[Rumour] Thomas to Buffalo heating up. UPD: deal appears to be off for now

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by iloveicedhockey

Would be crazy. Helenius, Power and 1st?

Massive mistake, Power just turned 23 and still could be a #1 D, and Helenius could turn out as good as Thomas himself.

[Aarongavey]

Dreger reporting now that the deal is not happening.

[Toonage]

Thomas to Buffalo cooling down

[Funkhouser]

I’m jealous of StLouis and their management the past few years:
-they have been on the playoff bubble since 2022, similar to CGY, but have been proactive in retooling
-seeing the writing on the wall, they sold off O’Reilly and Tarasenko in 2023, getting 3 first round picks
-the offer sheets to EDM were a master class and injected two young impact players
-they look now to have a major youth injection of high quality assets for Thomas, and will have a top 5 pick
-young assets include: Holloway, Broberg, Dvorsky, Snuggerud, Jiricik, Stenberg, Carbonneau, plus incoming assets for Thomas and the 2026 picks.

They are miles ahead of CGY in rebuilding despite having essentially the same record over the past few years.

Good management counts for so much.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by McG

Either of these trades likely pull the blues away from the flames in the standings.

If they trade Binnington it probably helps the Flames given how terrible he's been.

Terrible goaltending is key for the tank which is the Flames problem (Rangers will have the same issue with Shesterkin unless they can fake an injury for him). Vancouver doesn't have that awful of a roster that you'd think they'd be lapping the field bad. But having a goalie with an 874 save percentage helps.

The Blues are NHL 500 in games Hofer plays, but a terrible record when Binnington plays.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

I’m jealous of StLouis and their management the past few years:
-they have been on the playoff bubble since 2022, similar to CGY, but have been proactive in retooling
-seeing the writing on the wall, they sold off O’Reilly and Tarasenko in 2023, getting 3 first round picks
-the offer sheets to EDM were a master class and injected two young impact players
-they look now to have a major youth injection of high quality assets for Thomas, and will have a top 5 pick
-young assets include: Holloway, Broberg, Dvorsky, Snuggerud, Jiricik, Stenberg, Carbonneau, plus incoming assets for Thomas and the 2026 picks.

They are miles ahead of CGY in rebuilding despite having essentially the same record over the past few years.

Good management counts for so much.

Are they?

Next season (assuming Krug comes back) - they have 4 defense under contract who will be 33 or older (Faulk, Krug, Parayko, Fowler). In the Athletic pre-season pipeline rankings they were basically in the same spot as the Flames (16 for Blues/17 for Flames) - last year's ranking from Wheeler had the Blues 14 and the Flames 13.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

I’m jealous of StLouis and their management the past few years:
-they have been on the playoff bubble since 2022, similar to CGY, but have been proactive in retooling
-seeing the writing on the wall, they sold off O’Reilly and Tarasenko in 2023, getting 3 first round picks
-the offer sheets to EDM were a master class and injected two young impact players
-they look now to have a major youth injection of high quality assets for Thomas, and will have a top 5 pick
-young assets include: Holloway, Broberg, Dvorsky, Snuggerud, Jiricik, Stenberg, Carbonneau, plus incoming assets for Thomas and the 2026 picks.

They are miles ahead of CGY in rebuilding despite having essentially the same record over the past few years.

Good management counts for so much.

People here were jealous of LA and CBJ as well. Look at them now.

St. Louis has floundered, and now is getting worse after they were supposed to be good last season and fell apart. Trading Thomas isn’t a good sign - he was supposed to be a building block.

And you are ignoring what Calgary has done in moving veterans, including some with term left, drafting prospects and getting younger. Wolf, Parekh, Gridin, Brzu, Kuz, Honzek. Reschny, Wiebe, Wyttenbach. And Frost, Coronato, Zary, Bahl, Klapka aren’t old.

[The Original FFIV]

Is this the deal that was agreeed to but someone got cold feet that people were mentioning yesterday?

[musth]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

Good ownership counts for so much.

Fixed that for you

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Is this the deal that was agreeed to but someone got cold feet that people were mentioning yesterday?

Yep.

