Armchair GM 2019

[Heavy Jack]

I know I’ve been guilty of filling of the rumours thread with armchair Gm type posts so why not have a thread for it!?! It will help kill the time leading up to the draft, be as wacky as you would like but let’s try and stay within a cap of 84 million.

Trade # 1

Hamonic + 1st for Ehlers

Ehlers is locked in at a good number for 6 years and is only 23; his cap hit and age fall right in line with a lot of our core and would fit in nicely on either wing on a line with Tkachuk. Hamonic goes home and also allows Winnipeg to move Trouba.

Trade # 2

Brodie + Jankowski for Kadri

Kadri is playing too far down for what he is where as Jankowski would slot in nicely behind Tavares and Mathews and a substantial cost savings as well with Jankowski not breaking the bank. Brodie gives them a good replacement who though a lefty is more comfortable on the right side and is used to top pairing minutes. Kadri slots in to complete a 2nd line of Tkachuk - Kadri - Ehlers and pushes Backlund down into a full on shutdown role in a 2B type line.

Trade # 3

Frolik for a max retained Reimer

Riemer would slot in nicely as a backup behind Rittich; league veteran, has been both a starter and a backup at times, is younger than smith, helps our cap situation by clearing Frolik. Frolik goes back to a former team that is looking to build a big roster in the off-season and would fit in nicely with his former Coach too.

Trade # 4

Neal (1 mill retained) + Czarnik for Andrew Shaw

Flames get grit and sandpaper along with a natural right winger at the cost of retaining some salary on Neal and Czarnik who is running out of room on this roster.

Sign RFA Tkachuk 8 x 7.5 AAV
Sign RFA Bennett 3 x 3.125 AAV
Sign RFA Rittich 4 x 4 AAV
Sign RFA Mangiapane 2 x 1.25 AAV
Sign UFA Hathaway 2 x 1.25 AAV
Sign UFA McQuaid 2 x 2.5 AAV


Gaudreau 6.75 - Monahan 6.375 - Lindholm 4.85
Tkachuk 7.5 - Kadri 4.5 - Ehlers 6
Bennett 3.125 - Backlund 5.35 - Shaw 3.9
Mangiapane 1.25 - Ryan 3.125 - Hathaway 1.25
Dube .950

1 mill retention for Neal

55.7 million

Giordano 6.75 - Andersson .756
Hanifin 4.95 - Stone 3.5
Valimaki .894 - McQuaid 2.5
Kylington .731 - Yelesin.925

21 million

Rittich 4
Reimer 1.7

5.7 million

82.4 million for that lineup which leaves us a little room for RFA’s like Tkachuk if 7.5 isn’t quite enough.

[SportsJunky]

I think Reimer can be had for far less than Frolik. I’d like Frolik to bring back a pick or a prospect in a deal.
Edit- I missed the “max-retained” Reimer part. I could see how that might be attractive to Treliving.

I don’t see Montreal sending Shaw to Calgary for that package. Shaw actually had a pretty good year last season. If it’s physical players that you want I could see Reaves heading this way from Vegas. I don’t think he’d see the ice much but he’d be a heck of a deterrent against schmucks like Lucic.

[Toonage]

Reaves is also in Evander Kane's head which would be helpful for Calgary as Kane has typically had his way with the team.

Flames 2019 4th for Ryan Reaves

[Dube]

EA Sports. It’s in the game.

[The Cobra]

Unfortunately you are trading guys you want to give up for guys you want without considering why those teams want those players you want to give up.

Montreal loves Andrew Shaw and he has positive value. Likely a reasonable amount. And you trade them two players who combined have negative value as cap dumps.

Winnipeg wants to move Ehlers to save cap. They’ll want a very young and cheap d-man with projection left. You offer Hamonic, who is reasonably good, but he doesn’t save them much and he’s one year from UFA. They can do much better than that.


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[Brick]

"Flames GM Treliving thinks RFA class could slow draft trade activity"

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...rade-activity/

[PegCityFlamesFan]

Jets aren't trading Ehlers for one year of Hamonic.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Hamonic + 1st for Ehlers

Terrible trade for the Flames. Winnipeg needs cap relief and and we send them one of our most important defenders for a small soft forward who has not performed to his cap hit? Not a chance. Ehlers will likely be moved, and its going to be for a underwhelming return IMO. I would take Ehlers, but only if we jettisoned some of our smaller softer players as well.

