Lines that Huska will try at camp

[Monahammer]

IMO we have 8 3rd line forwards and Kadri playing in the top 9. So they're all top 9 forwards, but few are really good enough to match up well against opponent's top lines.

Maybe Coleman is a top 6 forward too, but ideally he's a super high end 3rd liner.

Edit: I did forget Sharangovich, who I think is a great 2nd line forward. So, 7 third liners, Kadri, and Sharangovich.

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by browna

Healthy Vlad has all the opportunity 2 seasons ago with Markstrom's terrible year. He was atrocious.

If this surgery rehab hasn't changed his mechanics and he still makes himself as small as a 6'7 goalie can get, and continue to have pucks going over him and under the cross bar, it will be a long year. Jury is out on Wolf hut why would he change his scrambly style now?

Given Vladar' s contract, and just in general, ifthe Flames are playing well enough to win, but are getting constantly beaten by bad goals (goalie's fault goals), I can see the Flames taking a run at a vet goalie, to give the roster a boost of hope and confidence, and a more experienced on ice partner for Wolf.

Not sure what you mean by this? He is incredible at positioning and puck tracking, it is the reason at 6ft he is considered in the top 3 of goalie prospects.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

IMO we have 8 3rd line forwards and Kadri playing in the top 9. So they're all top 9 forwards, but few are really good enough to match up well against opponent's top lines.

Maybe Coleman is a top 6 forward too, but ideally he's a super high end 3rd liner.

Edit: I did forget Sharangovich, who I think is a great 2nd line forward. So, 7 third liners, Kadri, and Sharangovich.

I think you're being a bit too harsh on what it means to be a top 6 / second line forward, I think we have more than 2 of those guys for sure.

There are technically 192 top 6 forwards in the NHL, which means you only have to put up 35 points to be in the top 192 of NHL forwards.

Kadri, Huberdeau, Backlund, Coleman, Kuzmenko, Sharangovich, and Zary (if you pro-rate) all technically meet that criteria for last season, and Mantha too actually.

In terms of what players on this roster fit and slotting I think in a perfect world it would be:

Bonafide 1st Line: Huberdeau (based on history, not his time as a Flame)
Ideally 2nd Line; Borderline 1st Line: Kadri, Sharangovich, Kuzmenko
Ideally 3rd Line, Borderline 2nd Line: Backlund, Coleman, Mantha
4th Liners: Rooney, Duehr, Lomberg

????: Coronato, Zary, Pospisil, Pelletier

Even just looking at 5v5 points over the past 2 seasons and their NHL rank:

Kadri: 80 (t-35)
Kuzmenko: 76 (t-48)
Coleman: 70 (t-77)
Huberdeau: 63 (T-105)
Backlund: 63 (T-105)
Mantha: 57 (T-137)
Sharangovich: 54 (T-149)

Technically all 7 of those forwards fit into the production threshold of "top 6 forward" over each of the last two seasons. The forward group lacks first line, elite talent, but it actually has a lot of middle 6 / second line depth.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I think you're being a bit too harsh on what it means to be a top 6 / second line forward, I think we have more than 2 of those guys for sure.

There are technically 192 top 6 forwards in the NHL, which means you only have to put up 35 points to be in the top 192 of NHL forwards.

Kadri, Huberdeau, Backlund, Coleman, Kuzmenko, Sharangovich, and Zary (if you pro-rate) all technically meet that criteria for last season, and Mantha too actually.

In terms of what players on this roster fit and slotting I think in a perfect world it would be:

Bonafide 1st Line: Huberdeau (based on history, not his time as a Flame)
Ideally 2nd Line; Borderline 1st Line: Kadri, Sharangovich, Kuzmenko
Ideally 3rd Line, Borderline 2nd Line: Backlund, Coleman, Mantha
4th Liners: Rooney, Duehr, Lomberg

????: Coronato, Zary, Pospisil, Pelletier

Even just looking at 5v5 points over the past 2 seasons and their NHL rank:

Kadri: 80 (t-35)
Kuzmenko: 76 (t-48)
Coleman: 70 (t-77)
Huberdeau: 63 (T-105)
Backlund: 63 (T-105)
Mantha: 57 (T-137)
Sharangovich: 54 (T-149)

Technically all 7 of those forwards fit into the production threshold of "top 6 forward" over each of the last two seasons. The forward group lacks first line, elite talent, but it actually has a lot of middle 6 / second line depth.

Totally agree. They very much have a number of top six players. This discussion is always more around perception and "does Calgary have the top six players a championship team might have." And no, they don't, or at least the young guys aren't there yet.

