.

And in a flat cap world, they won’t be.

[Wolven]

Quick update before the Kings game tonight:

After our last game getting postponed, the Flames still managed to drop a couple of spots in the standings and are now 16th overall. 1 point below the WC spot and 4 points above the top-10 of the draft.

3 teams are tied at 1 point behind us and 2 teams are 2 points behind us. If we do not win tonight there is a good chance all 5 teams can step over us. The Red Wings are only 3 points behind us and on a 6 game winning streak, they may not even notice flying past us on their way to rejoining the east playoff race.

I am still super interested in our double Blues road games next week. The Blues play the Blue Jackets tonight and then get a rest before they play us on Tuesday and Thursday. On the other hand, our team will be flying in from playing in Chicago on Monday. It is almost like a mini-playoff series with big implications for the season.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

As Burke said a few years ago, it makes zero sense for every team in the league to be capped out.

And in a flat cap world, they won’t be.

talk to the GMs lol...teams going for it will all be capped out and need "help"
Half the league thinks they are going for it.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Quick update before the Kings game tonight:

After our last game getting postponed, the Flames still managed to drop a couple of spots in the standings and are now 16th overall. 1 point below the WC spot and 4 points above the top-10 of the draft.

3 teams are tied at 1 point behind us and 2 teams are 2 points behind us. If we do not win tonight there is a good chance all 5 teams can step over us. The Red Wings are only 3 points behind us and on a 6 game winning streak, they may not even notice flying past us on their way to rejoining the east playoff race.

I am still super interested in our double Blues road games next week. The Blues play the Blue Jackets tonight and then get a rest before they play us on Tuesday and Thursday. On the other hand, our team will be flying in from playing in Chicago on Monday. It is almost like a mini-playoff series with big implications for the season.

How about the Flames win, get in a playoff spot, and keep it!

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Quick update before the Kings game tonight:

After our last game getting postponed, the Flames still managed to drop a couple of spots in the standings and are now 16th overall. 1 point below the WC spot and 4 points above the top-10 of the draft.

3 teams are tied at 1 point behind us and 2 teams are 2 points behind us. If we do not win tonight there is a good chance all 5 teams can step over us. The Red Wings are only 3 points behind us and on a 6 game winning streak, they may not even notice flying past us on their way to rejoining the east playoff race.

I am still super interested in our double Blues road games next week. The Blues play the Blue Jackets tonight and then get a rest before they play us on Tuesday and Thursday. On the other hand, our team will be flying in from playing in Chicago on Monday. It is almost like a mini-playoff series with big implications for the season.

I go by games over / under .500.

For the last two months the 10th worst team has been one game under .500. The bottom has surged, and now team #10 is Detroit, and they're a game over .500 and moving towards Calgary.

Flames are 5 over.

Four game swing needed, and I don't think that +1/-1 mark moves much.

Four game losing streak puts them in the mix.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by dino7c

How about the Flames win, get in a playoff spot, and keep it!

That would be awesome.

Looking at the next two games:
I have no idea how the Kings players are going to react tonight. How many of them lost their homes? Ugh. I would forgive them for being a bit distracted.

Blackhawks game should be a good win for us but I remember saying that last year in January and we somehow managed to lose both of our games in Chicago...

To keep a playoff spot until the end of the month would require the team to rise above expectations: start winning on the road, try not to notice losing Zary from the lineup, and beat 3 teams that are currently top 4 in the league (Jets, Wild, Caps, Jets).

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I go by games over / under .500.

For the last two months the 10th worst team has been one game under .500. The bottom has surged, and now team #10 is Detroit, and they're a game over .500 and moving towards Calgary.

Flames are 5 over.

Four game swing needed, and I don't think that +1/-1 mark moves much.

Four game losing streak puts them in the mix.

I think we have enough of a sprinkling of weaker opponents in our schedule that we are unlikely to see a big losing streak until the big road trip from Feb 25 to Mar 6.

But I think we could continue to lose ground by putting up a 4-6-0 record for the rest of this month. Looking at the next 10 games I do not think that is unrealistic.

[Paulie Walnuts]

We don’t need a fluke playoff appearance. The call can come from Switzerland that it’s time to compete

It was actually troubling to hear Dreger say that the Flames think they have the guts and nucleus to compete.

[MegaErtz]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I go by games over / under .500.

For the last two months the 10th worst team has been one game under .500. The bottom has surged, and now team #10 is Detroit, and they're a game over .500 and moving towards Calgary.

Flames are 5 over.

Four game swing needed, and I don't think that +1/-1 mark moves much.

Four game losing streak puts them in the mix.

The Flames have won 19 of 40 games so far this season.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

The Flames have won 19 of 40 games so far this season.

Now do the other teams he was referring to

[MegaErtz]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Now do the other teams he was referring to

Detroit have won 19 of 41 games....so the same amount of wins, not a difference of six like Bingo stated.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

Detroit have won 19 of 41 games....so the same amount of wins, not a difference of six like Bingo stated.

Your argument is meaningless. When the season ends, the OTL points will count. Get over it.

[MegaErtz]

For sure, the overtime loss points count in the standings. I'm not arguing at all.

No wonder American players don't want to play in Canada, you people seem to have great difficulty taking a two digit number and dividing it in half.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Your argument is meaningless. When the season ends, the OTL points will count. Get over it.

and in the playoffs, an OTL is a hard L, and those count too.