Brodie + Jankowski for Kadri

I might be able to get behind this one. I think the Flames need to move one of their defensemen and I think Brodie is the odd man out. We have a Brodie clone in Kylington, so the loss of him will be minimal and save us some money. I'm not a big fan of moving Jankowski yet. Everyone is ####ting all over him because of his performance in the post-season, but people should be reminded this was his first taste of playoff action at this level of play. Jankowski wasn't the only one to not play well in the post-season, and he executed his role on the team otherwise. If you can make this happen with possibly getting a 2nd or 3rd round pick kicked in from the Toronto side to provide longer term value, then go for it. Otherwise I'm hesitant to move a quality cost controlled player like Jankowski at this point.

Frolik for a max retained Reimer

Don't see any reason to do this. Better goaltenders available in free agency. I would rather move Frolik for a future player in a good prospect or a draft pick.

Neal (1 mill retained) + Czarnik for Andrew Shaw

Neal gets another year to prove himself. This is selling low with maximum hit for marginal return. I'd dump Czarnik by himself for a draft pick if anyone wants him. Don't see any interest though. Every team has a few Czarniks in the minors.

Sign RFA Tkachuk 8 x 7.5 AAV - Too long a term. Five or six years max at that amount. Tkachuk's disappearance down the stretch and in the post season has me spooked.
Sign RFA Bennett 3 x 3.125 AAV - Too much money. Bennett is a $2.5-2.75M player. Don't give him the Bouma treatment.
Sign RFA Rittich 4 x 4 AAV - Too much money and too much term. Give him a prove it contract and then worry about paying him this much next summer.
Sign RFA Mangiapane 2 x 1.25 AAV - Too much money. Hasn't proven he can play at this level yet. Another prove it contract IMO.
Sign UFA Hathaway 2 x 1.25 AAV - Seems fair.
Sign UFA McQuaid 2 x 2.5 AAV - Why in god's name... ??????

Gaudreau 6.75 - Monahan 6.375 - Lindholm 4.85
Tkachuk 7.5 - Kadri 4.5 - Ehlers 6
Bennett 3.125 - Backlund 5.35 - Shaw 3.9
Mangiapane 1.25 - Ryan 3.125 - Hathaway 1.25
Dube .950

Giordano 6.75 - Andersson .756
Hanifin 4.95 - Stone 3.5
Valimaki .894 - McQuaid 2.5
Kylington .731 - Yelesin.925

Rittich 4
Reimer 1.7

Don't see a playoff team there. That second line just looks to be a line the opposition feasts on. That blueline scares the bejesus out of me. Stone in the top four? Nope. Still don't have goaltending there. Rittich is a question mark and Reimer is hot garbage. Big Save Dave doesn't show up every game and this team is done.

From another thread, here's my go.

Trying to add five players that could really help the Flames and address their heavy game. Sean Couturier, Nolan Patrick, Josh Anderson, and Adam Lowry are the targets. Are these players accessible? Possibly. Couturier and Patrick only come if you make a big splash by moving a player like Johnny Gaudreau to the Flyers. If you could swing a deal with the Jets where they are moving Ehlers to the Flames in a deal for a defenseman, then moving Gaudreau may not be as hard to swallow. Anderson is the hard one to get IMO.

To Winnipeg: Brodie, Jankowski, 2nd
To Calgary: Ehlers & Lowry

To Philadelphia: Gaudreau & Backlund
To Calgary: Couturier & Patrick

To Columbus: Monahan, Frolik & Czarnik
To Calgary: Anderson & Jenner

Patrick-Couturier-Anderson
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Ehlers
Neal-Ryan-Mangipagne
Bennett-Lowry-Jenner
Dube-Hathaway

That's a pretty heavy lineup and one that can play the game any way you like. Flames really need to get bigger and still have the skill. Some people are going to question the big pay for Anderson and Jenner, but I believe Anderson is the O'Reilly of wingers in the NHL. Terribly under-rated player that would be a massive difference maker.

[ripTDR]

Toronto is not trading anybody with about the same cap hit. If you want their players you have to think about picks and prospects.

[PegCityFlamesFan]

To Winnipeg: Brodie, Jankowski, 2nd
To Calgary: Ehlers & Lowry

No chance.

[dammage79]

Trade 1: Brodie for Kapanen

Trade 2: Frolik to DET for pick #54

Trade 3: Pick 26 To Carolina for picks 37 and 59.

[jayswin]

I'm great at these.

Trade 1: Stuff we don't want for good player that fills a hole

Trade 2: Third line player, bubble prospect AND a pick, but for all that I expect a hard hitting, top six winger on a good contract


Trade 3: Dump a couple players that can't crack the line-up on albatross contracts for late picks. Late picks are what you get for untradeable contracts because that's better than buying them out.

[bubbsy]

So after a pretty lengthy time away (for the most part), I'm finally feeling less emotionally charged from the playoff letdown and ready to try to be a bit more pragmatic in my approach to the flames offseason and roster shuffle.

