What Should the Flames do at the Trade Deadline?

[rhino]

Stop throwing Brouwer in trades.... management like him and he has the no trade. Just because people don’t like his contract they put him on every trade scenario.

[dissentowner]

I wonder what we could get for Brouwer.

[FlamesFanTrev]

You guys are missing the most obvious flames trade target. Can't win a cup these days without Chris Kunitz...

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I wonder what we could get for Brouwer.

Drouin, but it would have to happen now to make sense.

[Vinny01]

I can see the Flames doing nothing at the deadline but it won’t be for lack of trying.

Evander Kane remains among a handful of rentals I could see the Flames looking at. I see them sifting through the bargain bin a guy like Sharp, Vrbata etc but Kane is the only name guy I could see them getting. He fits the age and physical style the Flames want to play. They only get him if the price drops very low and they can send players like Shinkaruk, Klimchuk, Poirier for him so very unlikely.

I definitely think the Flames could be a destination for Max Domi. The management group here drafted him in Phoenix and it doesn’t hurt giving up futures or prospects to get him because he is young. The risk is he has been declining and could be a more expensive version of Lazar. If the Flames make a play for him I would be confident Treliving/Maloney know who they are getting and it is a classic change of scenery deal.

I know the draft is the typical time to do a hockey trade but this will be Treliving’s last chance before the summer to make a move. Could he consider moving a core player? Brodie, Bennett, Frolik, Stone?

Personally I don’t think the roster as constructed is going to get it done. Playoffs are not a given and if they make it I don’t see this group winning much. I hope the team looks slightly different and adds some scoring power before 1pm Monday.

[Eric Vail]

The only way the Flames are going on a run is by the players currently on the team elevating their game and getting their poop in a group like the 2004 Flames did and several other teams have done since then who were not one of the NHL's top teams.

For the Flames to put them in a situation to become a favourite expected to make big noise in the playoffs, they would need to add several all star players, which isn't going to happen.

Trading some top prospects or more high draft picks for a middling forward or defenseman isn't going to be a difference maker this year and will set them back for the long term.

The Flames should go ahead with what they have more or less. Perhaps they could win a round, maybe even two if things go their way. That would be great experience to give our young players like Monahan, Gaudreau, Ferland, Tkachuk, Bennett, Jankowski, Rittich, Hamilton, Kulak and others who are only getting better. If they can have a young defenseman step forward on to the roster next year.

The Flames best shot is in a few years, not today, so don't sell important parts of the future.

[GullFoss]

The best move from a risk-reward stand point is to sign Iggy for use as a 4th line winger and PP specialist. They sure could use his world class RH shot and intensity.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

The best move from a risk-reward stand point is to sign Iggy for use as a 4th line winger and PP specialist. They sure could use his world class RH shot and intensity.

Oh Lord not this again...

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I wonder what we could get for Brouwer.

Would the Sharks trade for Brouwer if we took Paul Martin?

[daveinspruce]

Please bring us Domi...PLEASE

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I wonder what we could get for Brouwer.

Ryan Callahan.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Ryan Callahan.

Man its when you see contracts like Callahan’s that you say to yourself, ‘You know Troy isn’t that bad.. he’s bad.. but he’s not that bad’

[Duffalufagus]

They can’t do anything meaningful. So hold tight. Odds of making the playoffs are marginal now at best. Do not trade any menainglful asset.

We aren’t winning #### this year anyway. Even if we do somehow manage to knuckle drag in.

[iamca]

I see the Flames doing something at the deadline in a small way, and they still look like they'll be golfing in early April.

Mike Smith, Brouwer, and Versteeg into the lineup don't equate to making the playoffs. Not catching Vegas, and San Jose, LA, and even Anaheim do not look like they are challenged at all the way the Flames have been the last 16 games.

If you can sell high, otherwise don't squander young assets at the deadline for nothing.

As soon as the season is over jettison the entire coaching staff and start instilling a winning culture, instead of the continued mediocrity that this franchise has endured for far too long.

If you examine the last 16 games or the fact that this team is below.500 at home, you can take off the homer glasses and see the truth... Too many passengers on too many nights and not once sitting a player in the press box for a night or two to wake them up.

Mediocrity and trending down as well as lacking draft picks this season, does not mean this team should be buying at the deadline.

[Calgary4LIfe]

It is sometimes really funny what a change of scenery can do. For instance, the Flames made a very minor move in 2005, acquiring a 27 year old who had put up a career average of .49 pts/gm, and had just cleared waivers, for a lower-range defensive prospect (RIP) and another prospect that never had a sniff in the NHL (barely a sniff in the AHL either).

Turned out to be pure magic for a long time, even if some didn't appreciate him, he still put up .84 pts/gm in Flames silks. That's right, Kristian Huselius, who became a legitimate offensive threat for the Flames for those 3 seasons. I would love a Huselius-type on the third line with Bennett and Jankowski right now. Everyone was pretty sure that Huselius 'was what he was' at age 27 and having played 3 straight seasons in the NHL already, and seemingly worsening offensively.

I will keep an open mind on who the Flames acquire (as long as the cost is not too high, and he is not too old, and is not a pure rental). Find us another Huselius Brad.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by iamca

Not catching Vegas, and San Jose, LA, and even Anaheim do not look like they are challenged at all the way the Flames have been the last 16 games.


