2016/2017 Trade Speculation and Rumors

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Lazar is one of the most difficult Flames players for me to place next year.

I honestly have no idea where to realistically place him on the roster next season because nobody really knows how much that bout with mono set him back.

He's got size (or at least he's heavy), grit and can skate. He's also always seemed to compliment skilled players well, so yeah I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for him to get a look with the top line next season.

I do think the Flames like him as a C though, but if he's going to be in the top 9 it won't be as a C.

a couple things betray their intentions with lazar.
1)they were so specific about acquiring a guy with a right shot
2)the management and coaching staff have gone to pretty extensive lengths to develop bennett at centre
3)lack of RW depth in the system
4)jankowski knocking on the door as a centre with size

i would have to think they see him as a RW, if i had to guess he'll be spending a lot of time as bennett's sidekick against softer third line match-ups.

i would love to see
gaudreau - monahan - tkachuk
frolik - backlund - ferland
brouwer - bennett - lazar

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by handgroen

i would love to see
gaudreau - monahan - tkachuk
frolik - backlund - ferland
brouwer - bennett - lazar

Weird thing about your lineup though is having two of our rare right shots on the same line and having all left shots on the top two line. Seems off

[Love]

Originally Posted by handgroen

a couple things betray their intentions with lazar.
1)they were so specific about acquiring a guy with a right shot
2)the management and coaching staff have gone to pretty extensive lengths to develop bennett at centre
3)lack of RW depth in the system
4)jankowski knocking on the door as a centre with size

i would have to think they see him as a RW, if i had to guess he'll be spending a lot of time as bennett's sidekick against softer third line match-ups.

i would love to see
gaudreau - monahan - tkachuk
frolik - backlund - ferland
brouwer - bennett - lazar

Brouwer with Bennett again? Lol, no thanks

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Weird thing about your lineup though is having two of our rare right shots on the same line and having all left shots on the top two line. Seems off

good point, back to the drawing board.

mostly this just has to do with brouwer not being a fit on either of our top two lines.

how about this

gaudreau - monahan - tkachuk
frolik - backlund - some lucky sumbitch
ferland - bennett - lazar

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by handgroen

good point, back to the drawing board.

mostly this just has to do with brouwer not being a fit on either of our top two lines.

I've said before I think if Brouwer is still here in the fall, a good fit for him would be with Frolik and Backlund if they put Frolik on LW instead of RW where he usually plays. He's not going to drag those two down IMO, if anything they will pull him forward.

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by handgroen

good point, back to the drawing board.

mostly this just has to do with brouwer not being a fit on either of our top two lines.

Brouwer's not a fit on any line, he's awful.

However, I want to see him on the Gaudreau-Monahan line to start the year, and then if he's horrible (he probably will be but I'm willing to give him a chance) I want to see him with Backlund and a non-garbage winger (Ferland/Chiasson/Frolik/Gaudreau), and if he doesn't work there he can have fun in Stockton.

[TheScorpion]

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

[Love]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

Can't say I'd be upset if this is what we rolled out on opening night.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

Nothing wrong and a realistic roster. However, it's almost like what's the point .

It the same roster as last year potential wise IMO.

Can this roster really win the cup or at least get to conference finals?

The flames are in a weird and tough spot where they aren't exactly rebuilding anymore, but they don't have enough supporting assets and young players to fill holes or move.

It's hard to fill a top line winger, top 4 D and starting goalie with limited assets.

It will be interesting to see if they go a conservative route like above or make some big/crazy moves.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

That team is butter soft.

[Machiavelli]

Yeah maybe it's a little "familiarity breeds contempt" but after watching some great playoff hockey, I'm not sure that roster can get there.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Nothing wrong and a realistic roster. However, it's almost like what's the point .

It the same roster as last year potential wise IMO.

Can this roster really win the cup or at least get to conference finals?

The flames are in a weird and tough spot where they aren't exactly rebuilding anymore, but they don't have enough supporting assets and young players to fill holes or move.

