[Rumour] Backlund leaning towards not re-signing with Flames

[Hockey_Ninja]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

poor Connie being thrown right into the fire on his first day on the job

He inherited a mess from Tre and now he has to deal with it. Not the best situation to go into as a first time GM

[Johnny Makarov]

Time for him to go. It was super weird last year that as soon he goes on a good stretch and the "Backlund for Captain" thread gets bumped, he played like ass the next few games. lol

[mile]

Huberdeau - Dube - Coronato
Mangiapane - Kadri - Phillips
Pelletier - Ruzicka - Coleman
Ritchie - Jones - Duehr

Weegar - Andersson
Kylington - Stecher
Gilbert - Stone
DeSimone

Vladar
Wolf

[blankall]

Originally Posted by VilleN

If Backlund and Hanifin are gone, then you have to trade Lindholm, and pretty much any veteran you can at this point.

The opposite take for me. Lindholm is the only one who brings something that can't be replaced from within the organization.

I would trade Backlund and Hanifin regardless, unless Backlund is willing to sign for a very reasonable contract, which it sounds like he isn't. Backlund is 34, and it's not as though the Flames stiffed him on his last contract. It ended up being great value, by the end, but throwing another long-term contract at Backlund is likely a mistake.

If Lindholm wants out, then you look at a wider re-tool beyond the those 3.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

poor Connie being thrown right into the fire on his first day on the job

Blessing in disguise if owners hands are forced into a rebuild.


He now has 4-5 years of job security as opposed to the customary 1-2

[GreenLantern2814]

It’s not a rebuild, it’s a renovation.

[drewtastic]

Who knew that "Unfinished Business" meant former GM Sutter, not 2004 Coach Sutter...

[blankall]

Originally Posted by mile

Huberdeau - Dube - Coronato
Mangiapane - Kadri - Phillips
Pelletier - Ruzicka - Coleman
Ritchie - Jones - Duehr

Weegar - Andersson
Kylington - Stecher
Gilbert - Stone
DeSimone

Vladar
Wolf

Ouch.

Hopefully this time we don't trade the Martin St. Louis and Mark Savards from that group just because.

[Roof-Daddy]

I dunno if any of these reports are true, but if these players are iffy on staying trade them for futures and don't let them walk for nothing next summer.

Seems pretty simple to me.

A forced major retool.

[Erick Estrada]

I highly doubt Treliving is a spiteful guy and smiling right now at the Flames situation but I bet he's feeling really, really good about his decision to move on from the Flames right now.

[Poe969]

Good. Now put the hurt feelings aside and capitalize on his value. It would be great if the Flames collecting assets instead of the team signing older guys to questionable contracts.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Well it's been 12 months of pure hell why not rip the bandaid off at this point and just burn it to the ground. The forced rebuild is truly the only path forward for this franchise.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

If Hanifin wants out and Lindholm wants out likely Backlund sees no chance of winning here so he will want out.

Yes, I think Lindholm is the domino. Backlund wants a shot at the Cup, and he knows he won’t get it if Lindholm walks.

[Savvy27]

Vegas has demonstrated that you can improve without resorting to bottoming out. So has Boston.

Craig Conroy is in a very unique position where he has a bunch of very valuable assets in the 7 upcoming UFAs. He can turn those into picks and prospects and then bundle those up for some talented younger players who can play at a high level in a year or two.

I don't think they are in a position to burn everything to the ground. As others have mentioned they still have too many good players for that, but they can really reshape the group they have. Next season is probably going to be a stretch to even come close to the playoffs if they move Lindholm, Backlund, Toffoli, and Hanifin (I'd like to see them keep Kylington, Tanev, and Zadorov), but guys like Dube, Pelletier, Coronato, and Kylington are going to have a great development season and the team will have cap space and draft capital.

The scouts need to find some players, even if they aren't getting top 5 picks.

[The Fisher Account]

Oh no... so anyways..

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I highly doubt Treliving is a spiteful guy and smiling right now at the Flames situation but I bet he's feeling really, really good about his decision to move on from the Flames right now.

Until we kick his ass in the 2024 SCF.

[Hockey_Ninja]

I do find it kinda funny that Markstrom, someone a good chunk of the fanbase wants gone after the crappy season he had, allegedly wants to stay. And the guy who was rumored to wanting to be captain apparently doesn’t want to sign back. It seems like the guys fans want gone the most want to stay and the guys fans don’t want to leave want to go

[Ferarri]

Forced rebuild on it's way. Disappointing that several players are wanting out even after management listened to their concerns and got rid of Sutter. This is the right decision to go on the path of starting over but it still sucks being a fan and knowing that there could be some tough years on the horizon. Hopefully short term pain for long term gain.

[Boreal]

Loyalty goes both ways, find let the door hit him in the way out.

[howard_the_duck]

It’s time ownership finally gets their head out of the sand. I can’t think of a clearer signal than this off-season that it’s time to rebuild.