Do you think the Flames will contend for the Cup with this core?

[calgarygringo]

We are not there yet. Just a playoff team but no cup. We need one game buster/way above avg player that we do not have yet. Bottom 6 needs to firm up yet too. It is still suspect right now. Then a to goalie that can play 50 to 60 a year at his best. When all 3 happen we have a chance until then be happy with a round or maybe 2 in the playoffs

[Zevo]

nm

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Love

Monahan historically is barely even a cup caliber #2C, so for that reason I say no. I think we're trending more in the direction of a St.Louis/Minnesota as opposed to a Pittsburgh or Chicago

If somehow we got Jack Hughes (let's say due to Gaudreau missing the season with injury that he fully recovers from / or from a fluke lottery win) then I'd be much more optimistic

William Karlsson and Ryan Johansson got their respective teams to the finals as the top centers in the past two years and I'd argue that Monahan when healthy is better than both.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by Love

Monahan historically is barely even a cup caliber #2C, so for that reason I say no. I think we're trending more in the direction of a St.Louis/Minnesota as opposed to a Pittsburgh or Chicago

If somehow we got Jack Hughes (let's say due to Gaudreau missing the season with injury that he fully recovers from / or from a fluke lottery win) then I'd be much more optimistic

[RedHawk12]

The difference with Washington is they have been favored to win the cup in previous years with their core, and they won their cup with the same core, despite some setbacks in previous seasons.

Nobody has actually favored our core to be favorites to win the cup, not even most Flames fans.

I think we can be a perennial playoff team and maybe make a Stanley Cup final. I know many may not agree with this comparison but I see us as similar to the Rangers 5-6 years ago. We are solid up and down the lineup but I think we are missing an ELITE player. A true game breaker. Toews, Kopitar, Crosby, Ovechkin. As great as Gaudreau and Monahan are, they fall just a little bit short in my opinion. With that said, they might still get better.

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

William Karlsson and Ryan Johansson got their respective teams to the finals as the top centers in the past two years and I'd argue that Monahan when healthy is better than both.

I agree, however these guys played for the underdogs and and never actually won the cup. The team with the superstars did. (Crosby, Ovechkin). In fact, it's hard to think of the last betting underdog going into a final to actually WIN the cup.

That means we could either hope our core does enough to make it to a Final, then play a Cinderella team. Or we need another serious game changer.

[Poe969]

Not without a real goalie. This team needs a legit starting goalie and they'd be in the conversation.

At this point, if they don't somehow get a real good goalie I think they're a bubble team.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

To be fair, a year ago Washington was coming off two consecutive President’s trophies.

I agree that it’s a “maybe,” but going from out of the playoffs to Stanley Cup contender is a lot different than going from top team in the regular season to Stanley Cup contender.

yeah but the question isn't "can the Flames contend this season"

We aren't talking about no playoffs to contender (although it has happened many times...I mean look at the west finals last season)

Flames need to take a step this season. I know everyone keeps saying we missed the playoffs by 11 points but before the catastrophic injuries the Flames were within spitting distance of 2nd/3rd in the division. I think the team is quite a bit better but we shall see.

[Fire in the disco]

Good friend of mine (Canucks fan)is legitimately concerned about how good the Flames will be this year. Always good when the contending fan base thinks your contenders

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Fire in the disco

Good friend of mine (Canucks fan)is legitimately concerned about how good the Flames will be this year. Always good when the contending fan base thinks your contenders

Concerned about the Flames or the Flames plus at least 20+ other teams? A Xanucks fan should be concerned about their own team and not the threats, which are pretty much every other team

*gotta reality check your good friends every now and again

[Ragnar]

I don't think we can contend for the cup with Monahan as our #1 centre.

I love the guy and he scores some clutch goals but he doesn't drive the play what so ever and with Backlund as a defensive first player we don't have the quality down the middle to compete. Bennett was supposed to be that guy, and I hope he can still be, but you need an elite centre iceman to win a cup not to mention a great goalie which Smith can be, but he's getting old, not to mention our best player in Giordano.

If Chucky can take the next step in being an elite scoring player we might have a chance with this core, but I'm not overly optimistic.

IMO this is the best roster we have had since the Chicago playoff series so I do hope we make a push this year. We need a massive breakout year from Bennett/Janko/Czarnik to be in the mix.