My takeaways from the flames playoff flame out was that:
- Gaudreau is what he is, elite talent, but if a team makes a point to finish their checks on him, he'll just avoid battling for the puck, and he becomes more or less ineffective. An ineffective Gaudreau, basically results in an ineffective Monahan/Lindholm. That's a bit of a knock on those guys, but at the same time, it's no secret that Gaudreau is the dynamic element to that line.

- The flames forward depth, which was considered a strength in the NHL regular season, proved to be meaningless in the playoffs. If the top line isn't going, there are no real offensive "drivers" to generate chances and momentum. I was severely disappointed in Tkachuk's inability to really do anything in the playoffs, and I am pointing the finger at him, as I expected more from him than his line mates (Backlund, and whoever plays RW).

- Bill Peters basically stopped doing the things that made him successful earlier in the season. Not afraid to mix up lines, quick promotions/demotions based on quality of play was reaping real benefits for the first half of the season but became unheard of for the latter half of the playoffs. The flames never seemed to recover from the all star break, and I didn't really see anything from the coaching staff to try something to stimulate a change. I also thought that Peters really struggled in the playoffs and seemed shell shocked making no real adjustments.

So in no real order here are my thoughts for the offseason:

1) The core is what we're going to win or lose with at this point. I don't think they can rip big chunks out of that, so they are better off in trying to augment the core, and have basically 2-3 years to ride things out before cycling back to a rebuild/retool if they choose to move on from the Monahan/Gaudreau era.

2) Tradable assets (outside of picks and minor league prospects):
- Brodie or Hamonic (As much as Brodie gets dumped on, and as 'stable' as Hamonic seems, I think I'd be fine with either to go if it can help the other gaps on the roster. I'd love to have a nasty, hard hitting, get in all the scrums, kind of stay at home dman, but I don't think Hamonic is what I was hoping for in this role. If Hamonic brings back more in a trade, then so be it).
- Frolik*
- Jankowski
- Stone*
- czarnik

* It would be great to simply get these contracts off the books.
Oh, and naturally Neal is on this list but I think it's basically an impossible contract to move unless we add a high value incentive, which I just don't think the flames can afford.

3) This team needs an actual scoring threat second line. Avs shutdown Gaudreau, and the entire team offence basically collapsed after that. I would prefer to see an upgrade at the 2C position, pushing Backlund to 3C, Ryan to 4C, however, if that is not possible, I would be intrigued in trying lindholm at the 2C spot and trying to improve the top 6 RW. At C, I would love to see a guy like Kadri, but am hopeful that there are other alternatives out there they can pursue. If they try to bring in a winger, I think there are plenty of options that are an improvement on what they have today.

4) Love Tkachuk, but I would be very very interested in a bridge deal. I haven't really seen a top line player their, but a damn good 2nd line player, but with some definite warts. Again, I look at the window being about 3 years before the flames really need to decide what to do with this core, and I think that includes Tkachuk (ie. is he one of the 3 or so players on an NHL roster that get close to that $10M/year cornerstone money). I'm not sure the flames can be sure of that as yet, not to mention I think Tkachuk is going to be a bit of an ugly negotiation. So, go short, try to use the few million saved on making the most of the next 3 years roster wise.

5) Goaltending... It was awesome to see Mike Smith raise his game, but man it's getting annoying not knowing what goaltending this team is going to get night in and night out. I think the flames have to go with a tandem approach, as I am also not sure what Rittich is at this point. I think a guy like Talbot would be an ideal fit here.

[FlameX]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Reaves is also in Evander Kane's head which would be helpful for Calgary as Kane has typically had his way with the team.

Flames 2019 4th for Ryan Reaves

As much as that would be cool, Reaves is staying in Vegas.

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

So after a pretty lengthy time away (for the most part), I'm finally feeling less emotionally charged from the playoff letdown and ready to try to be a bit more pragmatic in my approach to the flames offseason and roster shuffle.

My takeaways from the flames playoff flame out was that:
- Gaudreau is what he is, elite talent, but if a team makes a point to finish their checks on him, he'll just avoid battling for the puck, and he becomes more or less ineffective. An ineffective Gaudreau, basically results in an ineffective Monahan/Lindholm. That's a bit of a knock on those guys, but at the same time, it's no secret that Gaudreau is the dynamic element to that line.

- The flames forward depth, which was considered a strength in the NHL regular season, proved to be meaningless in the playoffs. If the top line isn't going, there are no real offensive "drivers" to generate chances and momentum. I was severely disappointed in Tkachuk's inability to really do anything in the playoffs, and I am pointing the finger at him, as I expected more from him than his line mates (Backlund, and whoever plays RW).

