Making the playoffs or keeping our top-10 first round pick 2025?

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by dino7c

They aren't gonna suddenly play .300 hockey...just cheer for wins, playoffs or no the higher the pick the better. Its a sunk cost, move on with your lives. Hope for a good pick with the Devil's first.

Outside of the optics does it really matter if the Habs get the 11th or 15th pick? It doesn't really effect the Flames.

Logically, you are right.
Emotionally, you are sooooooooooo wrong buddy!

If the Flames drop 20 places in their draft pick (from 12th-->30th), I will rage with the fury of 1000 suns and be extra snappy with my family for a day or two, just to show Treliving what a tool he is!

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

It is not ANY team's way.

Can anyone give an example of teams shutting players down, in order to lose games?

It happens, but rarely.


First Sens owner (Bruce Firestone) promised players jobs the next year if they finished last so that they could draft Alexandre Daigle (lol).


To better their odds for Ovechkin, the Caps traded Jagr, Bondra, Nylander, etc.

The Caps’ starting goalie in that season-ending loss to the Penguins was Matthew Yeats. It was his fifth NHL game. He never appeared in another.
Washington won just two of its final 14 contests. It was rock bottom for a proud — if underachieving — franchise.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/182...draft-lottery/


And of course, for McDavid, the Sabres just calling up goalies who couldn't win. Ryan Miller led the team with 15 wins that year. No one else had more than 4, and they used 7 different goalies:


Michal Neuvirth
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth
Nathan Lieuwen (his only NHL games)
Connor Knapp (his only NHL games)
Matt Hackett

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

It appears that a lot of fans (on this site at elast) want that reputation.

This would also, BTW, screw guys like Backlund who are on short term contracts, by depriving them of healthy participation in games that could mean something stats wise to them personally.

I agree, I was saying even though we haven't really seen it out in the open, I could see an org with loose morals doing it, and gave an example how you could do it.

[Tbull8]

The karma that came to the sens and sabres from intentionally tanking like that is so perfect

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Depends on what Trotz thinks the path forward is for the team.

Saros' new contract kicks in this summer
They have an okay group of forwards, especially if they can graduate 2-3 more prospects (they currently have the 8th ranked prospect pool).

Their D looks like a disaster right now:
Skjei-Blankenburg
Englund-Del Gaizo
Oesterle-Barron

When healthy they get better:
Josi-Blankenburg
Skjei-Del Gaizo
Lauzon-Barron

But their right side is a mess. Andersson fixes a big problem for that team and he does so cheaper than if they go after Ekblad in the summer.

I can see Nashville making moves like this. They have very good prospects and the are looking like they are adding one of the top 3 picks. Some season left and things could change but those 2 late 1sts could be in play IMO.

When you have a ton of solid prospects and you still have picks in the 2nd and the following year, how many prospects is too many? Is it really benefical to have 8 winger prospects all around the same age all at once and 7 are 2nd and 3rd line calibre prospects? All great teams have veterans on their team and these is only so many spots.

If things don't work out you can flip Rasmus or start to look to move guys like Josi and Forsberg.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Ped

It happens, but rarely.


First Sens owner (Bruce Firestone) promised players jobs the next year if they finished last so that they could draft Alexandre Daigle (lol).


To better their odds for Ovechkin, the Caps traded Jagr, Bondra, Nylander, etc.





https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/182...draft-lottery/


And of course, for McDavid, the Sabres just calling up goalies who couldn't win. Ryan Miller led the team with 15 wins that year. No one else had more than 4, and they used 7 different goalies:


Michal Neuvirth
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth
Nathan Lieuwen (his only NHL games)
Connor Knapp (his only NHL games)
Matt Hackett

I played minor hockey with Matthew Yeats. Had not heard that name in years.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by jayswin

This is the Flames, you know exactly what will happen. Strong push sometime in the next few weeks will keep us just out of 8th.

It’ll come down to the last game in LA. Who have lost 3 at home in regulation all year.

Just to make it extra soul crushing.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Goriders

It’ll come down to the last game in LA. Who have lost 3 at home in regulation all year.

Just to make it extra soul crushing.

If offered the chance of it coming down to that game I will take it

[Inferno]

If it does I'll be in Vegas. I've already have a plan where I'll be watching it but I'm hoping they would have already clinched by then.

[SuperMatt18]

These last two wins combined with Boston losing right now, New York losing 3 straight, and Detroit slumping make the bottom 10 really tough.

Let's look at a couple pessimistic scenarios of the Flames potential finish:

Flames: 4-9-1, 84 points

Need to Pass Flames
Detroit: 7-6-1, 85 points
New York: 6-5-1, 85 points

Bottom 9 are all below .500 and bottom 9 is likely unobtainable
Boston: 7-4-1, 84 points
Anaheim: 8-5-0, 84 points
Pittsburgh: 9-3-0: 84 points
Seattle: 9-2-1: 84 points
Philly: 10-2-0, 84 points
Buffalo: 12-3-0, 84 points
Nashville: 13-1-0, 84 points
Chicago, San Jose: 84 points is unobtainable

If Flames make it to 86 points:

Flames: 5-8-1, 86 points

Need to Pass Flames
Detroit: 8-5-1, 87 points
New York: 7-4-1, 87 points

Not nearly as "close" as it looks and unless the Flames really go on a 5 game losing streak at some point the bottom 10 is very likely unobtainable. Especially with Detroit having the hardest remaining schedule in the NHL.

