[Rumour] McKenzie: dealbreaker for Flames is that Sens want Valimaki in Stone package

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Good morning...there is word Vegas has re-entered the Mark Stone conversations. Something to keep an eye on today.

Pierre LeBrun @PierreVLeBrun
My sense on the Vegas Golden Knights. Plan A, Mark Stone; Plan B, Micheal Ferland. Having said that, the Hurricanes are wary of moving Ferland, concerned of affecting team chemistry in a playoff race. Ferland could be Carolina's own rental unless a team really steps up

Makes a lot of sense actually.

Stone played for McCrimmon in Brandon, Knights have a boatload of assets and certainly have the cap room.


Hmmm....good one.

[DropIt]

If he doesnt cone to Calgary I hope he stays in the east

[howard_the_duck]

Pretty terrifying to think Vegas could add a Stone after Nyquist to Sharks.

All of a sudden that moves the priorities for the Flames this deadline from nice to add, to must add to keep up with the divisional heavyweights.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Pretty terrifying to think Vegas could add a Stone after Nyquist to Sharks.

All of a sudden that moves the priorities for the Flames this deadline from nice to add, to must add to keep up with the divisional heavyweights.

Golden Knights are 16 points behind the Flames. Hardly heavyweights. I'm hoping for it actually as Stone is going to be an incredibly costly rental and I'd rather the Flames not be the team bolstering Ottawa's rebuild. If the Flames can hold on to 1st in the Division the Sharks and Golden Knights can battle it out in the 1st round where one of them will have nothing to show for all the assets given up.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm hoping for it actually as Stone is going to be an incredibly costly rental and I'd rather the Flames not be the team bolstering Ottawa's rebuild. If the Flames can hold on to 1st in the Division the Sharks and Golden Knights can battle it out in the 1st round where one of them will have nothing to show for all the assets given up.

Sure, if we hang on to the division. But very little margin for error.

Would be a terrifying premise to finish 2nd and have to run into Vegas who's loaded up with Stone, and a roster that exposes the Flames' most glaring team weakness.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Sure, if we hang on to the division. But very little margin for error.

Would be a terrifying premise to finish 2nd and have to run into Vegas who's loaded up with Stone, and a roster that exposes the Flames' most glaring team weakness.

Rentals don't usually move the needle in the playoffs. Kane didn't make a difference for the Sharks last year's playoffs. I find nothing terrifying about Vegas with or without Stone. Only one team is going to win the cup this season and it's highly likely to be the Lightning. Teams are giving up the future for nothing today. It's a bad day for hockey fans unless you are a fan of a team that's selling.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Vegas with Stone doesn't scare me. The only teams in the Western Conference that I don't want the Flames matching up against is St. Louis (they got it together and are on a roll, plus a big, fast and physical team) and now San Jose (they are deep... there is no denying that they are an elite team this year).

[howard_the_duck]

Vegas scares me right now, not to mention potential of adding a guy like Stone.

Don’t let the 16 point cushion fool you, that goes out the window in two months. A playoff matchup with Vegas would be awfully tough, as their size and physicality I believe expose the Flames as currently constructed.

[Stauner]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Vegas with Stone doesn't scare me. The only teams in the Western Conference that I don't want the Flames matching up against is St. Louis (they got it together and are on a roll, plus a big, fast and physical team) and now San Jose (they are deep... there is no denying that they are an elite team this year).

Would like to avoid Dallas too. We always seem to struggle against them

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Vegas scares me right now, not to mention potential of adding a guy like Stone.



Don’t let the 16 point cushion fool you, that goes out the window in two months. A playoff matchup with Vegas would be awfully tough, as their size and physicality I believe expose the Flames as currently constructed.

Since when is VGK a big, physical team?


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[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Since when is VGK a big, physical team?


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Not really sure how to answer that. Hard to dispute Vegas is bigger than the Flames and has one of the more physical bottom 6's in the league?

Guys like Carrier, Reaves, Bellemare stand out to me as bottom 6 guys with size and physicality that are unmatched by the Flames.

Nosek is also 6'3 but I'm not as familiar with his game. Needless to say, those lines are the ones that wear you down in a playoff series.

[Brick]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Since when is VGK a big, physical team?


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Well, they do have Ryan Reaves running around hurting people.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

He's probably top-20. Comfortably top-30.

Crosby
Ovechkin
Kucherov
McDavid
Matthews
Kane
MacKinnon
Gaudreau
Marner
Stamkos
Tavares
Bergeron
Malkin
Barkov
Point
Kuznestov
Eichel
Giroux
Pettersson

Those are all the guys I think are definitely ahead of Stone (in no order). That's 19 guys. I'd easily slide Stone in at 20 after them.

The following guys could also be placed above or below stone: Pasternak, Seguin, tarasenko, Laine, rantanen, panarin, barzal, hall, forsberg, marchand, scheifle, wheeler, coutourier

I'd say he's a top-30. Top 20 would be pushing it for me.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Not really sure how to answer that. Hard to dispute Vegas is bigger than the Flames and has one of the more physical bottom 6's in the league?



Guys like Carrier, Reaves, Bellemare stand out to me as bottom 6 guys with size and physicality that are unmatched by the Flames.



Nosek is also 6'3 but I'm not as familiar with his game. Needless to say, those lines are the ones that wear you down in a playoff series.

Reaves is a big, physical player, but beyond him, no, I don’t see a significant difference between VGK and Calgary in that regard. The Knights play a fast-paced forechecking, possession game; they’re not what I would consider especially big or physical.


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[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Since when is VGK a big, physical team?


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2nd in the league in hits...

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

The following guys could also be placed above or below stone...

Technically speaking, anyone who has ever played the game of hockey could also be placed above or below Stone.

[Roof-Daddy]

I bet Poile scoops up Stone with some sort of package that includes their 1st and Ryan Hartman/Fiala.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I bet Poile scoops up Stone with some sort of package that includes their 1st and Ryan Hartman/Fiala.

Rumours out there about Mikael Granlund to Nashville for a Fiala package.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

2nd in the league in hits...

That number is usually a sign of a team that chases more often than it dictates. I’m not sure it is all that meaningful. With how much the Flames carry the puck, is it any surprise that they don’t hit as often?


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[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Reaves is a big, physical player, but beyond him, no, I don’t see a significant difference between VGK and Calgary in that regard. The Knights play a fast-paced forechecking, possession game; they’re not what I would consider especially big or physical.


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Will Carrier played a big role in the physical side of the game during last year's playoffs.

There's also the intangible 'heavy game' element that I see Vegas being more suited to play than the Flames.