Which of the Flames "established" 24/25 year old forwards are a part of the future?

[Yrebmi]

We see a stronger and better Backlund next season. He loss strength with his earlier injury. Long term player.
Colborne is a late bloomer and has more to show us. Great versatile player getting better and hopefully finds a little truculence. Long term.
Bouma has been a great player for us, but just might be over valued IMO. Easily fits long term, but I could see him being dealt for a great return too.
Jooris. Great surprise. Reminds me of Moss in that he's a prospect we didn't expect to make the team so soon. I don't see him long term however.
Byron. I can't decide on Byron. His oft breakaways force attention away from other players as opponents have to watch him even if he doesn't convert. He has awesome skill set and drive, but is it enough to offset being one of too many small players on a team wanting to get bigger?

[LIP MAN]

I have to eat crow as I started the "I like Paul Byron" thread, but I think we have so much depth and size he will be expendable. Everyone else could stay, although this team may have a ton more depth after the draft this year. We have a ton of picks in a quality draft.

[David Struch]

All except Byron...

Gaudreau - Bennett - Poirier
Granlund - Monahan - Klimchuk
Bouma - Backlund - Shore
Colborne - Jooris - Arnold
Ferland - Jankowski - Smith
Hathaway

[DJones]

I think we'd be crazy to get rid of Byron. Can't think of a better player to have as a 13th forward.

Bouma and Colborne are unique players that I like and would be hard to replace. Backlund would be a top tier 3rd liner.

Shore and Jooris are on the fence for me, I have a gut feeling that it will be Shore that wins out that battle in the long run.

[fastpuck]

1. C - Mikael Backlund He has become a dominant centre in both ends, Long term flame- third line
2. C/W - Lance Bouma - Young, tenacious and starting to find offense- long term third line
3. C/W - Joe Colborne - 25 -big, starting to put it together- a keeper at least for the next three years
4. W - Paul Byron - 25 -Been great, but small, think he will get replaced
5. C/W - Josh Jooris -Unsure, has been great as a rookie, will he survive his sophomore year?- maybe trade bate
C/W - Drew Shore - 24 unknown, to early to tell, but will be given the opportunity next year

[Journey17]

Based on typical turnover even on cup winning teams, I think that we will end up replacing several the players that are important parts of the team now. I think Shore and Bouma stick but Backlund, Byron and Colborne are gone within 3 years. Replaced by other "veterans." I picked Shore over Backlund based partially on size and potential. I love Backlund but he never seems to finish the year with the type of numbers you'd expect from a player with his skillset.

I see it as:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Vet 1 (Hudler type)
Prospect - Bennett - Poirer
Vet 2 (Bouma?) - Shore - Ferland

Fourth line is hardest to predict - some collection of the prospects and maybe a PK veteran (could be Bouma).

As for the prospect role on Bennett's line. It could be Klimchuk, 2015 1st rounder or a surprise player or more likely a future trade.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Journey17

I love Backlund but he never seems to finish the year with the type of numbers you'd expect from a player with his skillset.

He's on a 48 point pace and he's been playing with north-south guys like Jones, Glencross and Bouma who are polar opposites to his cycling driven style(that shift with Poirier a few games ago was probably the first breath of fresh air he's had this season). Last year he was a +4 player on a team that finished 4th last in the standings.

I dunno why kind of numbers you'd expect. The only real disappointment is that he doesn't do it for 82 games, but if he's there during the playoffs that's all you care about.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

He's on a 48 point pace and he's been playing with north-south guys like Jones, Glencross and Bouma who are polar opposites to his cycling driven style(that shift with Poirier a few games ago was probably the first breath of fresh air he's had this season). Last year he was a +4 player on a team that finished 4th last in the standings.

I dunno why kind of numbers you'd expect. The only real disappointment is that he doesn't do it for 82 games, but if he's there during the playoffs that's all you care about.

Plus he's been injured for major amounts of time, which impacts his production even after he returns (and this year IMO before he went on IR as well). I should add that the natures of these injuries don't give me concern that he's "injury prone" in that he's got a weak joint which will give him constant problems or something.

The only way I see a guy as valuable as him moving is if (a) there's something really valuable coming back and (b) someone like Shore, Colborne or Jooris progresses enough to be an adequate replacement at both ends of the ice.

[puckedoff]

Originally Posted by Dan403

Ridiculous.

Backlund will be pushed down the depth chart by Bennett/Monahan.

