How good do you guys think this version of the flames will be this next season.

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by Dragomir

The Pacific is looking like this:
1. Edmonton
2. Calgary
3. LA

Book it!

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Dragomir

The Pacific is looking like this:
1. Edmonton
2. Calgary
3. LA

Book it!

LOL.

Defending Division winners get better; the Oilers get worse; Oilers fans start their Cup parade plans in August.

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[NegativeSpace]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Martin St. Louis is the example of a talent error for the entire league, if you want to frame it that way. He was never drafted, IIRC, waived, etc.

For the record, I don't think anyone thought he was going to be a star. He was a small 4th liner when the Flames released him. Good for him for making himself the player he became.

That's fair. I'm not suggesting that the Flames were wrong in the moment, but some fans may look at a talent assessment error retrospectively. That error may contribute to this feeling some fans have that the kids need to play to see what they have in the player. We even see some of this with the Bennett discussion as fans got to see him play but not as high in the lineup as they would have liked. I just find it an interesting psychological thing about some fans wanting to see the kids to have spots when we really have no idea if they can actually play in that spot.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Dragomir

The Pacific is looking like this:
1. Edmonton
2. Calgary
3. LA

Book it!

I don’t see the back end situation of:

Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Bouchard
Murray-Barrie

Campbell
Skinner

Winning the division? If the Oilers didn’t have 2 of the very best forwards in the league on their team they would be in the mix for a lotto pick. Their forwards have them in the top 3 but I wouldn’t be booking any division wins for them this season.

[ricardodw]

The Flames lost some goals scored from Gaudreau and Tkachuk (82) and the replacements Huberdeau and Kadri (58).

30 was Huberdeau's career high and Kadri's 28 was below his 2016-17 and 2017-18 32 goal seasons.

Lindholm's 42 was 13 more than his 2nd career high Mangiapane's 35 was a 17 goal jump,


What is the expectations of Kadri and Huberdeau in their Flame 1st season? Who will make up the goals that got the Flames to the top of the division last year?

A poll on the expectations of Kadri and Huberdeau would be interesting before real hockey starts.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

The Flames lost some goals scored from Gaudreau and Tkachuk (82) and the replacements Huberdeau and Kadri (58).

30 was Huberdeau's career high and Kadri's 28 was below his 2016-17 and 2017-18 32 goal seasons.

Lindholm's 42 was 13 more than his 2nd career high Mangiapane's 35 was a 17 goal jump,


What is the expectations of Kadri and Huberdeau in their Flame 1st season? Who will make up the goals that got the Flames to the top of the division last year?

A poll on the expectations of Kadri and Huberdeau would be interesting before real hockey starts.

Look at the goal differential last season. Lots of games were won by a fair bit like 6-1.

This team can afford to lose a few goals and tighten up even more defensively and still come out on top of the Pacific.

[TheIronMaiden]

The Oiler success last year is tied to having extended periods of good health. They don't have the defensive, offensive or goaltending depth to handle key players missing multiple months of hockey.

Don't get me wrong, They are a strong team when healthy. But they rely very heavily on three players.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Burning Beard

Look at the goal differential last season. Lots of games were won by a fair bit like 6-1.



This team can afford to lose a few goals and tighten up even more defensively and still come out on top of the Pacific.

Things will probably even out through a distribution of players down the lineup. The top line will almost certainly not get 42 goals from Tkachuk's replacement on the RW, but by slotting Kadri on line #2 and pushing Backlund further down the lineup, there will likely be a big increase in scoring from these lines which should comoensate for the reduction on the top line. Also, adding Weegar should increase offense from the backend, which will help out the forwards lines a lot.

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[dino7c]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

The Flames lost some goals scored from Gaudreau and Tkachuk (82) and the replacements Huberdeau and Kadri (58).

30 was Huberdeau's career high and Kadri's 28 was below his 2016-17 and 2017-18 32 goal seasons.

Lindholm's 42 was 13 more than his 2nd career high Mangiapane's 35 was a 17 goal jump,


What is the expectations of Kadri and Huberdeau in their Flame 1st season? Who will make up the goals that got the Flames to the top of the division last year?

A poll on the expectations of Kadri and Huberdeau would be interesting before real hockey starts.

I think you are purposely using goals and not points to sell them short. Huberdeau had 85 assists including 54 primary assists which led the league.

Flames added more points than they lost

They also improved the D and dont need to win as many 5-1 games as last year. Its not like the division was even close last year either.

[saillias]

Darryl Sutter will be on fan 960 with Francis today at 2:30 PM to talk about the team and new additions