What should we absolutely NOT screw up going forward?

[flambers]

Originally Posted by FBI

Or just trade VLadar and use Wolf as the backup. .

That's my guess, Vladar however is likely to be an off season move.

[Strange Brew]

My must not screw ups:

Do not over commit contractually to players who aren’t going to be core pieces of a championship team

Do not run a draft pick deficit

Do not build around supporting pieces

[Sylvanfan]

Never go full Oiler. Only one that matters.

[RedHawk12]

Wolf/Vladar has the makings of Levi/Luukonen in Buffalo. Best to avoid getting our goalies caught in a tirefire like that, although I also dream about the potential of a big return for Markstrom.

My ideal scenario is to trade our UFAs for picks and prospects, as well as explore the market for guys like Kadri, Mangiapane and Coleman.

My expectation is that they trade a few of the UFAs for almost NHL ready prospects and Sharangovich-like young NHLers, and look to compete again next year with our veteran core plus an injection of youth. My worry about this is that we are still middle of the pack because we dont have a true franchise guy. Maybe upper middle, like 10-12, but still not a legitimate cup contender.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by CSharp

Going forward - when? And which way is this team going?

As long as this team is sticking around .500 (+/- 3 games), no one knows what this team wants to do going forward. It's like ground hog day until someone decides there needs to be some changes!

.500 means way less in the NHL than any other sport because of their 3 point games. 23 teams are above. So hanging around there isn’t any accomplishment.

The way they set it up, you need to be around .560 to be an actual average team.

[Flamescuprun2018]

1. It is all about asset management. Never lose an asset without a returning asset if at all possible.

2. Move all UFAs at trade deadline for draft picks and/or A prospects. Highest return moment of the entire year.

3.. Weaponize all available cap space at trade deadline to add late picks/B prospects.

4. Do not sign anyone in the first two days of free agency. Do not sign any UFA contracts that takes any players to age 35 or beyond for more than one year.

5. Sign a few UFAs to one year deals even if overpay to round out the roster and have trade capital for next years trade deadline.

6. Improve your European scouting staff. Ronni, Stromgren have been major misses in 2nd round.

7. 8 year deals for all young "core" stars after entry year contract ends.

8. Keep the Wranglers in Calgary. Great for development program and callups.

9. Reward Wranglers with regular cups of coffee with the big club to teach them what is required to become a regular NHLer.

10. Create a culture in your organization whereby players love to play here and where they bond with the terrific Flames alumni group.

11. Let Conroy do his business without owner interference of any kind.

12. Buy low, sell high when opportunity presents itself as long as you are going younger with the exchange.

[Jason14h]

Don’t win too many more games this year !

[butterfly]

I nominate Flamescuprun2018 to take the job.

[dammage79]

Long and short: Manage the assets. And do it great. That's all.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Flamescuprun2018

1. It is all about asset management. Never lose an asset without a returning asset if at all possible.

2. Move all UFAs at trade deadline for draft picks and/or A prospects. Highest return moment of the entire year.

3.. Weaponize all available cap space at trade deadline to add late picks/B prospects.

4. Do not sign anyone in the first two days of free agency. Do not sign any UFA contracts that takes any players to age 35 or beyond for more than one year.

5. Sign a few UFAs to one year deals even if overpay to round out the roster and have trade capital for next years trade deadline.

6. Improve your European scouting staff. Ronni, Stromgren have been major misses in 2nd round.

7. 8 year deals for all young "core" stars after entry year contract ends.

8. Keep the Wranglers in Calgary. Great for development program and callups.

9. Reward Wranglers with regular cups of coffee with the big club to teach them what is required to become a regular NHLer.

10. Create a culture in your organization whereby players love to play here and where they bond with the terrific Flames alumni group.

