[Signing] Backlund re-signs. 6 years, AAV $5.35M

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

I have been hard on Backlund and the contract, but there are some solids stats refuting my position.

What I can't for the life of me understand is how can a team with a top line with a top 3 in the league in points player + 30/25 goal scoring linemates, plus a second line with the strong 2 way play of the 3m line, and with top 5 in the league top d pairing and an upper echelon goalie tandem be out of a playoff spot???

The only conclusion I can draw, is an idiotic coaching staff too dumb to recognize the lack of depth and the need to ride the top guys to garner any kind of success.....


Ugh

I don't think the tandem is upper echelon. The starter is/was. And when he went down the Flames were in a PO spot.

Monahan and Backlund play 2/3 of the game. Jankowski and Stajan get 1/3, with Jankowski playing a fair bit more than Stajan, who plays about 1/6 of every game. Do you know any PO team that gives the top two lines more than 2/3 of the game?

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I don't think the tandem is upper echelon. The starter is/was. And when he went down the Flames were in a PO spot.

Monahan and Backlund play 2/3 of the game. Jankowski and Stajan get 1/3, with Jankowski playing a fair bit more than Stajan, who plays about 1/6 of every game. Do you know any PO team that gives the top two lines more than 2/3 of the game?

While in a backup role Rittich was lights out. Even Prior to the injury to smith, this team a bubble team in spite of the things I mentioned.

See in my view if the bottom 6 is only playing 1/3, are they so detrimental that our amazing top line and great (debatable) 2nd line can't make enough impact in their 2/3s of ice time.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

While in a backup role Rittich was lights out. Even Prior to the injury to smith, this team a bubble team in spite of the things I mentioned.

See in my view if the bottom 6 is only playing 1/3, are they so detrimental that our amazing top line and great (debatable) 2nd line can't make enough impact in their 2/3s of ice time.

You are contradicting your earlier post, are you not?

Frankly, IMO the main issue with the team has been the third line. The first line gets top checkers, the second line plays top scorers (and the fourth line if the opposition tries to change and take advantage) - it's the third line where guys like Bennett and Jankowski should make some hay.

[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

You are contradicting your earlier post, are you not?

Frankly, IMO the main issue with the team has been the third line. The first line gets top checkers, the second line plays top scorers (and the fourth line if the opposition tries to change and take advantage) - it's the third line where guys like Bennett and Jankowski should make some hay.

Well thats the other problem in that the right wing is usually an AHLer or ineffective.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

I have been hard on Backlund and the contract, but there are some solids stats refuting my position.

What I can't for the life of me understand is how can a team with a top line with a top 3 in the league in points player + 30/25 goal scoring linemates, plus a second line with the strong 2 way play of the 3m line, and with top 5 in the league top d pairing and an upper echelon goalie tandem be out of a playoff spot???

The only conclusion I can draw, is an idiotic coaching staff too dumb to recognize the lack of depth and the need to ride the top guys to garner any kind of success.....


Ugh

Depth in their bottom 6+bottom 4 pairing as well as the explicable ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Flamenspiel

Well thats the other problem in that the right wing is usually an AHLer or ineffective.

2/3 of a good line should still contribute more than they have, even if their RW is there just to bang bodies and dig pucks, like Hathaway.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

You are contradicting your earlier post, are you not?

Frankly, IMO the main issue with the team has been the third line. The first line gets top checkers, the second line plays top scorers (and the fourth line if the opposition tries to change and take advantage) - it's the third line where guys like Bennett and Jankowski should make some hay.

My first post was stating that a team that has a top 6 as strong as we perceive it to be (plus the top pairing and strong goaltending until recently) should have been enough to thrust this team into a playoff position.

You countered that the bottom 6 still has to play 1/3 of the time, to which I am stating that (perhaps incorrectly) that shouldn't the 2/3s of solid line play compensate for the weak 1/3.

At it's core, i feel the top line has been sufficient, especially gaudreau. I think the second line has not been great for much of the season, outside of tkachuk. The bottom 6 have been an offensive disaster.

i still blame the coach. we're approaching frigin 70 games into the season, where there is no secret that the depth is garbage. You have gaudrea/tkachuk who can drive their own lines, and then you have backlund/frolik who have a track record in 2 way play now. Use your frigin brain and TRY SOMETHING when things aren't working.