- Bill Peters basically stopped doing the things that made him successful earlier in the season. Not afraid to mix up lines, quick promotions/demotions based on quality of play was reaping real benefits for the first half of the season but became unheard of for the latter half of the playoffs. The flames never seemed to recover from the all star break, and I didn't really see anything from the coaching staff to try something to stimulate a change. I also thought that Peters really struggled in the playoffs and seemed shell shocked making no real adjustments.

So in no real order here are my thoughts for the offseason:

1) The core is what we're going to win or lose with at this point. I don't think they can rip big chunks out of that, so they are better off in trying to augment the core, and have basically 2-3 years to ride things out before cycling back to a rebuild/retool if they choose to move on from the Monahan/Gaudreau era.

2) Tradable assets (outside of picks and minor league prospects):
- Brodie or Hamonic (As much as Brodie gets dumped on, and as 'stable' as Hamonic seems, I think I'd be fine with either to go if it can help the other gaps on the roster. I'd love to have a nasty, hard hitting, get in all the scrums, kind of stay at home dman, but I don't think Hamonic is what I was hoping for in this role. If Hamonic brings back more in a trade, then so be it).
- Frolik*
- Jankowski
- Stone*
- czarnik

* It would be great to simply get these contracts off the books.
Oh, and naturally Neal is on this list but I think it's basically an impossible contract to move unless we add a high value incentive, which I just don't think the flames can afford.

3) This team needs an actual scoring threat second line. Avs shutdown Gaudreau, and the entire team offence basically collapsed after that. I would prefer to see an upgrade at the 2C position, pushing Backlund to 3C, Ryan to 4C, however, if that is not possible, I would be intrigued in trying lindholm at the 2C spot and trying to improve the top 6 RW. At C, I would love to see a guy like Kadri, but am hopeful that there are other alternatives out there they can pursue. If they try to bring in a winger, I think there are plenty of options that are an improvement on what they have today.

4) Love Tkachuk, but I would be very very interested in a bridge deal. I haven't really seen a top line player their, but a damn good 2nd line player, but with some definite warts. Again, I look at the window being about 3 years before the flames really need to decide what to do with this core, and I think that includes Tkachuk (ie. is he one of the 3 or so players on an NHL roster that get close to that $10M/year cornerstone money). I'm not sure the flames can be sure of that as yet, not to mention I think Tkachuk is going to be a bit of an ugly negotiation. So, go short, try to use the few million saved on making the most of the next 3 years roster wise.

5) Goaltending... It was awesome to see Mike Smith raise his game, but man it's getting annoying not knowing what goaltending this team is going to get night in and night out. I think the flames have to go with a tandem approach, as I am also not sure what Rittich is at this point. I think a guy like Talbot would be an ideal fit here.

To me the biggest need on this team right now isn't another top 6 winger, it is to get a 1C, which I think we have already and his name isn't Sean Monahan.

I think an option here that I know will not go over well in this community is to move Bennett up to play wing with JG and Lindholm (playing C).

That could free up Monahan to play either 2C which he is ideally suited for or trade him. Backlund should be the 3C on a team expecting to go deep in playoffs.

I agree that Peters went away from mixing his lines when things weren't going well, evidenced by the fact that our most effective forward all series was averaging 13 minutes a game... In the regular season Peters would have moved Bennett up to try to get other lines going from the get go in games not waiting until the third period.

In terms of other moves, I think the Flames prospect cupboards are extremely bare and if Tre fancies himself a long tenure GM like Poile amongst others, he should look to move Brodie, Stone and Frolik for picks to start to replenish some of that depth because our AHL team may have the least talent in the league next year depending on how many guys graduate to the big club.

I think we need a backup goalie like Talbot who can perform well with reduced starts unlike smith who only seemed to play well when he gets 80% or more of the starts over a certain time period.

By trusting in the guys we have and giving Bennett, Mangipane, Dube, etc. opportunities I think you no longer need to pursue a top 6 forward unless you want to move mony for someone who plays a 200ft game. and that gives us room to bring in some more guys who can play hard in the bottom 6 and add some muscle to our lineup come playoff time.

[Roof-Daddy]

Brodie for picks (I think a 1st + 2nd is fair but that's subjective)
Frolik for picks (I think a 2nd + maybe a 3rd or 4th is fair, but again it's subjective)

Jankowski + a pick for Tyler Johnson (late 1st probably?)

Sign Joonas Donskoi
Sign Petr Mrazek

Gaudreau - Monahan - Johnson
Tkachuk - Lindholm - Donskoi
Bennett - Backlund - Neal
Mangiapane - Ryan - Czarnik

Giordano - Andersson
Hanifin - Hamonic
Valimaki - Stone

Rittich
Mrazek