[Canada 02]

Helenius and Mrtka were part of the offer

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

I’m jealous of StLouis and their management the past few years:
-they have been on the playoff bubble since 2022, similar to CGY, but have been proactive in retooling
-seeing the writing on the wall, they sold off O’Reilly and Tarasenko in 2023, getting 3 first round picks
-the offer sheets to EDM were a master class and injected two young impact players
-they look now to have a major youth injection of high quality assets for Thomas, and will have a top 5 pick
-young assets include: Holloway, Broberg, Dvorsky, Snuggerud, Jiricik, Stenberg, Carbonneau, plus incoming assets for Thomas and the 2026 picks.

They are miles ahead of CGY in rebuilding despite having essentially the same record over the past few years.

Good management counts for so much.

Sorry I don't get this. How have they been more proactive.
- They traded Ryan O'Reilly as a pending UFA. Just as the Flames have done
- They traded Vlad Tarasenko as pending UFA. just as the Flames have done.
- They have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last 3 years. The Flames have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last year.
- The Flames have 2 1sts this year, and 2 1sts next year. The Blues have 1 in each year.

They were trying to get into the playoffs last year, just as the Flames were.

They have a deep group of prospects, just like the Flames, but lack the high end elite talent.

If anything they seem very similar in terms of their contention window and overall state of things.

How are the Blues miles ahead? How have they been more proactive?

[bdubbs]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Sorry I don't get this. How have they been more proactive.
- They traded Ryan O'Reilly as a pending UFA. Just as the Flames have done
- They traded Vlad Tarasenko as pending UFA. just as the Flames have done.
- They have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last 3 years. The Flames have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last year.
- The Flames have 2 1sts this year, and 2 1sts next year. The Blues have 1 in each year.

They were trying to get into the playoffs last year, just as the Flames were.

They have a deep group of prospects, just like the Flames, but lack the high end elite talent.

If anything they seem very similar in terms of their contention window and overall state of things.

How are the Blues miles ahead? How have they been more proactive?

Easy answer. Because everything Flames = bad. Everything other teams do = good.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Sorry I don't get this. How have they been more proactive.
- They traded Ryan O'Reilly as a pending UFA. Just as the Flames have done
- They traded Vlad Tarasenko as pending UFA. just as the Flames have done.
- They have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last 3 years. The Flames have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last year.
- The Flames have 2 1sts this year, and 2 1sts next year. The Blues have 1 in each year.

They were trying to get into the playoffs last year, just as the Flames were.

They have a deep group of prospects, just like the Flames, but lack the high end elite talent.

If anything they seem very similar in terms of their contention window and overall state of things.

How are the Blues miles ahead? How have they been more proactive?

The ice is always whiter on the other side.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Thomas to Buffalo cooling down

Imagine their fan forum is going nuts, classic Blues, nothing ever happens. Armstrong is just committed to winning now at all costs.

[MrMike]

St Louis just won a cup

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by MrMike

St Louis just won a cup

Almost 7 years ago isn't barely winning a cup.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Imagine their fan forum is going nuts, classic Blues, nothing ever happens. Armstrong is just committed to winning now at all costs.

I wonder how Buffalo fans feel too. The team is (finally) over achieving or at least very competitive, and then its rumored they're about to throw a ton of futures for a potential 1C. Did they feel like they were finally making up for losing Eichel, were they terrified it was too much too soon? Curious what the feeling is there today. Disappointment? Relief?

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Sorry I don't get this. How have they been more proactive.
- They traded Ryan O'Reilly as a pending UFA. Just as the Flames have done
- They traded Vlad Tarasenko as pending UFA. just as the Flames have done.
- They have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last 3 years. The Flames have drafted in the 1st 5 times in the last year.
- The Flames have 2 1sts this year, and 2 1sts next year. The Blues have 1 in each year.

They were trying to get into the playoffs last year, just as the Flames were.

They have a deep group of prospects, just like the Flames, but lack the high end elite talent.

If anything they seem very similar in terms of their contention window and overall state of things.

How are the Blues miles ahead? How have they been more proactive?

In addition to all this, "proactive" isn't the word I'd use for trading a 26 YO #1 C on a great contract.

I mean, that's the same age Buffalo traded Eichel. Was that proactive?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

In addition to all this, "proactive" isn't the word I'd use for trading a 26 YO #1 C on a great contract.

I mean, that's the same age Buffalo traded Eichel. Was that proactive?

Plus, they signed Buchnevich long term at the beginning of last season, Suter at the beginning of this season, extended Fowler starting next year, have made no moves to trade any vets like those guys, Parayko, Schenn, Faulk, etc.

Are they even rebuilding? They made the POs last year after being out for two. I think they expected to compete this year.