Building The 2018/19 Flames Roster

[AC]

The Reddit user clarified that the Preds aren't shopping Saros, just that Treliving inquired and has been looking into other goalies with #1 potential in general.

His track record is legit though. Reported the coaching staff firing the day before, the Lindholm signing 2 days before, the Brouwer buyout the day before, maybe a few others.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

It would make more sense to have the Flames get Rinnie.

Rinnie is a UFA at the end of the year and was a shaky against the Avs and maybe even a bit shell shocked against the Jets. The Predators are likely getting close to having Sarros as their #1 guy in the playoffs. If Rinnie does not fit into their long term plans it would be a lot easier for them to split Sarros/ Smith 50% rather than Rennie/Sarros 50-50.

Rinnie has a list of 10 teams he can't be moved to. Maybe there are 10 teams that would be less appealing than Calgary.

Rinnie for Smith and a player. The Preds youngest D-man is Ellis (27)..

Andersen Kulak or maybe Bennett now that he has been moved down the Flames depth chart.

The Preds have the long term cap room that they could take Backlund as a replacement for Mike Fisher

Please explain why the Flames would trade a #2C on a long-term contract (or a very young forward with top 6 potential) and an ageing pending UFA goalie for another team's ageing pending UFA goalie. Are you basically suggesting giving either Backlund or Bennett for nothing? How does getting a pending UFA goalie improve the Flames' goaltending situation going forward?

As a pending UFA of the same age, I don't think that Rinne is that much better than Smith that the Flames would benefit from giving up anything significant for him. And why would they want a 7M contract instead of a 4.25M one?

Originally Posted by AC

The Reddit user clarified that the Preds aren't shopping Saros, just that Treliving inquired and has been looking into other goalies with #1 potential in general.

His track record is legit though. Reported the coaching staff firing the day before, the Lindholm signing 2 days before, the Brouwer buyout the day before, maybe a few others.

Sounds fairly legit, although I'm sure anyone with a brain could have predicted the Brouwer buyout and the day it would happen, based on the buyout window following arbitration.

[zockey]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Gillies had strange moments, or hiccups you could call them. But what was encouraging was for large stretches of time sandwiching those he would shut the door. I think that, if anything, may be a sign of him having starter potential more so than recent kids we've had come through and fall short. The difference between his and Rittich's bad games down the stretch is his bad goals would come all at once when he seemed to lose focus whereas Rittich might let stinkers in all game when he wasn't on. Seems like Gillies just has to work a little more on keeping focus to cut down on those blips.

That's not to take away from Rittich's role as a backup where he was excellent. It was coming into the starter role officially where he sort of came off the rails.

However the whole team fell off the rails

[GreenLantern2814]

13-23-18
19-11-28
93-77-67
?-10-27
?

5-7
24-55
?-26
?

41
?

Not a lot of open roster spots coming into camp. 12/13th forward, 6/7 D, backup goalie. Hathaway shouldn't be on the roster. I'd rather Mangiapane/Foo than Hathaway/Lazar/Quine. I'm fine if none of those last three ever play for us again. I don't care what the Corsi says.

Looks like we have the makings of a pretty solid modern NHL team though.

[SeanCharles]

^theres also the 14th forward spot so there looks to be 6 roster spots up for grabs.

You have the locks correct.

12-14th forward battle: Lazar, Hathaway, Mangiapane, Foo and Dube are the most likely to win the 3 jobs.

6-7 dman battle: Kulak, Prout, Andersson, Valimaki and Kylington will battle for 2 spots.

Backup goalie: Gillies or Rittich will win the job as Parsons needs more development time.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

^theres also the 14th forward spot so there looks to be 6 roster spots up for grabs.

You have the locks correct.

12-14th forward battle: Lazar, Hathaway, Mangiapane, Foo and Dube are the most likely to win the 3 jobs.

6-7 dman battle: Kulak, Prout, Andersson, Valimaki and Kylington will battle for 2 spots.

Backup goalie: Gillies or Rittich will win the job as Parsons needs more development time.

I always forget the 14th forward... Okay. Mangiapane, Foo and Dube. Dube's the best of the three.

I continue to be underwhelmed by Brett Kulak, and will remain hopeful that the patience displayed with Oliver Kylington pays off.

[wretched34]

was just thinking about the Powerplay.
Holy man does it feel good to not think about Brouwer.
We could actually be a pretty dominant powerplay team this year with:

Tkachuk-Monahan-Neal
Johnny-Brodie

Bennett-Lindholm-Jankowski
Hanifin-Gio

And still have guys like Backlund, Frolik, Ryan, Stone and young wingers like Foo or Mangiapane available.

I put Brodie on PP1, because I think when he's on his game, he's the best puck moving d-man we have, the only downside is no real bomb from the point. Maybe Hanifin proves to be a better fit there, though I haven't seen enough of him to know if his shot is any better.

Can the season start now please....

[SeanCharles]

Backlund and Ryan will be on the PP.

If Andersson makes the team you'd have to think he would slot in on the 2nd unit as well.

Bennett and Jankowski are going to be hard pressed to get any PP time..

They will have to earn it.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Bennett and Jankowski will really have to earn their PP time. They each had 3 points on the PP with relatively small amount of time last year.

Backlund produced significantly more on the PP while Ryan was a PP favourite for Peters with over 2:00 of PP time a game these past 2 years under his coach.

