Bring back Gio!

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Hey look at the game. Gio goes on covid protocol and the Kraken have dominated...

but of course you have to defend him. What is your name? lol

Second on the team in ice time, and on a top 20 defense pairing.

35th in CF% and 35th in xGF% playing for an expansion team.

The guy is still a top pairing defenseman.

The Kraken are more than happy in what they've gotten in Mark Giordano.

You're Giordano hatred is truly one of the weirdest things on this site.

[Roof-Daddy]

Jesus anyways.

They gave up an asset to get Zadarov, and he's been fine.

If they were to waive him, then give up assets for Gio, all while the team is in the running for 1st in the league I would lose my marbles.

Time to move on, Gio's time in CGY is over. Maybe he will sign back here in the off season on a low AAV deal to finish his career with the Flames.

But do NOT give up assets to get him now.

Just be glad Seattle took him instead of Kylington.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Second on the team in ice time, and on a top 20 defense pairing.

35th in CF% and 35th in xGF% playing for an expansion team.

The guy is still a top pairing defenseman.

The Kraken are more than happy in what they've gotten in Mark Giordano.

You're Giordano hatred is truly one of the weirdest things on this site.

I guess you don't like playoff wins.... Wideman and Russell outplayed you in their playoff careers.....

Bring him back! as the Flame's community rep, or as an Asst GM. He is great for the city and the community. Just get him to stay the eff away from the ice.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Jesus anyways.

They gave up an asset to get Zadarov, and he's been fine.

If they were to waive him, then give up assets for Gio, all while the team is in the running for 1st in the league I would lose my marbles.

Time to move on, Gio's time in CGY is over. Maybe he will sign back here in the off season on a low AAV deal to finish his career with the Flames.

But do NOT give up assets to get him now.

Just be glad Seattle took him instead of Kylington.

Yeah this: I’m not opposed to him signing Thornton contracts going forward. You’d want a double retention to take him and I don’t think he fits anywhere except bottom pairing anyway.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Jesus anyways.

They gave up an asset to get Zadarov, and he's been fine.

If they were to waive him, then give up assets for Gio, all while the team is in the running for 1st in the league I would lose my marbles.

Time to move on, Gio's time in CGY is over. Maybe he will sign back here in the off season on a low AAV deal to finish his career with the Flames.

But do NOT give up assets to get him now.

Just be glad Seattle took him instead of Kylington.

Would you flip Zadorov + pick for Gio at the deadline?

[Heavy Jack]

Totally with you guys I’m not wanting to spend big assets on him but if we had the chance to turn Zad and a pick into Gio at the deadline I’d be fine with that.

Hanifin - Andersson
Kylington - Tanev
Giordano - Gudbranson
Valimaki - Stone

Doesn’t get much deeper than that for a playoff run.

[Enoch Root]

I have never understood the Gio hate on this board either. Gio would be an upgrade on Zadorov, but I don't like the idea of bringing him back for a couple reasons:

1) I doubt they would slot him into the 3rd pair with Gudbranson, and if they broke up the other two pairs to put him into the top 4, I think it is more likely that it disrupts the team than improves it. And if they just slot him in for Zadorov on the 3rd pair, I doubt it moves the needle much.

2) the Flames really only have one bullet to use at the deadline, and IMO, there are bigger holes. Either getting a C or an RW, to shore up that 3rd line, would have way more impact than trying to upgrade Zadorov.

Love Gio, and would be happy to bring him back in the summer, with a nice new contract. Maybe him and Valimaki are the 3rd pair next year. But giving up assets (likely a 1st) to acquire him for the playoffs, is not the way to go, IMO.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

I guess you don't like playoff wins.... Wideman and Russell outplayed you in their playoff careers.....

Bring him back! as the Flame's community rep, or as an Asst GM. He is great for the city and the community. Just get him to stay the eff away from the ice.

I'm just giving you facts.

You're the one with some emotional bias to contend with.

[Vinny01]

I would welcome back Gio but I also see how this could be a huge mistake.

Gio jumps to the top of my list of players to acquire if we see a long term injury to Hanifin or Kylington but otherwise I think it is a mistake. I feel like Gio would push Kylington down to the third pair instead of anchoring the third pair himself.

With Valimaki in the press box I think LHD is second only to LW in terms of strong depth for the org.

[the-rasta-masta]

I have a feeling Gio will likely be looking to sign here again in the offseason, at a discount to have his final few years in Calgary. Don't give up assets for him, he'll be available if we are interested I'd believe.

[tvp2003]

I also vote no for giving up assets for Gio. Unless we have injury issues, third pairing LD is a role for Valimaki to fill (if Zadorov can't do it).

Now, if Gio wants to consider signing here as a UFA this summer, that's another story. Gudbranson (UFA) will need a new deal, as will Kylington (RFA), so there may not even be a spot depending on how much he wants and what role he's willing to play.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'm just giving you facts.

You're the one with some emotional bias to contend with.

Did you not watch the games? He has been hot garbage since his Norris year. Can't score, can't hit, can't clear the front of the net.

Every single Flames D man this year has played better than Gio did his final 2 years here.