Playoffs or bust at this point.

[jayswin]

It'll be 9th or 10th let's not kid ourselves. We're the Flames. But we can't control what happens and there were some huge positives this season, especially possibly home growing an elite goalie.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by jayswin

It'll be 9th or 10th let's not kid ourselves. We're the Flames. But we can't control what happens and there were some huge positives this season, especially possibly home growing an elite goalie.

It might be - it's really close TBH.

Let's look at the path required to 92 points:

Flames: 8-5-1 - 92 points
Blues: 7-4-1 - 92 points
Canucks: 8-5-0 - 92 points
Utah: 9-4-0 - 92 points

Feels like whatever team can get to 92 points is likely the team that gets the final playoff spot. I know people are talking about 90 points but that's pretty much .500 for these teams down the stretch and feels like that will leave you in a tiebreaker.

Flames: 7-6-1 - 90 points
Blues: 6-5-1 - 90 points
Canucks: 7-6-0 - 90 points
Utah: 8-5-0 - 90 points

For me the playoffs are a race to 92 points right now...maybe 91 points.

[Sylvanfan]

As much as I want the Flames to get in. I think St.Louis is going to be hard to beat out. Seems like they're finally coming around tonMontgomery's ways and at the start of the season most would have had them pegged as a team to be in the mix for the 8th seed based on their roster.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

As much as I want the Flames to get in. I think St.Louis is going to be hard to beat out. Seems like they're finally coming around tonMontgomery's ways and at the start of the season most would have had them pegged as a team to be in the mix for the 8th seed based on their roster.

Having the easiest schedule to close out the season probably has a bigger part to play than anything else the Blues have going for them.

It is pretty easy to look at the Blues schedule and map out their likely wins and likely losses... Unless there are some surprising upsets, their season will likely come down to how the Canadiens and UHC games go.

Blackhawks - Win
Predators - Win
Canadiens - ???
@Predators - Win
@Avalanche - Loss
Red Wings - Win
Penguins - Win
Avalanche - Loss
@Jets - Loss
@Oilers - Loss
@Kraken - Win
@Utah - ???

Also, if they are walking into the Canadiens game on a 6 game win streak, you have to think that gives them some serious swagger. But the Canadiens have clawed their way into WC2 in the East and will be working hard to keep it.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Having the easiest schedule to close out the season probably has a bigger part to play than anything else the Blues have going for them.

It is pretty easy to look at the Blues schedule and map out their likely wins and likely losses... Unless there are some surprising upsets, their season will likely come down to how the Canadiens and UHC games go.

Blackhawks - Win
Predators - Win
Canadiens - ???
@Predators - Win
@Avalanche - Loss
Red Wings - Win
Penguins - Win
Avalanche - Loss
@Jets - Loss
@Oilers - Loss
@Kraken - Win
@Utah - ???

Also, if they are walking into the Canadiens game on a 6 game win streak, you have to think that gives them some serious swagger. But the Canadiens have clawed their way into WC2 in the East and will be working hard to keep it.

Really need the Preds to win one of those games...it's tough to beat a team 3 times in a two week period.

Canadiens have been on a roll too, so that's a toss up IMO.

Red Wings and Penguins aren't completely push overs so no guaranteed wins there either.

Blues likely finish 90-92 points.

It's why I really think 92 is the threshold - if you can get to 92 I think you will be in really good shape, especially since I think Flames would likely hold the first tiebreaker.

[Sylvanfan]

If predicting wins and losses was that easy there would be no gambling....

That said the Blues are 10-2-2 since the 4 Nations Break. So between the easier schedule and them seeming to have found their form I think they're the favorite in my books the claim this spot. Very much thanks to how well Dylan Holloway has played this year. Even Broberg looks to have been a nice add.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It might be - it's really close TBH.

Let's look at the path required to 92 points:

Flames: 8-5-1 - 92 points
Blues: 7-4-1 - 92 points
Canucks: 8-5-0 - 92 points
Utah: 9-4-0 - 92 points

Feels like whatever team can get to 92 points is likely the team that gets the final playoff spot. I know people are talking about 90 points but that's pretty much .500 for these teams down the stretch and feels like that will leave you in a tiebreaker.

Flames: 7-6-1 - 90 points
Blues: 6-5-1 - 90 points
Canucks: 7-6-0 - 90 points
Utah: 8-5-0 - 90 points

For me the playoffs are a race to 92 points right now...maybe 91 points.

You have to think at least one of these teams may get hotter than that.

I would expect that 92 points may well not do it.

But it's really just a guess.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

You have to think at least one of these teams may get hotter than that.

I would expect that 92 points may well not do it.

But it's really just a guess.

I choose the Flames.

[Sylvanfan]

Well my own projections now have the Flames finishing with 90.9 points to the Blues 90.8. The Blues remaining opponents localized points percentage after today is .531 and the Flames is .540. Prior to today it was .509 for the Blues as the Hawks awful road record was really tilting things. Since game 41 the Flames have 32 points to the Blues 35 and have 2 games in hand. So the Flames are keeping up with them and the remaining schedules are closer now.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

7 wins is the threshold now.

7 in 13.