Building The 2018/19 Flames Roster

[FlamesFanTrev]

Originally Posted by Fire

He's no better than Rittich.

Rittich is at least consistent as a backup. Mason never showed that backing up hellebuck last year.

Rittich struggled last year as the de facto starter after smith went down. Mason just...... Struggled.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanTrev

Rittich is at least consistent as a backup. Mason never showed that backing up hellebuck last year.

Rittich struggled last year as the de facto starter after smith went down. Mason just...... Struggled.

The team was also banged up and struggling as a whole. I feel quite confident with Rittich in net for ~ 20 games this season.

[Royle9]

We have so many options right now its unfathomable! You can literally design 3 lines about 12 different ways and they all look good on paper, just thinking about it gives me a semi.

The best part is, you can build these lines so many ways and every single one can be done without Brouwer!
I'm hoping Calgary either uses the 2nd buyout window on him, or they speak to Troy and let him know that there just isn't room for him this year so either waive your limited NTC and let us find you a place to play or risk being the 13th forward/buried in the AHL this year which I don't see him wanting to do.

[BigErnSalute_16]

Originally Posted by SanFranFlamesFan

I am thinking something quite different. Keep people at their natural positions as much as possible and balance through lineup.

These may not be popular, but my proposed Flames lines:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Czarnik

If you get one of these guys that dominated the AHL offensively and you think they'd break out here, you have you give them a legit chance with Top 6 players. This is a big gamble and Czarnik might not be any good, but this is how you find another W Karlsson/Marchessault. Give him 10 games of 17 mins a game and see how it goes. His shooting should mesh well with Gaudreau's playmaking.


Tkachuk - Lindholm - Neal

Two playmakers with a shooter. Tre said he wanted to try Tkachuk with Neal. Lindholm can dominate the faceoff circle. Also a very defensively responsible line.


Bennett - Backlund - Frolik

Keep the Bennett/Frolik magic alive to carry Bennett. He needs it. With their shooting percetange rebound, this should be a shut down line that can also score with regularity.

Mangiapane - Jankowski - Ryan

Possibly switch Ryan and Janko depending on their long term Janko projection. Ryan takes most of faceoffs anyway. 4th line that can actually score. Like Czarnik, give Mangiapane an extended shot. He dominated AHL and deserves to show he can do it.

I'd like to see them try it, except with Ryan taking a majority of the faceoffs on the fourth line. If the Czarnik on the top line experiment doesn't work then I'd hope they move Bennett there Janko to Backlunds wing and Czarnik to the 4th line.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Bennett
Tkachuk - Lindholm - Neal
Janko - Backlund - Frolik
Mangiapane - Ryan - Czarnik
(If Czarnik doesnt work on the top line)

[stemit14]

I think Czarnick will be a good fit on the top line. Watching the monahan highlights I notice how many goals were beautiful passing plays involving all three forwards. If czarnick ends up translating his skills to the NHL game, I think he fits the role of a guy with hockey iq/playmaking/speed/good shot with gaudreau and monahan.

Haven’t watched Neal as much the last couple seasons but I watched a lot of him when he played with Malkin. He’s very much a shoot from everywhere/shoot-first player... which can be good especially when you have a shot like his. I think that could compliment a line with tkachuk and backlund. Feels like frolik is also a shoot from everywhere kind of player but the problem is he doesn’t have as great a shot/finish so I find some nice plays tend to die on his stick. Neal would add a nice goal scoring punch to that line.


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[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by goldenbear85

My thoughts would be:

Bennett-Monahan-Gaudreau
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Neal
Jankowski-Backlund-Frolik
Lazar-Ryan-Brouwer/Czarnik

I would prefer to see Foo/Mangiapane start the season in minors where they get 20 mins a night.

Gio-Brodie
Andersson-Hamonic
Kulak-Hanifin
Stone

Smith

I disagree. That was last year.

I'd rather our young players who outperform veterans make the team. I'm over Brouwer being gifted a roster spot.

If Foo/Mangiapane earn it - give it to them.

[Strange Brew]

Cazarnik and Foo are the ones with the best chances of making the team out of camp IMO. Czarnik will be 26 during the season and Foo has turned 24. Their time needs to be now.

[CliffFletcher]

I'm not sure Neal on the Gaudreau-Monahan line is as obvious as some think. The top line already struggles without the puck, giving opponents some tasty match-ups. Neal is a pure sniper, and not any better than Gaudreau or Monahan without the puck. Putting Lindolm or even Tkachuk on that line as the defensive conscience would leave the top line less vulnerable to bad match-ups.

A better home for Neal is on the wing with Tkachuk-Backlund. That's a more balanced line.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'm not sure Neal on the Gaudreau-Monahan line is as obvious as some think. The top line already struggles without the puck, giving opponents some tasty match-ups. Neal is a pure sniper, and not any better than Gaudreau or Monahan without the puck. Putting Lindolm or even Tkachuk on that line as the defensive conscience would leave the top line less vulnerable to bad match-ups.

A better home for Neal is on the wing with Tkachuk-Backlund. That's a more balanced line.

I agree and despite the Flames having tremendous forward depth now compared to a week ago, fans are going to be somewhat disappointed in Neal if they expect him to be a traditional, top line winger. That is not to say he cannot play minutes with Johnny-Monahan at ES, it's just more a case of him not being the true, consistent 3 zone player you'd expect. The way he was used in Nashville would be a great template for the Flames to follow.