11. Let Conroy do his business without owner interference of any kind.

12. Buy low, sell high when opportunity presents itself as long as you are going younger with the exchange.

Nearly perfect, except I would add:

13. Stop drafting guys that will be charged with sexual assault.

[Flamesfan05]

Drafting

[kyuss275]

Tear it down, rebuild and don’t screw it up

[Saqe]

I don't think Wolf would be thrown to the wolves at this point, even if they trade Markstom. He's got three years of pro experience under his belt and nothing to prove in the minors and will be 23 in a couple of months. Young for a goaltender sure and you'll have to live with the growing pains, which will come, but at this point I think him gaining experience at the nhl level would just boost his development curve.

[stemit14]

I think trading Markstrom now would be good asset management. It’s trading him at his highest value where as trading Vladar would be trading him at his lowest value. As mentioned before, Vladar tends to play better when playing more frequently. With Wolf playing as his backup next year, Vladar can be used to shelter Wolf a bit in his first year. If Vladar turns into a decent starter next year, his value only goes up. If Wolf continues his development and still looks to be the flames future starter, you could trade Vladar at an inflated value. If Vladar struggles next year as a starter, I doubt you get any less value than he is right now.

It’s all about asset management right now.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Nearly perfect, except I would add:

13. Stop drafting guys that will be charged with sexual assault.

I agree with you but there will be a number of people ready to look for any reason to mentally renounce the likelihood of wrongdoing. This includes the rare “I was just bringing some pizza” defence.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Goriders

They need to find some players that hate losing. We’re light in that department.

I’m always curious about this comment. Which players don’t hate losing? And how could you know?

[Macindoc]

Two problems trading Markstrom right now, aside from his NTC:

1. Salary would likely have to be retained to maximize returns, which would mean having part of his salary on the books for two additional years, and

2. Flames need to identify and properly develop their future core, including Wolf. They cannot mess up the development of Wolf, Zary, Coronato, Honzek, Poirier, and Morin. Part of ensuring that these players reach their maximum potential is to have players on the NHL roster who can mentor them, and ideally those mentors would many of the characteristics that you want to see developed in those up and coming players. Markstrom is a much better example of a true #1 goaltender who can carry the mail for the majority of games. Vladar has far less experience, has never played 60+ games in a season, and has never been #1 at the NHL level.

The Flames have the mentors they will need for forwards (Kadri seems revitalized in this role) and for Wolf (Markstrom). The only question is, who will mentor the developing D core? Tanev would be great, but I doubt he will still be on the team by the time our D prospects are NHL-ready. I guess Weegar would probably be a good choice, so it's great that he's signed long-term.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Flamescuprun2018

7. 8 year deals for all young "core" stars after entry year contract ends.

Don't fall in love with your own players and over evaluate them. Matthew Tkachuck and Johnny Gaudreau were star players. But no one else was. You want to be careful about having too many players on long term deals around the same time.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

Two problems trading Markstrom right now, aside from his NTC:

1. Salary would likely have to be retained to maximize returns, which would mean having part of his salary on the books for two additional years, and

2. Flames need to identify and properly develop their future core, including Wolf. They cannot mess up the development of Wolf, Zary, Coronato, Honzek, Poirier, and Morin. Part of ensuring that these players reach their maximum potential is to have players on the NHL roster who can mentor them, and ideally those mentors would many of the characteristics that you want to see developed in those up and coming players. Markstrom is a much better example of a true #1 goaltender who can carry the mail for the majority of games. Vladar has far less experience, has never played 60+ games in a season, and has never been #1 at the NHL level.

The Flames have the mentors they will need for forwards (Kadri seems revitalized in this role) and for Wolf (Markstrom). The only question is, who will mentor the developing D core?

Like the 7 total goalies who played in 60+ games last year? I wonder how many of them were “mentored”.

A better question might be how many of the 100 other goalies who played less than 60 games last year were “mentored”. Is Markstrom “mentoring” Dan Vladar? How’s that working?

Paying millions of dollars for platitudes is silly.

[butterfly]

Los Angeles is counting their lucky stars right now that they had Jonathan Quick to “mentor” Cal Petersen.

And imagine that Toronto blue line without Mark Giordano’s “mentorship” of Timothy Liljegren. I’d hate to imagine.