Also, from everything I have heard when I look at the big picture this is absolutely not a rebuild. Maybe it should be but I think Conroy is going to deal a lot of that draft capital and other moves to get this team back in the playoffs as soon as possible. He won't use it on old aging vets but I expect he is going to bring in young pieces ready to contribute now. Everything I have heard indicates ownership wants a quick turnaround back to the playoffs.
That can be the plan, but this team lacks the talent and cap space to retool in any short order. Their franchise player is a replacement quality player and they have many pending UFAs next year. I could actually see them as the worst team in the league in 2025-26.
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My problem with the Flames thinking they could acquire an elite long-term piece (centre or a defenceman) by trading a couple of late 1st round picks or other similarly valued trade chips is that the team that is giving up on that 22-24 year old thinks that he won't become that elite player. I don't know if I believe that the Flames think they can acquire a new core this way.
That's not to say you can't go out and win trades, but I think the Flames need to have faith in their amateur scouts. This is an organization that should be approaching draft capital similar to Carolina. This team should truly try to pick as many times over the next two to three drafts as possible.
If you can't have that kind of faith in your scouts to rely on them in times like these, nothing really matters then.
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That can be the plan, but this team lacks the talent and cap space to retool in any short order. Their franchise player is a replacement quality player and they have many pending UFAs next year. I could actually see them as the worst team in the league in 2025-26.
The team will have plenty of cap space and there is no way they are outsucking the other bottom feeders. There is no way I can see them even top 5 bottom next year.
The team will have plenty of cap space and there is no way they are outsucking the other bottom feeders. There is no way I can see them even top 5 bottom next year.
How do you figure?
What players are keeping them above that?
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My problem with the Flames thinking they could acquire an elite long-term piece (centre or a defenceman) by trading a couple of late 1st round picks or other similarly valued trade chips is that the team that is giving up on that 22-24 year old thinks that he won't become that elite player. I don't know if I believe that the Flames think they can acquire a new core this way.
That's not to say you can't go out and win trades, but I think the Flames need to have faith in their amateur scouts. This is an organization that should be approaching draft capital similar to Carolina. This team should truly try to pick as many times over the next two to three drafts as possible.
If you can't have that kind of faith in your scouts to rely on them in times like these, nothing really matters then.
Yup. About the only time a real franchise quality center has been traded in the last decade, maybe two decades is Jack Eichel. That's basically the entire list. You might get a William Karlsson or Elias Lindholm type if you're lucky, but the draft - and high in the draft at that - is where this team needs to look.
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This has been fleshed out alot but theres a key difference in having a player drafted top-3, which almost every team has including the flames, verse having a player that you've drafted top 3.
The only teams to win the cup in the last decade without having a top-3 picked player that they draft are:
Blues (had pietrangelo though, they drafted 4th oa)
Golden knights (recent expansion team)
If you go back 20 years to 2004 you can throw in bruins, ducks and wings.
So 2/10 last 10 years and 5/20 cup teams didn't have a top 3 player they drafted.
If you change it to a top 5 player they drafted that number is further reduced by half.
It’s also not just about the one top 3 pick. Yeah, that guy needs to be a player, but if you’re bad enough to draft top-3 one year, you’re probably going to be bad enough to draft at least top-10 the next year, and you probably weren’t drafting in the 20s last year.
If you have three drafts of high-ish picks, three trade deadlines of selling UFAs for picks and prospects, that lays the foundation for a decade of successful hockey.
Zary, Coronato, Pelletier and Honzek are the depth players that will lift our next generation of superstars - they aren’t the superstars themselves.
By the time the new building opens, Conroy will likely have added 15-25 assets through prudence alone.
Of course it makes sense to add a good young roster player for a 1st and two 2nds. You can do that when you have six 1st rounders over the next three years with 12 UFAs on bargain contracts.
But a team needs superstars. This team doesn’t have any, but I do believe we’ll have one in the fold on draft night.
No need to worry about drafting 15th or 16th this year, we're heading for the top 10
At least two of Buffalo, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey would need to pass us to get into the top 10. The teams below that are likely too far gone to overtake the Flames at this point.
I expect the Flames to draft 10-12 when all is said and done.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 03-10-2024 at 06:21 PM.
The team will have plenty of cap space and there is no way they are outsucking the other bottom feeders. There is no way I can see them even top 5 bottom next year.
If they move Markstrom it could be a real possibility. Of the teams currently behind them it is definitely plausible that Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo, New Jersey and Pittsburgh are better than the Flames over 82 games next year. If Arizona or Columbus gets a few pieces the Flames could be bottom five. Bottom 7 is more likely.
San Jose likely has the worst team wrapped up and I don’t see Anaheim or Chicago being significantly better next year.
A lot depends on what happens over the summer. If Kadri asks to get out at the end of the year and Markstrom actually gets out it is hard to imagine the Flames replacing them let alone all the other guys who left this year.
The team will have plenty of cap space and there is no way they are outsucking the other bottom feeders. There is no way I can see them even top 5 bottom next year.
Teams like Chicago will start to improve, as they have strong prospect base, and a ton of draft picks, including a premium one coming up.
At some stage they will pass Calgary as Calgary drops.
Without a Vezina type goalie, the flames might be really bad. Maybe not #1 bad, but they might be #5 bad.
Although I am likely just reading too much into the last 2 games, they were bad. Let’s see how they play at home.
The team will have plenty of cap space and there is no way they are outsucking the other bottom feeders. There is no way I can see them even top 5 bottom next year.
They were possibly headed for a top 10 pick before they traded their #1C, #3D, #4D, #5D and are still likely headed for a top 10 pick before trading away their Vezina-caliber-playing goaltender this offseason. Plus the likelihood of shipping out another top 9 player in Mangiapane, who apparently wouldn't mind a change of scenery.
Being bottom 5 shouldn't be too hard.
If they're smart, they'll use all that cap space to take in bad 1-2 year contracts and acquire more significant assets as they build a quality team/prospect base heading into the new arena.
I don’t think they are going to trade anyone else minus cleaning up the goaltending situation. They will have a ton of cap space in the offseason and they have loaded up on picks and prospects.
My guess is they will be looking for a center and a defenceman and they will start trying to compete again. They will probably try to get one of those players via the goalie cleanup.
Markstrom for a young center would make sense.
Forget what I said. First overall pick is in play for next year
A team lead by Kadri , Huberdeau and Anderson is easily bottom 5
There are very few impact UFAs available , and we don’t have blue chip prospects.. Yet
How this team isn’t bottom 5 next year is the real question for me
No it isn't, there are worse rosters for sure. I think this is just the rebuild crowd in denial wanting the team to bottom out fully. I don't see it happening.