He will be a valuable trade piece. He is injury prone, not great at faceoffs and not physical enough to be a good 3/4th line center. Flames should trade him for some help on D. Hopefully Bennett/Monahan are putting up enough points next year that we can afford to deal Backlund mid season.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

This is the key age range to keep guys. I'm not sure why we'd be looking to move any of them. All of them could be more than they are now.

Like many hockey arguments this is a semantics argument when you boil it down. It comes down to how you want to use the term "core". I could see some of these players not being considered "core" players if you have a narrow definition of it but that doesn't mean they won't stick around and be valuable pieces of our team.

Backlund is definitely core to me. He's established himself as a 2/3 centre who can slot in nicely as our 3rd line centre behind Monahan/Bennett while being able to fill in on the top two lines if we get injuries.

Bouma is definitely core to me. His work ethic, physical play, shot blocking all set the tone for us. He is an ideal 3rd liner IMO but can move up if you need.

Colborne is a guy that brings size and strength in a lineup that features several small forwards like Hudler, Gaudreau and Byron. He has versatility playing C and W. He has decent speed and good hands for a big guy. I think he has room to improve. Can be a 3rd liner but could improve himself to a very useful 2nd line winger with size.

Shore we haven't seen much from yet. But he does bring size, excellent skating and is a rare RH shot. Management is high on him and supposedly a lot of teams were asking about him at the deadline. He could be a key part going forward, we'll see.

Byron is most replaceable is many ways IMO. But his speed and tenacity do help set the tone. Skating is key to our forecheck style.

I'd like to keep all of them personally. Treliving will have some interesting decisions. I think keeping the majority of this age range is important. It's almost more likely we move someone like Granlund in a bigger deal than move someone to make room for him.

[northcrunk]

I would love to see Hunter Smith and Wolf play on the same line. Not sure if it's gonna happen next year though.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Backlund will be pushed down the depth chart by Bennett/Monahan.

He will be a valuable trade piece. He is injury prone, not great at faceoffs and not physical enough to be a good 3/4th line center. Flames should trade him for some help on D. Hopefully Bennett/Monahan are putting up enough points next year that we can afford to deal Backlund mid season.

He already is one of those. Backlund's job is not to put up points. It's to shut down with the ability to counter with offense. Monahan/Bennett have no bearing on Backlund's position on the team, and in fact, are helped by having him on the team to occupy top threats. Guys like Granlund, Jooris, Shore, and Arnold are the guys who would be looking to push Backlund out, none of whom are close to to doing so.

[AcGold]

Byron gets a breakaway per game. How about not trading him and giving him time. Can't teach a breakaway per game, let Schlemko teach him to shoot.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Backlund will be pushed down the depth chart by Bennett/Monahan.

Why is that an issue? Unless he's got a painful cap hit, it's an incredible thing to have a #3 center who's a good #2 center on a playoff team. Teams like Pittsburgh and Anaheim would kill for a Backlund as a #3. The Kings won 2 championships off of that kind of center depth, and the Penguins sorely miss having Jordan Staal in that role.

Right now, He's still Hartley's #1 center as far as zone starts go. He's by far the best defensive center on the Calgary Flames and it's not even close (as much as I love Monahan's goal scoring). In three of the last four games he had more minutes played than Monahan did, and in all four of those games he played 20+ minutes.

Just look at what Bouma's done since being matched with Backs:

22.5 GP
6 goals
5 assists
+10

Prior to that
41.5 GP
6 goals
9 assists
+1

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

None of those players, with the exception of Backlund maybe are "Core" players by my definition. All however are useful parts and parts successful teams will need, some more than others.

[Journey17]

In regards to what I expect from Backlund, I was hoping for a 2nd line center. I think he is a very good 3rd line center when he is healthy. My problem is that he never plays ~80 games a season. It is hard to rely upon someone who has played less than 50 games in 3 of the last 5 seasons. When it comes time to re-up him, what are the flames going to be paying for? Is it the 50ish pt player that he could be when healthy with 2nd line minutes/linemates or is it the player who has never scored more than 40 points in a season? Points per game is great but you actually have to play the games.

For those saying that Monahan or Bennett has pushed him down the lineup, I somewhat agree if we were expecting a second line center. If he is instead a third liner then he is actually competing instead with players like Shore and Arnold. At that point it might be a value proposition that results in him being traded. How much do you want to pay your third line center? I agree that Stanley Cups are won with great depth at center but costs might warrant more value from paying Shore or Arnold plus a veteran winger in the top 6 (replacing Hudler) and paying a top 4 dman (presuming we keep Gio, Brodie and Russell).

