Who takes the final spot in the top 9?

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Toffoli is not a top line winger. I know he's the best we have on the right side (really sad statement) but he is not a first line winger and will only make the combination weaker IMO. I would rather see Toffoli and Dube swapped in your line up. What this exercise is uncovering is just how big a hole we have in our lineup and just how weak our forward group is. We have strength in goal, on the blueline, and in the middle but are really bad on the right side. Treliving is going to have to address this through trade IMO, and dangle one of the defensemen. I don't think there is enough scoring in that lineup to get to where the fans think this team should be.

While RW is weak, I disagree with this on a couple of fronts.

First, Dube is not a good choice for the first line. He likes to carry the puck, and is pure chaos positionally - the opposite of what you want with Huberdeau. Toffoli is a goal scorer who knows how to get open, which fits the line better.

Second, the strength of the team is defense and goaltending, along with depth up the middle. That is EXACTLY how you want to build a team. Weakening the team defense, to upgrade RW is counter-productive.

As someone said, let's wait 20-30 games to see where things are at. If Mackey steps up, maybe we can move Kylington. But for now, I fully expect Toffoli will run at a 30 goal pace.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Toffoli is not a top line winger. I know he's the best we have on the right side (really sad statement) but he is not a first line winger and will only make the combination weaker IMO. I would rather see Toffoli and Dube swapped in your line up. What this exercise is uncovering is just how big a hole we have in our lineup and just how weak our forward group is. We have strength in goal, on the blueline, and in the middle but are really bad on the right side. Treliving is going to have to address this through trade IMO, and dangle one of the defensemen. I don't think there is enough scoring in that lineup to get to where the fans think this team should be.

I'm starting to agree with you that Toffoli is not a top line winger. He's got no finish at all! But, he is still top 9. Dube isn't a top line winger either and probably fits in 3rd or 4th line at the moment. I haven't seen Mangi in this pre-season, yet. But I like to see how he does in the top and second lines. I'm sure he'll fit in on either of those lines.

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

Pelletier has been underwhelming this camp, I have really liked Milano in the games I’ve watched.


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[Royle9]

Zary is far and away the best “rookie” at main camp and it’s not even close.
Though no room for him at center, hope he goes and owns the AHL this year as that 1st line C.

I think we all had Pelletier penciled in as the guy to crack the roster but Zary has been way more effective at both ends of the ice. Last night in Edmonton he didn’t look out of place at all.

[GioforPM]

If you have two great forwards on the top line, your other winger doesn’t have to be elite. Just useful. NHL history has a lot of examples. Including cup winners.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Zary is far and away the best “rookie” at main camp and it’s not even close.
Though no room for him at center, hope he goes and owns the AHL this year as that 1st line C.

I think we all had Pelletier penciled in as the guy to crack the roster but Zary has been way more effective at both ends of the ice. Last night in Edmonton he didn’t look out of place at all.

After sleeping on it I am starting to think there is a good chance Zary makes this team out of camp. Both he and Ruzicka now have been given looks on the wing, and where Ruzicka struggled, Zary thrived. Enough so that Sutter pegged him as the Flames best forward in his post-game yesterday.

I am really beginning to think that he will be the one starting on Backlund's line on opening night. Wow.

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[TheScorpion]

Haven't we heard Darryl talk about how Dube was rushed into the NHL? Well, Zary is the same age today as Dube was when he made his debut. Just worth noting.

[agulati]

Yeah I’m not sure Zary finds a way onto the NHL roster. He has had a great camp so far, but he is still really really young. He didn’t have a very productive season last year either, although production isn’t everything.

I personally would rather he start the season in the AHL and depending on how things go in the first few months, he can always get called up.

I was hoping for a better camp from Pelletier though, so far.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Haven't we heard Darryl talk about how Dube was rushed into the NHL? Well, Zary is the same age today as Dube was when he made his debut. Just worth noting.

Difference being Sutters got his hands all over this decision. If Zary makes the team I think we can all trust Sutters decision on it. If Zary doesn't make the main roster I figure he'll bee up full time later this season. He's actually made a marked I rpovment over his last camp (before the ankle break).


Who knows. But Sutter seems pretty happy with him.

[Enoch Root]

MUCH rather Zary gets 1st line minutes in the AHL than being a 12/13 forward getting 8 minutes and playing on the 4th line with the big club.

Next year, maybe Zary takes 3C and Backlund takes 4

[Reggie Dunlop]

I'll throw this out there: What about Walker Duehr? Plays the uptempo style Sutter likes.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I'll throw this out there: What about Walker Duehr? Plays the uptempo style Sutter likes.

He didn't look very good last night. Missing passes both to and from players, skating in circles around the play, no real forecheck to speak of, mediocre defensively.