I would try Tkachuk on the top line for the first chunk of the season and see where that gets this roster. This allows you to run with Neal on the second line and primarily on the top pp unit.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Tkachuk
Neal-Backlund-Lindholm


PP1:
Gaudreau-Monahan-Tkachuk
Giordano-Neal

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

...PP1:
Gaudreau-Monahan-Tkachuk
Giordano-Neal

As FDW pointed out above, the problem with this unit is that all of them are left-shooters. Swap out Tkachuk for Lindholm and I think that is still a fantastic PP setup.

[saXon]

Damn is it exciting knowing that Neal can slot on either top 2 lines with Gaudreau and Chucky on his opposite wing

[robertsfanatic]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'm not sure Neal on the Gaudreau-Monahan line is as obvious as some think. The top line already struggles without the puck, giving opponents some tasty match-ups. Neal is a pure sniper, and not any better than Gaudreau or Monahan without the puck. Putting Lindolm or even Tkachuk on that line as the defensive conscience would leave the top line less vulnerable to bad match-ups.

A better home for Neal is on the wing with Tkachuk-Backlund. That's a more balanced line.

on TSN one of the analysts (i forget who now) suggested starting him with Janko also...so it lines up with your train of thought.

it's nice to have options either way.

[bax]

I think to start we will see:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm

This gives Gaudreau and Monahan a skilled, right shot, two way player. They will get offensive starts, but the addition of Lindholm means they won't need to be sheltered as much.

Tkachuk - Backlund - Neal

Neal isn't a possession monster, but Backlund and Tkachuk are. The 3M's lack of finish last year was a sign for concern (minus Tkachuk). The addition of Neal helps them put the puck in the net a lot more. This will be a nasty line to play against.

Bennett - Ryan - Czarnik

Not quite sure how this will go, but the thought is that with Ryan winning 55% of his draws this trio will have the puck a lot. Hopefully Czarnik can pop and get Bennett's offense going. I could see all three of these players ending up with 35-40 points.

Lazar - Jankowski - Frolik

Frolik can drive play for this line and Jankowski is really skilled- they will play more than a typical fourth line. Lazar can be swapped out for Brouwer or Mangiapane depending on who's going.

The beautiful thing about this line up is that there is so much versatility. Things aren't going great? Throw Ryan on the top line and let Lindholm center Bennett and Czarnik. Neal having an off night? Swap him for Frolik and reunite the 3M. Czarnik and Lindholm can swap out too.

So many different possibilities with this line up and in the influx of talent and right hand shots. Hard not to be excited.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Almost every projected line up I see I get excited about. Especially if a few kids off the Heat (Foo, Eat Bread) won a spot.

This year is going to be fun again.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Almost every projected line up I see I get excited about. Especially if a few kids off the Heat (Foo, Eat Bread) won a spot.

This year is going to be fun again.

Of course that is dependent upon Peters and how he deploys the squad, and how much we see of Brouwer.

If there continues to be bone headed, stubborn quirks from the head coach, it's going to be another major upset for the fans

[Bingo]

So many combinations.

I think the first thing they need to figure out is how Peters wants to use his fourth line, that will determine who needs to get dealt, or who plays with who. If it's a three line team with a fourth line getting less ice it's a very different look than if they want to balance things out.

There is little doubt that all of Monahah, Gaudreau, Neal, Backlund, Tkachuk, Lindholm and Bennett need to play in the top three lines (Bennett may not be on all of your lists). But then you have Jankowski, Ryan and Frolik who are all set for top nine duty and they don't all fit as that pushes the list to 10.

Do you move a top nine like Frolik?

Or do you go with that and add a Czarnik/Mangiapane/Foo boost and have four lines that can score?

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Bingo

So many combinations.

I think the first thing they need to figure out is how Peters wants to use his fourth line, that will determine who needs to get dealt, or who plays with who. If it's a three line team with a fourth line getting less ice it's a very different look than if they want to balance things out.

There is little doubt that all of Monahah, Gaudreau, Neal, Backlund, Tkachuk, Lindholm and Bennett need to play in the top three lines (Bennett may not be on all of your lists). But then you have Jankowski, Ryan and Frolik who are all set for top nine duty and they don't all fit as that pushes the list to 10.

Do you move a top nine like Frolik?

Or do you go with that and add a Czarnik/Mangiapane/Foo boost and have four lines that can score?

I think you keep Frolik, depth and balance at the forward lines is going to be necessary for this team since they don't have the very high end talent of teams like Edmonton, Toronto, and Pittsburgh to compensate.

Also, summer lineups almost never see the ice as there's usually one or two players injured at any one time. Flexibility is key and Frolik gives you that.

[8sPOT]

For some reason until right now I didn't realize that Ryan and Czarnik are both right hand shots. With the addition of Lindholm as well we really changed the dynamic of our forward group. So many potential options.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Neal

Tkachuk - Jankowski - Lindholm

Bennett - Backlund - Frolik

Mangiapanne/Dube - Ryan - Czarnik

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by saXon

Of course that is dependent upon Peters and how he deploys the squad, and how much we see of Brouwer.

If there continues to be bone headed, stubborn quirks from the head coach, it's going to be another major upset for the fans

Wow not a single post passed before the fun police show up.

Yes. Of course. All of those things. You keep focusing on them.

The team has made countless steps to improve each and every issue that plagued them last year. I’m excited.

[SanFranFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

For some reason until right now I didn't realize that Ryan and Czarnik are both right hand shots. With the addition of Lindholm as well we really changed the dynamic of our forward group. So many potential options.

Yeah, it's pretty funny that in 9 days we went from having not enough RWs and RH shots, to now have 4 new RWs and 3 RH shots, which is non-obvious how to comfortably line them up.