Really it also depends at what time frame we are looking at. I was thinking in 3 or 4 seasons. I see Backlund at that point as expendable at his likely salary. The reason is that he is unlikely to sign a long term contract this year when Flames aren't going to offer him big money due to missing big portions of 3 of last 5 seasons and never getting 40 points.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Journey17

In regards to what I expect from Backlund, I was hoping for a 2nd line center. I think he is a very good 3rd line center when he is healthy. My problem is that he never plays ~80 games a season. It is hard to rely upon someone who has played less than 50 games in 3 of the last 5 seasons.

Um...he IS a 2nd line center on a team about to make the playoffs. A very effective one.

he played 76 of 82 games in 2014
he played 32 of 48 games in 2013 (I.E. a 66 game season most years)
he played 73 of 82 games in 2011

For some reference, Giordano played 61, 64, and 61 games in three of the last four years.

Injuries happen. None of Backlund's have been the recurring sort, unlike, say Colborne's wrist injury that always seems to pop up in his career.

Basically you've only really got 2012 to point to when he had started the season with a minor finger injury, and then his season ended in a confrontation with the Canucks that took out his shoulder. I'll take a guy who'll step up to the plate against Vancouver on my team any day, that's a guy who's a true Calgary Flame.

Then you've got this year. It sucks that it happened due to his offseason training but it happened early and he can still finish the year with 52 GP along with playoffs.

[Mony]

Here are my thoughts.

Backlund - I think Backs is going to be core long-term. He can be quite injury-prone, yes. But he is also an awesome #3 center going forward. Hell, he's a #2 center as well and has shown he can also be slotted in as the #1 and still be quite solid. Are we really going to trade that kind of a player? I could see it happening maybe to get a young d-man, but let's not forget that Backlund hardcore drives the possession of this team. We can piss on advanced stats all we like, they can get pretty annoying, but I think we'd all love for this team's possession to improve as it inches towards being a contender. We may block a lot of shots, but I think this team is in a much better position long-term with Backlund there to drive the possession.
Here's our center depth should Treliving choose to keep Backlund:
Bennett
Monahan
Backlund

Crazy, right?

Bouma - I love Bouma. I think he's one of the many players on this team that is just total heart-and-soul, when you think, "Who is the heart and soul of the Calgary Flames?" Bouma has to be one of the first ones to pop up. He does the penalty kill. He chips in offensively (and we'll see if he continues that next year). If he doesn't? He's still the perfect role player. He blocks the most shots of any forward. He's solid defensively. He sticks up for guys, throws the body around. He has some offensive potential bubbling underneath, and like I said, it came out this season - and we'll see if that continues. It may be the result of Backlund however. Perfect 4th-line guy, but he can also be slotted on as an awesome 3rd liner and occasionally 2nd line. But the whole "top six forward Bouma" might just be an anomaly of this season. He's much better suited as a bottom 6. And it makes sense if Backlund will be our 3rd line C in the future. Projected 3rd line: Bouma-Backlund-Colborne

Colborne - I really like Colborne. He may be movable in the future, but for now I consider him part of the future. I think he's been better ever since he switched to wing. He can use that big frame along the boards better to protect the puck effectively, and sometimes he's gentle, and that needs to be an improvement, but I like what I see from Joe. I think moving forward he could be our 3rd line RW. Also has hands.

Byron - There are a lot of things I love about Paul's game but there are also things that frustrate me, and you can all guess what that is. Byron brings a lot to this team, don't get me wrong. The last few games when we've fell behind, I know a lot of us wished he could be there to provide the energy and the shift in momentum. But he is small and has hands of stone, and it can be a danger to have too many small players going forward. Byron may not play like he's small, but if you can get a bottom-6 dude going forward who is bigger and plays the 200 foot game like Byron and has a little more offensive upside, you take that and run. The thing you will probably miss most about Byron? The blazing speed.

Jooris - Another one I love. God, I just love probably 95% of this team. Like another poster said, Jooris does all the little things correctly. His production may have tapered off as of recently and he is not as consistent anymore points-wise, but he does bring consistent work ethic. But we still have to see if he brings the same stuff/improves next year. Still a small sample size. I am really rooting for the kid, though. 3rd line upside, ideal 4th liner who can fulfill C or W.

Shore - Too early to tell, but good promise. I say alternate him between 3rd and 4th line C, and also try him out on 3rd line RW. Right wing is a weakness in this organization and I know Shore has played some of RW before, if he can find a spot there then it's perfect if Colby doesn't end up panning out as I hope.