He had a much stronger camp last year and still didn't make the team. I don't see it happening at all.

Klapka has been more effective and plays the same type of game.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

MUCH rather Zary gets 1st line minutes in the AHL than being a 12/13 forward getting 8 minutes and playing on the 4th line with the big club.

Next year, maybe Zary takes 3C and Backlund takes 4

If Zary makes the team, I very much doubt it would be as the 12/13 forward. I think he would split time on the 2nd/3rd line.

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[GreenLantern2814]

Zary has been the most impressive of the non-regular NHLers to me.

His skating is strong, he plays with good balance, he’s got good instincts. He may not be quite ready, but he isn’t far away.

When he does make the jump, it wont be as a fringe guy, it’ll be as a contributing top-6 forward.

[Paulie Walnuts]

We haven't even played a full NHL roster yet, we played bits and pieces and the games we played our top 4 D minus Tanev we have scored and out chanced the other team.

Last night Milano played with two AHL player. Huberdeau and Toffoli played with a player playing way out of his league on the top line. Dube was playing with a PTO and a 4th liner.

With that being said the biggest issue last night wasn't the forwards not scoring, it was how bad our defence can look if Stone, Valimaki and Mackey will see any significant time. They just are not good at killing plays at the blueline, they can't check to get the puck back, they can't make good solid tape to tape outlet passes to start the rush, and they can't skate the puck out of the defensive zone to exit danger. So if your defence can't get the puck back, or make a pass the offence will struggle big time doesn't matter who you have at forward.

So all the talk about trading Hanifin for another top 6 winger, take a look at what happens that top 6 winger will be useless if he doesn't have the puck. Also we will need a significant upgrade, not a Connor Garland who is just another Tyler Toffoli.

Lets wait to see what the team does with Weegar, Tanev, Zadorov in the line up. Lets see how they fare with Lindholm, Kadri, Backlund in the lineup.

The lineup looked far worse going into the season last year and we managed to score 293 goals. Also don't forget the top line wasn't even a thing, it was Tkachuck-Lindholm-Coleman to start camp.

[getoverit]

Still think we will see a trade. No one stepped up with the opportunity.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by getoverit

Still think we will see a trade. No one stepped up with the opportunity.

Still 3 games left. And the lines and opportunities will be closer to what will be starting night.

Probably see guys like Pelletier, Milano, Ruzicka, Phillips, Zary get actual looks in the spot that needs to be filled.

[Macman]

I think we need Weegar signed first and then we’ll see some player movement and possibly a trade. We’ll see what happens after the next cuts and waivers and from other teams too.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by getoverit

Still think we will see a trade. No one stepped up with the opportunity.

Not before the start of the season. If Treliving makes a move to bring in another forward, I bet it won't be until November at the earliest.

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[CF84]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

We haven't even played a full NHL roster yet, we played bits and pieces and the games we played our top 4 D minus Tanev we have scored and out chanced the other team.

Last night Milano played with two AHL player. Huberdeau and Toffoli played with a player playing way out of his league on the top line. Dube was playing with a PTO and a 4th liner.

With that being said the biggest issue last night wasn't the forwards not scoring, it was how bad our defence can look if Stone, Valimaki and Mackey will see any significant time. They just are not good at killing plays at the blueline, they can't check to get the puck back, they can't make good solid tape to tape outlet passes to start the rush, and they can't skate the puck out of the defensive zone to exit danger. So if your defence can't get the puck back, or make a pass the offence will struggle big time doesn't matter who you have at forward.

So all the talk about trading Hanifin for another top 6 winger, take a look at what happens that top 6 winger will be useless if he doesn't have the puck. Also we will need a significant upgrade, not a Connor Garland who is just another Tyler Toffoli.

Lets wait to see what the team does with Weegar, Tanev, Zadorov in the line up. Lets see how they fare with Lindholm, Kadri, Backlund in the lineup.

The lineup looked far worse going into the season last year and we managed to score 293 goals. Also don't forget the top line wasn't even a thing, it was Tkachuck-Lindholm-Coleman to start camp.

You clearly watched a different player than I did. Mackey played McDavid as well, or even more effectively than anyone I've seen that's not named Tanev (Gio included). He has the ability to see where McDavid is going to end up and meets him there with an excellent stick. Gio always tried to out-position McDavid, but he got burned many times because he didn't play him properly. Mackey looked calm facing McDavid and that's a great quality to have in a defenseman. Is Mackey better than Gio was? No, but he plays McDavid in a more efficient and intelligent way and could be the perfect 3rd pairing D-man to get "caught" out against a guy like Connor.



Personally, I would have Mackey over Kylington for a more defensive minded group and Kylington over Mackey for a more offensive team. I think he will see some solid time in the NHL this year.