Carolina also favoured a four forward system, although they didn't have Giordano, Hanifin and Brodie as options (Faulk and Hanifin were the two lone defenseman getting PP time), so if Brodie gets his head out of his ass that does give him three options.

[wretched34]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

Backlund and Ryan will be on the PP.

If Andersson makes the team you'd have to think he would slot in on the 2nd unit as well.

Bennett and Jankowski are going to be hard pressed to get any PP time..

They will have to earn it.

if Backlund and Ryan are on the PP, do you run a 2nd PP unit of 3 natural centers?
Ryan-Backlund-Lindholm?

I think if Bennett shows improvement with better wingers, and Jankowski continues to score, Backlund and Ryan will be utilized more on the PK.
I do think Backlund will center the 2nd unit to start, and Ryan may replace him from time to time.

Andersson has a shot that I would like to see on that 1st unit, but he needs to prove himself first.

So many options!

[Oling_Roachinen]

Also Peters called Czarnik an elite power play player in their discussions. A bit of a wildcard but if he does draw into the lineup as expected, he'll likely be seeing second PP time.

Gaudreau, Monahan, Neal, Lindholm, Tkachuk, Backlund, Ryan and Czarnik are the forwards I see making up the top PP lines to start the season at least.

[Nelson]

What about trying to trade for Semyon Varlamov? In four of the past five seasons, the guy has played 50 or more games and, in those seasons, had 927, 921, 914 and 920 save percentages in those seasons. Colorado just acquired Grubauer. If they want him to start a lot, perhaps Varlamov wouldn’t be too expensive. I wonder if we could trade Smith (giving them a 2nd option) and some other assets.

[Toonage]

Pretty sure the only reason he saw 50 games or fewer those seasons was due to recurring injuries. Mostly groin problems. No thanks.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Pretty sure the only reason he saw 50 games or fewer those seasons was due to recurring injuries. Mostly groin problems. No thanks.

Oh, I didn’t realize he had recurring groin issues. Still, he’s only played less than 51 games once in the last four seasons and is 6 years younger than Smith.

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

If I recall some people were pretty harsh writing Backlund off. They had no patience at all and probably no real experience outside of an unbridled opinion. We just listened to a whole bunch of experts on here telling us how bad Vegas was going to be and how the GM had done a terrible job! They sounded like experts at the time but for those who had to listen, it was terribly misleading and ended up being completely wrong. I don't have a lot of confidence in the posters telling us how bad Bennett is. I would rather the Flames give Bennett opportunities to succeed. I think if Tkachuck was converted to a center we would be seeing the same sorts of confidence issues. The adjustment itself is enough that Tkachuck likely wouldn't have been able to be effective as an agitator and pest.





My assessment is converting Bennett to center impacted his ability to play his game and then putting him with players that didn't complement his skill further eroded his confidence. I would love to see Bennett take on some of Tkachuk's agitating qualities, I think this would help his identity and get people off his back. He would then be seen more of an impact player and not judged on solely goals or points. Chances are the key to helping Bennett along is identifying his skill and attributes and exploiting them. If he can be put with players who complement his qualities he might do a lot better. Johnny might have even struggled playing with poor line-mates.

Bennett wasn’t converted to a centre, he was drafted as a centre. Tkachuk is not a centre. I don’t get the comparison.

[TheIronMaiden]

Here is an article about the average age, weight and height of NHL teams last year.

https://theathletic.com/210035/2018/...ht-and-weight/

Last year the Flames were one of the Oldest and tallest teams, but also one of the lightest.

It will be interesting to see how the Flames shape up this year.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Here is an article about the average age, weight and height of NHL teams last year.

https://theathletic.com/210035/2018/...ht-and-weight/

Last year the Flames were one of the Oldest and tallest teams, but also one of the lightest.

It will be interesting to see how the Flames shape up this year.

I have a hard time believing the Flames are/were one of the oldest teams last year....I guess if you factor in Jagr, Stajan and Smith as outliers it probably skewed the numbers significantly though.

Edit: Quick review and it looks like that number is down to 26.9 based on the current roster compared to last year. This would vault them into the top half of youngest teams based on those figures.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I have a hard time believing the Flames are/were one of the oldest teams last year....I guess if you factor in Jagr, Stajan and Smith as outliers it probably skewed the numbers significantly though.

Sean Tierney has a roster construction done for each team with rankings for age and he had the Flames at 16th with Brouwer. Would have to think they're a top 12-13 team in terms of youth now.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Sean Tierney has a roster construction done for each team with rankings for age and he had the Flames at 16th with Brouwer. Would have to think they're a top 12-13 team in terms of youth now.

That seems about right. Kind of highlights that the future should be now for this incarnation of the team, given the prospects and draft picks situation.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I have a hard time believing the Flames are/were one of the oldest teams last year....I guess if you factor in Jagr, Stajan and Smith as outliers it probably skewed the numbers significantly though.

Edit: Quick review and it looks like that number is down to 26.9 based on the current roster compared to last year. This would vault them into the top half of youngest teams based on those figures.

26.9 with a 20-man roster

26.4 for the 23-man roster, if you assume Andersson, Mangiapane and Foo are the extra guys

It is worth a adding the caveat that Smith is the oldest player on the team. Excluding the goalies drops it by almost half a year.