My Prediction for the 2021-22 season

[Robbob]

I like Gio, but I am glad another team is the one that is risking a 38 year old with a 6.75 cap hit will beat the odds over a course of a long season. My thinking is there is probably 10% he has a better year. 30% he has a similar year as last. 50% his play declines. 10% father time catches up and his play suffers accordingly. Perfect time to move on from Gio IMO.

For the Flames, the issue has always been that the development of players has been sporadic. A few years ago I think a lot of people thought the players would continue to progress and get better, but they seem to have plateaued or had a set back. A lot depends other top 6 players can find their game or chemistry and bounce back. More importantly, if players like Maginpane, Hanifin, Andersson, Valamaki can continue to improve and not plateau. Not limited to those names, but it seem a lot of the time when a player has a coming out party, they seem to have a step back or don't progress as much as fans and management want.

I think with Sutter as coach, the lines over the course of the season will improve. I thought last year that there was very little chemistry through the majority of the season and every line felt like they were dragging an anchor around. If they can get a couple lines firing, then 2nd in the division is completely attainable. A lot of this is dependent on the back end if we get that progression from the young Dmen. Admittedly, there are more than a comfortable amount of ifs there.

[Bingo]

The Gio thing is a tough one to pin down.

Did Tanev prop Gio up?
Did Andersson drag Gio down?
Did Gio drag Andersson down?
Was Gio/Andersson just a bad chemistry pairing?

If Gio was the problem than you're really optimistic. If he wasn't and Andersson was then we have a problem.

Andersson had better splits with Nesterov, Valimaki and Hanifin. The biggest issue with Giordano is they didn't create anything offensively, their prevention numbers weren't bad.

But Andersson was in 4 of the worst 5 pairings for xGA60

[Enoch Root]

Andersson was bad last year - no getting around that. The question is: was it just an off year, or has he plateaued? He is young and progression isn't linear, so I remain confident. But Andersson is probably the biggest question mark going into the season.

As for the Gio-Andersson pairing, I could not believe how long it took Ward to do something about it. Possibly his biggest mistake (and there were many)

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Andersson was bad last year - no getting around that. The question is: was it just an off year, or has he plateaued? He is young and progression isn't linear, so I remain confident. But Andersson is probably the biggest question mark going into the season.

As for the Gio-Andersson pairing, I could not believe how long it took Ward to do something about it. Possibly his biggest mistake (and there were many)

Agreed. But I thought Andersson was quite a bit worse last year than he was in 2020. Even if he has plateaued it is not at all unreasonable to expect that he will be better than he was last year.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Andersson was bad last year - no getting around that. The question is: was it just an off year, or has he plateaued? He is young and progression isn't linear, so I remain confident. But Andersson is probably the biggest question mark going into the season.

As for the Gio-Andersson pairing, I could not believe how long it took Ward to do something about it. Possibly his biggest mistake (and there were many)

Not that I have a solution but actual QoC should be tied to the xGF% etc. If you are out against the other teams top-line it would be a positive accomplishment to break even with them.

In 2019-20 Andersson spent 25% of his ES time with Gio
In 2020-21 Andersson 57% of his time with Gio

In 2019-20 Gio and Brodie got to play against the other teams top player and Anderson would have been somewhat sheltered.

This last year he was not as sheltered, Gio would have gone against the other teams best and Andersson would have been carrying a bigger load than he had previously.

Maybe Andersson played to his full potential both seasons and will have a better CF% year with Hanifin and Tanev getting all the hard match ups.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I predict Calgary will finish ahead of Vegas. Not saying that they will be division champs, but just that they will finish ahead of Vegas this season. i do think that Vegas is going to have a slight regression, and I do like the overall direction of Calgary thus far, and I do believe that Sutter can make this team one that actually plays well.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I like Gio, but I am glad another team is the one that is risking a 38 year old with a 6.75 cap hit will beat the odds over a course of a long season. My thinking is there is probably 10% he has a better year. 30% he has a similar year as last. 50% his play declines. 10% father time catches up and his play suffers accordingly. Perfect time to move on from Gio IMO.

For the Flames, the issue has always been that the development of players has been sporadic. A few years ago I think a lot of people thought the players would continue to progress and get better, but they seem to have plateaued or had a set back. A lot depends other top 6 players can find their game or chemistry and bounce back. More importantly, if players like Maginpane, Hanifin, Andersson, Valamaki can continue to improve and not plateau. Not limited to those names, but it seem a lot of the time when a player has a coming out party, they seem to have a step back or don't progress as much as fans and management want.

I think with Sutter as coach, the lines over the course of the season will improve. I thought last year that there was very little chemistry through the majority of the season and every line felt like they were dragging an anchor around. If they can get a couple lines firing, then 2nd in the division is completely attainable. A lot of this is dependent on the back end if we get that progression from the young Dmen. Admittedly, there are more than a comfortable amount of ifs there.

So are you saying it’s not all treliving’s fault and the players should have some accountability towards the team’s performance?

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I predict Calgary will finish ahead of Vegas. Not saying that they will be division champs, but just that they will finish ahead of Vegas this season. i do think that Vegas is going to have a slight regression, and I do like the overall direction of Calgary thus far, and I do believe that Sutter can make this team one that actually plays well.