[kehatch]

At some point a team is going to win based on the strength of their depth versus the strength of their star power. That team will play hard like the 04 Flames or the 17 Knight's, and they will have a strong identity that every line buys into.

The Flames can't compete star to star. We have some great players, but they aren't at the level of the Crosby's, Ovechkin's, or McDavid's. Fortunately they are on strong contracts which gives us the opportunity to add the depth.

Our challenge has been twofold. One, we have used that extra cap space on players like Brouwer and Stajan. Hopefully that has changed as the team should have the guns to put out a 4 line / 3 pairing team. The second has been identity and effort. The Flames play hard, but not 04 hard. I also couldn't describe the identity of our team. The jury is out on if the Flames can take a step forward on the latter part.

[Vinny01]

For this team to truly become contenders I believe Bennett, Jankowski, Lindholm need to elevate their play from what we have seen to date and get closer to their draft projections (in Jankowski’s case Feaster/Weisbroad projections)

In addition it would really help if Valimaki, Andersson, Kylington, Parsons also proves to be what we hope.

[bubbsy]

The flames strength is the potential depth, not it's high end elite talent.

If enough of Backlund, Frolik, Bennett, Jankowski, lindholm, ryan, czarnik can provide 2nd line scoring numbers, and if Brodie, Hanifin, hamonic, kulak/Andersson/Valimaki can be effective in their minutes then this should be a division contending team that can win a few rounds.

Are those big IFs? At this stage, I have to think they are.

The other major question, like most of the league, is if they have the goaltending. I am not certain about this aspect of the flames roster unfortunately.

[Lanny_McDonald]

This team will contend in the same way the '89 Flames contended. People forget that the '89 Flames did not have a superstar on the team. They had incredible depth that would just grind you into oblivion. The leading scorer was Joey Mullen, with 110 points. That was only 58 points behind Gretzky, and 89 points behind Lemieux. We had two 50 goal scorers (Mullen and Nieuwendyk at 51), but that was light years behind Lemieux's 85 or Bernie Nicholl's 70. The Flames didn't have any superstars, and neither did the Montreal Canadiens, but they were the cream of the crop that year because of depth. The Flames have the ability to do that all over again. My only concern is goaltending. I don't think Mike Smith is the answer to anything and the Flames will need Rittich or Gillies to pull a Mike Vernon. I'd count on it being Gillies, but the team has to take a chance and play him. Not sure this management team has the sack to do that.

[wired]

I like New Era's take on this. But I do not think this team will do much in the playoffs.

[dustygoon]

I think they are another very good center away. Backlund is solid but not a #2 like you see in many cup winners. As said before, Bennett not turning into that top center hurts.

[Itse]

This core is good enough to be a contender with good coaching, solid depth around it and good goaltending.

So big maybe. Right now depth looks pretty good on paper but coaching and goaltending are question marks.

[Hackey]

The only team in recent memory i can think of that didnt really have elite forwards was Boston. They were a solid well rounded team. That gives me some hope but I still think were missing pieces or guys need to break out for us to realistically go that route. When Carolina won they were similar as well. Eric Stall was their top guy which Gaudreau could replicate and then they had strong depth which I think is possible to replicate without another superstar. I think we can still get to elite status but were gonna need some internal growth for sure.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by New Era

This team will contend in the same way the '89 Flames contended. People forget that the '89 Flames did not have a superstar on the team. They had incredible depth that would just grind you into oblivion. The leading scorer was Joey Mullen, with 110 points. That was only 58 points behind Gretzky, and 89 points behind Lemieux. We had two 50 goal scorers (Mullen and Nieuwendyk at 51), but that was light years behind Lemieux's 85 or Bernie Nicholl's 70. The Flames didn't have any superstars, and neither did the Montreal Canadiens, but they were the cream of the crop that year because of depth. The Flames have the ability to do that all over again. My only concern is goaltending. I don't think Mike Smith is the answer to anything and the Flames will need Rittich or Gillies to pull a Mike Vernon. I'd count on it being Gillies, but the team has to take a chance and play him. Not sure this management team has the sack to do that.

Not counting Lanny, four players from that team made the HHOF. Add guys like Loob and Vernon who were legitimate stars.

They didn’t have Gretzky or Lemieux but that team was loaded with elite talent. I love the optimism but I really don’t see any similarities yet.