Leave the top line as it is. But how do we spread the wealth among the 2nd and 3rd line.

bennet - backlund - frolik
tkachuk - jankowski - brouwer/hathaway

Our idiotic coaching staff not even trying different combinations to spread out our A players to create some line depth is beyond me. I know it's rude, but i actually think this coaching staff is literally stupid/dumb. 65 games in, scoring depth has been a problem, top line scoring not so much, yet they have taken literally ZERO steps available in their arsenal (ie. nothing needed from the GM/Management) to try something different.

there's a pattern here. How long did it take to pull brodie off the top PP and put our most offensive dmen on the top PP point pairing?

Stubborn stupidness, that i can only hope costs them their job. Fail fast genius, if hasn't worked for 15-20 games, TRY SOMETHING different!

You go GG, keep shuffling lazar in and out. That's the magic key to what ails you and your team. can't wait till this genius is out of calgary.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

My first post was stating that a team that has a top 6 as strong as we perceive it to be (plus the top pairing and strong goaltending until recently) should have been enough to thrust this team into a playoff position.

You countered that the bottom 6 still has to play 1/3 of the time, to which I am stating that (perhaps incorrectly) that shouldn't the 2/3s of solid line play compensate for the weak 1/3.

At it's core, i feel the top line has been sufficient, especially gaudreau. I think the second line has not been great for much of the season, outside of tkachuk. The bottom 6 have been an offensive disaster.

i still blame the coach. we're approaching frigin 70 games into the season, where there is no secret that the depth is garbage. You have gaudrea/tkachuk who can drive their own lines, and then you have backlund/frolik who have a track record in 2 way play now. Use your frigin brain and TRY SOMETHING when things aren't working.

Leave the top line as it is. But how do we spread the wealth among the 2nd and 3rd line.

bennet - backlund - frolik
tkachuk - jankowski - brouwer/hathaway

Our idiotic coaching staff not even trying different combinations to spread out our A players to create some line depth is beyond me. I know it's rude, but i actually think this coaching staff is literally stupid/dumb. 65 games in, scoring depth has been a problem, top line scoring not so much, yet they have taken literally ZERO steps available in their arsenal (ie. nothing needed from the GM/Management) to try something different.

there's a pattern here. How long did it take to pull brodie off the top PP and put our most offensive dmen on the top PP point pairing?

Stubborn stupidness, that i can only hope costs them their job. Fail fast genius, if hasn't worked for 15-20 games, TRY SOMETHING different!

You go GG, keep shuffling lazar in and out. That's the magic key to what ails you and your team. can't wait till this genius is out of calgary.

Our idiotic coaches have major deployment problems all around, but particularly they rely on Crutches. When something works, they are absolutely terrified of trying something different. 3M is the biggest crutch of all for the coaching staff.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Our idiotic coaches have major deployment problems all around, but particularly they rely on Crutches. When something works, they are absolutely terrified of trying something different. 3M is the biggest crutch of all for the coaching staff.

3M line and only allowing "proper" sided D-men.

[jayswin]

The L/R shooting defense issue is even worse because not only does it hamper Gulutzen with injuries, it basically makes it two different positions for Brad Treliving to trade, sign and promote for. What a ****ing unnecessary handcuff.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

While in a backup role Rittich was lights out. Even Prior to the injury to smith, this team a bubble team in spite of the things I mentioned.

See in my view if the bottom 6 is only playing 1/3, are they so detrimental that our amazing top line and great (debatable) 2nd line can't make enough impact in their 2/3s of ice time.

This line of thinking is why we're not a better team right now. Most bottom 6 forwards play roughly 40% of the game and the top 2 lines can't score every game. This isn't basketball.

Our top guys are already hitting career highs and the 2nd line is putting up a roughly similar pace to last season scoring wise. So why can't the 3rd and 4th line not help out?

That's the difference in the league, good teams have 2 good lines, but in the end, they cancel each other out and what's left is your bottom 6. The best teams in the league have the depth to make 3 dangerous lines, that's why they win so much.

When the top guys don't score, other lines pick up the slack. If anyone remembers the Penguins Stanley Cup win 2015-16, Phil Kessel played mostly on the 3rd line that post season and absolutely torched bottom pairing defensemen. If we had something even remotely close, we'd have a much better record and everyone wouldn't be losing their minds around here.