Take Kadri, for example, arguably Calgary's best forward last year. His numbers put him 18th on the NHL.com list of centres last year. With his two-way game, and some of those 17 centres above him being on the same team, he was a better first line centre than at least half the other teams had last season.

Would I want him as Calgary's number one centre if the Flames were pushing for a cup? No way. He's an ideal number 2 guy behind a superstar stud like Mackinnon (which is one of the reasons why they won). But still he absolutely produces like a number one centre in the NHL.

Outside of its unproven blue line and goaltending, the forward group is actually pretty decent and probably above the NHL team average overall. Is it cup winning decent? Nope. But the team could surprise if the defence and goaltending work out. I don't think it'll all come together, but I also didn't think Seattle was a playoff team in 2023 and I certainly didn't think that Vegas would come out of the gate kicking butt.

This is also why I really like Nashville this year, who is always a team with a lot of top 6/top 9 on average forwards, but not a lot of superstar (beyond Forsberg). They added Stamkos and Marchessault, on top of O'Reilly last year, and this team could actually be something with their high end goaltending and D.

[Shazam]

Was hoping for more goalies in the top four lines.

[dino7c]

Forwards are more skilled this year than last on opening night

[Paulie Walnuts]

I get it, some people do not want a rebuild and can't sit through one but this team is going to be bad.

This isn't going to be a 14/15 Flames springing up on teams. That team started to integrate their picks, and had a potential star on the roster who only had size issues.

34 Kadri: 80 (t-35)
Kuzmenko: 76 (t-48)
32 Coleman: 70 (t-77)
31 Huberdeau: 63 (T-105)
35 Backlund: 63 (T-105)
Mantha: 57 (T-137)
Sharangovich: 54 (T-149)

These are some of the key players listed and their age. Not their age yet but will be that age during the season. Our only 2 real centers are the oldest players on the team.

You don't start the season with 20 plus million in cap space, having just traded your starting goalie, top 6 winger for draft picks if you want to compete.

I think Nashville is in for a rude awakening as well. Building through free agency.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

I get it, some people do not want a rebuild and can't sit through one but this team is going to be bad.

This isn't going to be a 14/15 Flames springing up on teams. That team started to integrate their picks, and had a potential star on the roster who only had size issues.

34 Kadri: 80 (t-35)
Kuzmenko: 76 (t-48)
32 Coleman: 70 (t-77)
31 Huberdeau: 63 (T-105)
35 Backlund: 63 (T-105)
Mantha: 57 (T-137)
Sharangovich: 54 (T-149)

These are some of the key players listed and their age. Not their age yet but will be that age during the season. Our only 2 real centers are the oldest players on the team.

If you actually want to have a conversation don't start with this dumb ####

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

The only way I see this team finishing bottom 5 is if the goalies #### the bed.

We have two legit top 4 defensemen (and one is almost certainly getting traded in season), probably the worst center depth in the league, a rookie goaltender, and another goaltender coming off major surgery... the wing depth is decent but the only way I see this team not being at least borderline bottom 5 is if Dustin Wolf has a Calder Worthy season (is he still eligible for the Calder? I forget).

[Hockey-and_stuff]

Originally Posted by Parallex

We have two legit top 4 defensemen (and one is almost certainly getting traded in season), probably the worst center depth in the league, a rookie goaltender, and another goaltender coming off major surgery... the wing depth is decent but the only way I see this team not being at least borderline bottom 5 is if Dustin Wolf has a Calder Worthy season (is he still eligible for the Calder? I forget).

We almost certainly have the worst C depth because we have 2 C that can play in a real NHL lineup and you're supposed to have 4.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Leeman4Gilmour]

I think it's easy to say the team will be brutal this year. I like how they are comparing to the 2014/15 team. Here's that roster;

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/...000432015.html

Putting the sadness seeing Gaudreau on that list aside, the forward group was pretty mediocre from a points producing point of view that year. Jonas Hiller was the #1 goaltender. D corps is deeper on that team than what we'll put on the ice this year (on paper), but overall not a great roster.

Will this years team be a bottom feeder? Sure has the potential to be. Could this years team make the playoffs? It's not crazy to say they could.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dino7c

If you actually want to have a conversation don't start with this dumb ####

Common man, you know exactly what you are doing. The team is rebuilding, and you are talking about them like they are a playoff team saying we are more talented than last year.

Our D is much worse. We have 2 NHL centers. Goaltending is a wildcard.

Kuzmenko is a wildcard and so is Mantha. So I would call them and Lindholm/Mangipane being gone a wash.

[gvitaly]

I really liked Conroy comparing Pospisil to Bennett on 960. That's the main thinking behind trying him at C with Huberdeau to start. The Flames want Pospisil's speed to push defenders back and create space. Also go to the hard areas, and retrieve pucks for that line. Apparently the analytics really liked that combination.

