Feels like for at least this year they are better. They added older players but a much better look for the next 1-2 years. Solid up the middle, super deep blueline, elite goaltending, fairly strong on the wing and hall of fame coaching.
Team is a little old now but basically in their prime and perfect for Darryl
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On paper, yes.
If some of the young guys can step in and play impactful hockey, even more so.
Credit to BT for putting together this improbable roster after everything.
This is the other factor. Richardson, Ritchie, Monahan all contributed very little last season.
The Flames didn't have any NHL ready prospects other than the hopes Valimaki would give the team a shot in the arm and he did not.
This year Valimaki could be in the equation but Pelletier, Ruzicka, Phillips and Mackey could be factors. Maybe even Wolf.
Also think we got a poor version of Toffoli, he can be better.
Huberdeau is a big boy and he can be a bit mean out there. Kadri isn't easy to play against. Even Lindholm can take your head off. This team coached by Sutter is a Sutter type team
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To make this fair you have to look at how the team was viewed before they played last year. There were a few who thought they could make the playoffs. But there was a lot of people who did not think much of the team 12 months ago. I thought they would be fighting tooth and nail to win 40 games by s 2-1 score and maybe be in the playoffs. So today...I'm much more optimistic with the team that's starting the 2022 season.
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This is the other factor. Richardson, Ritchie, Monahan all contributed very little last season.
The Flames didn't have any NHL ready prospects other than the hopes Valimaki would give the team a shot in the arm and he did not.
This year Valimaki could be in the equation but Pelletier, Ruzicka, Phillips and Mackey could be factors. Maybe even Wolf.
Also think we got a poor version of Toffoli, he can be better.
Huberdeau is a big boy and he can be a bit mean out there. Kadri isn't easy to play against. Even Lindholm can take your head off. This team coached by Sutter is a Sutter type team
I suspect that Toffoli wasn't conditioned to the way Sutter would have liked as he came to the team.
Many here mentioned that Toffoli was too slow, and there were a few particular games during the playoffs where he seemed absolutely gassed during his shift (as it was pointed out by the commentators).
When Sutter took over coaching in 2020/2021, one of the first things he mentioned for improvement was that the team was not conditioned enough to play at a pace required to succeed and win championships.
Toffoli now has a full off season to condition himself upwards to match the rest of the team. I suspect he'll have a solid season and make solid contributions if he does that.
Undoubtedly. Better defence. Huberdeau is bigger and stronger than Gaudreau. Kadri is, arguably, a more complete player than Tkachuk and plays centre. Players that want to be here. I think they are a much better playoff team now.
Might not show in the regular season but this team is much better built for playoffs.
This is my thought as well.
-Kadri won't fade like Tkachuk, as we witnessed
-Huberdeau is bigger which probably helps when the physicality is ramped up
-Weegar helps massively to fill the void in case of a Tanev level injury, we will not be nearly as debilitated as we were when he went down
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Darryl Sutter won't say it outright but I bet he likes this roster better for his cup aspirations.
Yeah, Kadri brings that recent cup experience to add with Coleman's. That is pretty big. Plus Toffoli... that's three players in the top 6 that know what it takes to win. Add to that, Lucic and Lewis in the bottom 6.
Kadri was a pretty important player in the Avs run to the Cup as well. Sutter is probably going to lean on him hard. He also brings his experience playing on the same team as the best player in the league who is known to have really good off ice habits. Some people have said that MacKinnon's insistence on healthy off ice habits for his team is a big reason that the Avs have been successful, so hopefully Kadri brings some of that to the Flames as well. Not that I think the Flames players are bad off the ice, but it's all part of knowing what it takes to win.
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I think the Flames are better with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri because they’re better overall players than Gaudreau and Tkachuk who’s knock was they couldn’t get to that next level.
I think Huberdeau could potentially reach Iginla’s level of stardom and Kadri is just such a tough competitor as well as being skilled.
Plus we have Weegar on D, this off-season couldn’t have been any better really.
I’m really looking forward to this up coming season.
I don't know if they are better or not, but if they're worse it seems like they wouldn't be worse by much and that's pretty remarkable given how they lost their two biggest stars to start the off-season.
Weegar seems like the chip that might tip the balance in favour of being better.
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I think this season will depend heavily on how good the Flames are on the powerplay.
They're not likely to outdo last year's team 5 on 5, but have the pieces to play a stronger defensive game, draw penalties, and hopefully execute with the man advantage. I think it will be particularly critical to their playoff success.
A lot will come down to things like chemistry too, but on paper I don't see this team as likely to see much of a drop off from last year in the regular season. What difference there is will probably be more a reflection of the strength of their division rivals next year vs last.
Statistically they won't be as good. I feel like there will be a moderate regression in scoring. It's going to be tough to have almost 0 injuries again, let alone have all the players gel immediately when there have been significant departures.