Everything was cemented last year in a game against the Jets. Connor scored 2 quick goals on us in the 1st and Gio had a chance to plant his scrawny ass to the boards behind our net. Send a message. Instead he plays 2 hand touch with him and he barely nudged him. Anti-looch. Lucic will make a way better captain on this team. And the Flames will have more playoff series this year than an entire career with Gio. At worst we would be tied...

[CroFlames]

I wish him well, but he shouldn't come here. It's too soon, and we don't have a captain. The risk of disrupting what we have is too much bringing in a Flames icon like him.

[cowtown75]

While I have huge respect for Gio, we cannot even fit in Valimaki right now. And we got Stone still waiting in the background.

[Toonage]

And a number of people's favorite mystery box defenseman, Mackey.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I have never understood the Gio hate on this board either. Gio would be an upgrade on Zadorov, but I don't like the idea of bringing him back for a couple reasons:

1) I doubt they would slot him into the 3rd pair with Gudbranson, and if they broke up the other two pairs to put him into the top 4, I think it is more likely that it disrupts the team than improves it. And if they just slot him in for Zadorov on the 3rd pair, I doubt it moves the needle much.

2) the Flames really only have one bullet to use at the deadline, and IMO, there are bigger holes. Either getting a C or an RW, to shore up that 3rd line, would have way more impact than trying to upgrade Zadorov.

Love Gio, and would be happy to bring him back in the summer, with a nice new contract. Maybe him and Valimaki are the 3rd pair next year. But giving up assets (likely a 1st) to acquire him for the playoffs, is not the way to go, IMO.

1) Sutter slotted Regehr on the third pair in L.A. I think Kylington and Hanifin have cemented their spots here up the lineup as Muzzin and Voynov did there. If there's an injury in the top 4 I'd much rather have Gio be the next guy up (I.E. Kylington-Andersson / Gio-Tanev) rather than how that one Pittsburgh game went down with Hanifin out (Andersson-Tanev / Valimaki-Gudbranson / Kylington-Stone) since he is actually showing a top 4 level of play in Seattle. Or if a guy like Gudbranson goes down, Gio inspires a lot more confidence on PK1 than Hanifin, while being able to carry a pair with guys like Zadorov. As I see it, Gio becomes our #5 and Gubdranson drops doen to #6, which is a better slotting for our bluelune.

2) While I agree the bottom six forward group in particular could use some work, I disagree that we only have one bullet to use if Tre really pushes. Back in 2016 the Penguins had a pretty major midseason roster overhaul, but the moves they made were pretty seemingly lowkey in the big picture, but turned out huge in terms of fit and need. Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley. A 3rd for Justin Schultz. Brandon Sutter for Nick Bonino. David Perron for Carl Hagelin. And significant callups from the AHL (Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, and Tom Kuhnhackle).

In essence, they turned their versions of Zadorov (Scuderi) and Monahan (Sutter/Perron) into key contributors. If Treliving is willing to make some minor moves with the guys who are presently an iffy fit, his roster in April could be much improved without giving up a first for a wild deadline rental.

While I too am hesitant to be giving up major assets for a rental, I don't think Gio is any worse an option than the pending UFA forwards who will be available.

I guess we'll see what Tre does, but I'm hoping that he really gets serious about tweaking the roster. This is the best team we've had in the Gaudreau era, but it's still only built for Oct-Feb. Once the contenders start loading up on rentals (plus guys like Eichel in Vegas, Kucherov in Tampa, Barkov in Florida return from injury) we'll have to find ways to keep up with them, and the forward group + defense group will both need to be improved.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Did you not watch the games? He has been hot garbage since his Norris year. Can't score, can't hit, can't clear the front of the net.

Every single Flames D man this year has played better than Gio did his final 2 years here.

Everything was cemented last year in a game against the Jets. Connor scored 2 quick goals on us in the 1st and Gio had a chance to plant his scrawny ass to the boards behind our net. Send a message. Instead he plays 2 hand touch with him and he barely nudged him. Anti-looch. Lucic will make a way better captain on this team. And the Flames will have more playoff series this year than an entire career with Gio. At worst we would be tied...

Are you honestly asking the guy that writes 82 game stories a year if he watches the games?

That has to be the lamest things someone can say if they have an opinion that flies in the face of pretty much any stat you can look up.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Sign him in the offseason. He can be traded to a contender that wants to pony up the assets to get him at 50%. We on the other hand have a good thing going. We’ve other needs, such as secondary scoring.

[Enoch Root]

There is a really good chance we can acquire Gio in the summer for nothing.

So it makes no sense to throw a 1st round pick away (likely what it would take), to acquire him a few months sooner.

If you want to spend that 1st round pick, upgrade the middle 6 with it.

In case anyone forgot, the Flames are the #1 defensive team in the league right now - #1. There are more pressing areas to upgrade.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Are you honestly asking the guy that writes 82 game stories a year if he watches the games?

That has to be the lamest things someone can say if they have an opinion that flies in the face of pretty much any stat you can look up.

About on par with noting that the Kraken won two games (one was against Buffalo) without Gio.

Note they also won (with Gio) a couple big ones in a row against the Caps and Canes, and earlier against the Habs and Wild, but I guess those don’t count.