It's hard to fill a top line winger, top 4 D and starting goalie with limited assets.

It will be interesting to see if they go a conservative route like above or make some big/crazy moves.

I think that team could get to the conference finals. Even though I think Nashville got underrated this playoffs because of a slow start for Subban on a new team and Josi and him missing significant time they could have had a much better regular season but nobody picked them to go this far. I believe with a 50/50 salary cap and no more front loaded contracts(few in the league left that have a huge positive impact) that the NHL has achieved what they wanted and the league with have more parody than ever

When I look at that Flames roster the question is how good will Tkachuk be? Bennett? Monahan? Jankowski? Andersson? For me I believe that Jankowski and Andersson can play as good or better than Stajan and Bartkowski. I do think they won't make a huge impact year 1 but they could upgrade what we had

The questions more for how good that roster will be is the improvement of Tkachuk, Monahan and Bennett. Watching Backlund over his career and how in the last few years he has turned into a selke candidate why is it unreasonable to think Monahan still has lots of room for growth? I also believe Tkachuk will be as valuable as Gaudreau in the near future. That improvement can put this roster over the top. Bennett as well. He really contributed very little last season. Even if he is never what we thought we had does not mean he can't be a high level contributor and much better than last year.

I also look at the age of the Ducks, Kings and Sharks. Perry already looks like he isn't what he once was and Kesler and Getz will slow up soon. Throw in they will lose defence depth in expansion draft, they will continue to be a threat but doubt they get better than they are now. Sharks are very old, I'm not worried about them moving forward. They will be good but don't see them being head over heels better than the Flames. Kings as well. They need to clean up their cap and Doughty is going to get a huge raise. The Oiler might be the biggest threat but they probably won't have cap space to improve their roster. It will have to come from within and when Mcdavid's contract kicks in the improvement within in will be harder as they will lose some quality contributors

So I think it is possible that roster goes deep into the playoffs. I wouldn't bet on it but it is possible

[DJones]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

That team is butter soft.

So?

Might not be the most aggressive team but it's a big team that could skate with anyone.

Giant upgrade on this years roster

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

Largely shuffling the chairs on an underwhelming 2016 team would be disappointing. The forwards need an upgrade.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by DJones

So?

Might not be the most aggressive team but it's a big team that could skate with anyone.

Giant upgrade on this years roster

Where is the giant upgrade? That roster looks almost identical to 2016-2017 Flames.

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

The problem with this line up is that you are moving the only really competent RW in Frolik to the left side. That makes little to no sense.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

Where is the giant upgrade? That roster looks almost identical to 2016-2017 Flames.

Goaltending, defense, and forward depth.

Only change I'd make is get rid of Versteeg. No sense making big changes before we know what we have in Jankowski, Tkachuk, and Bennett. If those three improve making any changes will be stupid.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by DJones

Goaltending, defense, and forward depth.

Only change I'd make is get rid of Versteeg. No sense making big changes before we know what we have in Jankowski, Tkachuk, and Bennett. If those three improve making any changes will be stupid.

Sorry but that roster isn't even close to a giant upgrade and is far more of a shuffling of deck chairs.

[OmegaV4]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Said it before but I'll say it again... here are my ideal lines for next year

Gaudreau - Bennett - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Monahan - Ferland
Frolik - Backlund - Brouwer
Lazar - Jankowski - Chiasson

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Del Zotto - Andersson

Fleury
Gillies

Don't mean to be a downer here, but are we still holding out hope that Fleury comes here and isn't picked up by Vegas in the expansion draft?

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by DJones

Goaltending, defense, and forward depth.

Only change I'd make is get rid of Versteeg. No sense making big changes before we know what we have in Jankowski, Tkachuk, and Bennett. If those three improve making any changes will be stupid.

Only thing I see is goaltending. Your expectations for Jankowski (1st year), Tkachuk (2nd year) seem too be high. I expect Bennett to take the next step.The bottom pairing D is hit and miss so you really can't say its an improvement.

I expect Treliving to make some moves but nothing earth shattering.