If you examine the last 16 games or the fact that this team is below.500 at home, you can take off the homer glasses and see the truth... Too many passengers on too many nights and not once sitting a player in the press box for a night or two to wake them up.

I'm not a proponent of weakening the team long term to push after this trade deadline, but this is an awful outlook as a fan.

Over their last 16 games the points break down like this among the teams you mention:

Flames 17 points
Kings 18 points
Sharks 20 points
Ducks 23 points

Suggesting those teams will be "unchallenged" by the Flames with how tight the standings are right now is an extremely bleak outlook.

Negative debbie downer fans of all those teams could be saying the exact same thing about the worst contracts on their team.

Just doesn't make sense to root for and follow a team and have such a terrible, pessimistic outlook.

The Flames are very much in the fight and it will be fun watching it go down to the wire. Well... maybe not fun for everyone.

[iamca]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

I'm not a proponent of weakening the team long term to push after this trade deadline, but this is an awful outlook as a fan.

Over their last 16 games the points break down like this among the teams you mention:

Flames 17 points
Kings 18 points
Sharks 20 points
Ducks 23 points

Suggesting those teams will be "unchallenged" by the Flames with how tight the standings are right now is an extremely bleak outlook.

Negative debbie downer fans of all those teams could be saying the exact same thing about the worst contracts on their team.

Just doesn't make sense to root for and follow a team and have such a terrible, pessimistic outlook.

The Flames are very much in the fight and it will be fun watching it go down to the wire. Well... maybe not fun for everyone.

I can't argue with your points and it is a bleak outlook. Part of my pessimistic outlook is based on how the teams are acquiring their points over this stretch.

I hope I am wrong and I will stick to my something small in terms of any deadline deals, but hopefully finding a player who can spark this team definitely would help.

Not usually such a Debbie Downer, but I am frustrated as a lifelong fan. This roster should be better and not just on paper, but in their results.

We'll see how things go and obviously I will be watching, cheering, and hoping....

[genetic_phreek]

Originally Posted by iamca

I can't argue with your points and it is a bleak outlook. Part of my pessimistic outlook is based on how the teams are acquiring their points over this stretch.

I hope I am wrong and I will stick to my something small in terms of any deadline deals, but hopefully finding a player who can spark this team definitely would help.

Not usually such a Debbie Downer, but I am frustrated as a lifelong fan. This roster should be better and not just on paper, but in their results.

We'll see how things go and obviously I will be watching, cheering, and hoping....

This is bang on. Flames have 5 wins in their last 15 games and those wins were one goal games.

[bubbsy]

I would have voted "sell" but the flames just signed their one major tradeable asset long term in backlund.

This year's Pacific division has 3 of the bottom teams (yotes, oilers, canucks), 3 aging teams that you wouldn't be wrong in stating that their "best before date" has past for their cores (sharks, kings, ducks), and 1 wild unknown in vegas.

Out of the 8 teams in the division, they are:
- 5th best in the standings and point%
- 5th best in goal differential

So, in a pretty mediocre to weak division, the flames are still basically on the outside looking in as far as being a divisional playoff team.

We're 60 games in now, i don't really care for the advanced stats story, or some arbitrary metric that can be shaped to tell me this team is playing well, is unlucky, etc. This team is flat out a playoff bubble team, that has just a high a chance of missing the playoffs altogether rather than squeaking in.

They don't really appear to have any NEXT level in them. Their current point % streak equates to about 94 points (with most considering 96 the most conservative estimate of what it will take to get in). If we ignore their one extended hot streak, where they won 7 in a row in Jan, they have played the rest of the year at a point % that equates to 85 points!

In a conference where MORE than half of the teams make the playoffs, the only way one could summarize them is below average.

Given how much they invested in this year, the picks handed out to build this roster, i sure hope management realizes their substantial miscalculation in assessing how good a team they have built. Stop the bleeding. Ride this thing out, and then use the offseason to really make some substantial changes. I don't see how spending any assets to bring in 1 player will change so much that is broken with this team.

- they don't score enough
- they don't defend well enough
- special teams are poor

that is in spite of having a stellar year from the goaltending aside from maybe, what 3 games?? That is in spite of Gaudreau having perhaps one of the greatest individual offensive years by a flame in almost 2.5 decades!

I really think we love this roster and this set of players way too much. Hey, we're fans, we're supposed to. Our GM and management, need to be so much more honest and cut throat about their decisions. This team isn't close. Yet they continue to make decisions that indicate they feel otherwise. The backlund extension is just another example. Backlund is a good player. He's not a great 2nd line center. If he was, then secondary scoring would not be such a good problem.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just frustrated by this team,

In summary: Team isn't one player away from drastically improving a below average team (in a relatively mediocre division). Ride this out, and either fail to qualify, or squeak in and hope to push the "underdog"... "anything can happen once your in" narrative, though, likely get knocked in a relatively short series. Changes to this roster should come in the offseason where teams are actually willing to move players off their every night roster (something you don't see this late in the season for teams that are in the race).

[Badgers Nose]

They have to buy if they can.

If they miss the playoffs I think we are getting into fire everyone territory, maybe not this season... but if they are out of the playoffs thanksgiving 2018 then let the pink slips rip.

This project needs to start showing success. They are way too talented to be this bad. BT has to double down or face some tough decisions next year (or having them done to him).