I think you’re right. They’ve added some grit and experience and upgraded the coaching staff significantly.

Wildcards in my mind are Monahan, Anderson and Tkachuk and whether they can bounce back from off years.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I like Gio, but I am glad another team is the one that is risking a 38 year old with a 6.75 cap hit will beat the odds over a course of a long season. My thinking is there is probably 10% he has a better year. 30% he has a similar year as last. 50% his play declines. 10% father time catches up and his play suffers accordingly. Perfect time to move on from Gio IMO.

For the Flames, the issue has always been that the development of players has been sporadic. A few years ago I think a lot of people thought the players would continue to progress and get better, but they seem to have plateaued or had a set back. A lot depends other top 6 players can find their game or chemistry and bounce back. More importantly, if players like Maginpane, Hanifin, Andersson, Valamaki can continue to improve and not plateau. Not limited to those names, but it seem a lot of the time when a player has a coming out party, they seem to have a step back or don't progress as much as fans and management want.

I think with Sutter as coach, the lines over the course of the season will improve. I thought last year that there was very little chemistry through the majority of the season and every line felt like they were dragging an anchor around. If they can get a couple lines firing, then 2nd in the division is completely attainable. A lot of this is dependent on the back end if we get that progression from the young Dmen. Admittedly, there are more than a comfortable amount of ifs there.

You're right on Gio. Some teams have given up a first round pick to rid themselves of one year on a contract like Gio's. Now he was still playing decently last year so not fair to lump him with those players but the fall could still be very steep. Honestly losing the last year of that deal for free isn't really all that bad.

Now the question is what do you do with that one year of cap space. So far nothing. I am a little worried about the Zadorov contract as I'm not really sold on that player yet.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

You're right on Gio. Some teams have given up a first round pick to rid themselves of one year on a contract like Gio's. Now he was still playing decently last year so not fair to lump him with those players but the fall could still be very steep. Honestly losing the last year of that deal for free isn't really all that bad.

Now the question is what do you do with that one year of cap space. So far nothing. I am a little worried about the Zadorov contract as I'm not really sold on that player yet.

Didn’t the cap space go to coleman and zadorov?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Didn’t the cap space go to coleman and zadorov?

Not all of it. There is still quite a bit if room to add another player.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Not all of it. There is still quite a bit if room to add another player.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Not quite a bit. They can fill out the roster snd he e a bit left over. But certainly not enough to add a substantial player.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Not quite a bit. They can fill out the roster snd he e a bit left over. But certainly not enough to add a substantial player.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

enough for a middle 6er or 2nd pairing Dman, either of which would really help

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I predict Calgary will finish ahead of Vegas. Not saying that they will be division champs, but just that they will finish ahead of Vegas this season. i do think that Vegas is going to have a slight regression, and I do like the overall direction of Calgary thus far, and I do believe that Sutter can make this team one that actually plays well.

I think we need to lock down Stone to be that solid presence on the third pairing like he was to close out the year and get another weapon up front before I step back into optimism with this group.

That was a really disappointing season with an improvement at the end, but nothing that blew your hair back in terms of where this group can go, considering the teams we were playing. We still couldn't buy a goal in two of those late games vs mtl that would've got us in over them. We skated circles around them but looked totally inept with the puck. This needs to change.

Solid depth acquisitions are still depth acquisitions. This new bunch may help you win a handful more games over a full season than the last depth group. But we need a little more punch and a different look up top to kickstart these core guys into playing like they can and have before again.

All roads to places lead through Jack Eichel I guess is what I'm saying.

Perennially I get hyped up for the next seasons team, but this year even with Sutter at the helm I remain unconvinced. I need to see more here from Brad Treliving. You're not tweaking a very good team. Its a painfully average team that requires elite level coaching and manipulation from behind the bench to eke out a first round appearance, as things stand.

Let's give ourselves the tools to shoot for more than that please...

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

enough for a middle 6er or 2nd pairing Dman, either of which would really help

Vatanen and Eric Staal

[Jimdon]

The Flames roster as I see it is no better than it was last year, might be worse on d with the loss of gio. It's been two years since it's been blatantly obvious that there needs to be major changes to the core of this team and the only change has been losing our captain and best d man for nothing.

Is there some other goal for the team than winning a Stanley cup? The team isn't good enough to do it and there is no help coming from the farm.

Good luck coach.

[kukkudo]

Not sure if I should take the bet on Flames finishing ahead of the Oilers this season. Already lost two big bets the past two seasons.

[stang]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

Not sure if I should take the bet on Flames finishing ahead of the Oilers this season. Already lost two big bets the past two seasons.

I’ll bet you

[dissentowner]

Here is the thing with trying to predict hockey, it's a fools game. Every year the media experts try and get most of it wrong. Every year there are a couple teams that look like world beaters on paper that way underachieve and a couple supposed lottery teams that run amok on everybody. My prediction is nobody knows what will happen.

[Poe969]

Bob McKenzie knows. I'll agree with whatever his take is. Until the season starts, who knows. I look at the Flames and see both a team that might dominate some nights and a team that could get dominated other nights. A couple changes would make a world of difference.