I also loved that he wanted all 3 of Zary, Pospisil, and Sharangovich to constantly practice faceoffs after practice. Conroy wants the team to start with the puck more often than not, so they're not chasing. I think it will be a fun competition for all 3.

It also sounded as though Huska is going to start his lines right away in training camp. Mostly because there are only 3 practices before the first exhibition games.

Which leads to the following lines on the first day of camp:
Kuzmenko - Kadri - Sharangovich
Zary -Backlund - Coleman
Huberdeau - Pospisil - Mantha
---
Bahl - Andersson
Weegar - Miromanov

Also Huska mentioned that he wants the vets to play in more than just 3 games during training camp, because he wants the team to have a good start. It will be interesting to see where they play the likes of Stromgren - Morton - Coronato, it could even be a line to start.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Common man, you know exactly what you are doing. The team is rebuilding, and you are talking about them like they are a playoff team saying we are more talented than last year.

Our D is much worse. We have 2 NHL centers. Goaltending is a wildcard.

Kuzmenko is a wildcard and so is Mantha. So I would call them and Lindholm/Mangipane being gone a wash.

and now you are lying
never said they are a playoff team, said the goaltending and D is worse than the start of last season. The D is better than post deadline that is a fact.

Forwards are more talented than opening night last season. Zary, Pospisil, Kuz, Mantha...Lomberg is better than Duer or whoever on the fourth line. As is today I strongly don't think they are bottom 3, and I doubt they will be bottom 5 even.

[Paulie Walnuts]

You better hope for a bottom 5 finish or it's going to be a wasted season trying to rebuild.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

You better hope for a bottom 5 finish or it's going to be a wasted season trying to rebuild.

yeah if they get the 6th pick they should just not even use it...waste of time

Flames are too good to be in the basement, maybe they win a lottery. The positive is they already had and still do have desirable assets so have obtained and will continue to obtain more lottery tickets in the form of picks and prospects. Caps space is also massive.

This is IMO...I think some people are forgetting how poorly guys like Lindholm were playing here last season.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by dino7c

yeah if they get the 6th pick they should just not even use it...waste of time

I miss the discussions of comparing Monahan to MacKinnon, and actually having a legit discussion in their first 5 or so seasons.

Then we got the bragging rights with Tkachuk falling to us, despite EDM(pool-party), and VAN(Juolevi) having the chance to take him. He also turned out much better than PLD, and Laine.

Long story short sign me up for the 6th overall.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I miss the discussions of comparing Monahan to MacKinnon, and actually having a legit discussion in their first 5 or so seasons.

Then we got the bragging rights with Tkachuk falling to us, despite EDM(pool-party), and VAN(Juolevi) having the chance to take him. He also turned out much better than PLD, and Laine.

Long story short sign me up for the 6th overall.

No guarantee you get that type of talent at 6. It's not with the #1, 2 or 3 either, but I rather pick 1st and get a shot at a #1C than pick 6.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

No guarantee you get that type of talent at 6. It's not with the #1, 2 or 3 either, but I rather pick 1st and get a shot at a #1C than pick 6.

It's hard to be that bad TBH and sometimes you have to be "lucky" to be that bad.

This team could finish in 32nd or they could finish in 16th..

Look at this projected roster from September 10th 2024...I would have bet a lot of money this team finished bottom 5 and was in the McDavid sweepstakes.

https://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2014...r-greater.html

As it stands I think I actually like this roster better than I liked the 14-15 roster on September 10 2014.

That roster had the emergence of Monahan and Gaudreau which pushed them into the playoffs, but it was at the time career best seasons for Hudler, Wideman, Giordano, and Brodie that actually were the bigger surprises.

I don't think we see that here, but I also don't see a guaranteed bottom 5 team.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's hard to be that bad TBH and sometimes you have to be "lucky" to be that bad.

This team could finish in 32nd or they could finish in 16th..

Look at this projected roster from September 10th 2024...I would have bet a lot of money this team finished bottom 5 and was in the McDavid sweepstakes.

https://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2014...r-greater.html

As it stands I think I actually like this roster better than I liked the 14-15 roster on September 10 2014.

That roster had the emergence of Monahan and Gaudreau which pushed them into the playoffs, and I don't think we see that here, but I also don't see a guaranteed bottom 5 team.

The league is a lot better, and we added 2 teams both of whom are likely to be better than us this season.

14/15 was pretty much a fluke season, with a lot of comeback wins, and terrible analytics. Also they had Johnny and Monny.

I think people underestimate how bad our backend is.