This is a rebuild

[Reggie Dunlop]

Reminds me of the Craig Button era.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Reminds me of the Craig Button era.

Gee, I hope not.

Button started off by letting Martin St. Louis walk, and trading J-S Giguere so he could protect Fred Brathwaite in the expansion draft.

He went on to bust his budget by taking a $2.5-million plug on waivers, and traded Marc Savard for a bucket of rooster eggs.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Reminds me of the Craig Button era.

I don’t know how any team with an $80M operating budget could possibly remind you of a GM who was hired pre-9/11 to manage a team that needed to sell lottery tickets to stay afloat.

[browntrout]

I don't see this team making the playoffs for at least 5 years and that is being optimistic. The young players they have are not difference makers, only going to get that type of pedigree by drafting top 5 for the next 5 years, then you might see them turn it around, having said excited about the future, no more mushy middle

[EVERLAST]

Doom and gloom. Come on. I see so many positives .
To name a few we have an NHL and an AHL squad here.
A new building on the horizon.
Cupboards are getting stocked and we value those now.
Not long ago we were worried about all of this including conspiracy theories the league had out against this franchise .
Things WILL turn around. Let's in the meantime not start behaving lime the fans to the North and west of us .

[indes]

The best time would've been when Tkachuk & Gaudreau walked. The second best time is now I guess.

Looking forward to the rebuild and hopefully the Flames can stay out of their own way and get some actual high picks/franchise players before they run to the UFA bin this time.

[442scotty]

Nothing changes for me. I want what most if not all of us want. Whether I turn on the tube to watch a game or, especially ,pony up hard earned money to watch in person, I want to be entertained. This season the Flames have been entertaining. Time well spent win or lose. The playoffs are gravy if and when we get there. The team is heading in the right direction I think. In Conroy I trust.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by 442scotty

The team is heading in the right direction I think. In Conroy I trust.

That direction is downward at this stage. They will need to get worse before they get better.

And that is the right direction. The sooner they go down, the faster they can go up.

[Goriders]

I don’t think they are going to trade anyone else minus cleaning up the goaltending situation. They will have a ton of cap space in the offseason and they have loaded up on picks and prospects.

My guess is they will be looking for a center and a defenceman and they will start trying to compete again. They will probably try to get one of those players via the goalie cleanup.

Markstrom for a young center would make sense.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Two Words: Young Guns

3 words: Young Russian Guns

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Goriders

I don’t think they are going to trade anyone else minus cleaning up the goaltending situation. They will have a ton of cap space in the offseason and they have loaded up on picks and prospects.

My guess is they will be looking for a center and a defenceman and they will start trying to compete again. They will probably try to get one of those players via the goalie cleanup.

Markstrom for a young center would make sense.

Flames have cap space, which is critical.

Next trades (draft) are the players who don't want to be a part of a retool.

Not sure, if there are any...

Will find out

[browntrout]

This team is due a lottery win or two, been overdue for years and well earned at this point

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by flambers

Flames have cap space, which is critical.

Next trades (draft) are the players who don't want to be a part of a retool.

Not sure, if there are any...

Will find out

I think they have purged all of the players that didn’t want to be here.

Zadorov
Lindholm
Toffoli
Hanifin

I have a feeling that the core that’s remaining wants to be here. They have filled in the lineup with some good depth players.

Sharangovich
Kuzmenko
Pachal
Miramax
Greer

They need a 3/4 dman and a younger second line center if Kadri is your top line center go forward. I think markstrom is the poker chip to get you the center.

We have a ton of young 4-6 dmen and wingers. We also have a surplus of goalies and picks. I think Conman is going to reshape the roster in the offseason. I think there is zero chance of a tear down rebuild.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Goriders

I don’t think they are going to trade anyone else minus cleaning up the goaltending situation. They will have a ton of cap space in the offseason and they have loaded up on picks and prospects.

My guess is they will be looking for a center and a defenceman and they will start trying to compete again. They will probably try to get one of those players via the goalie cleanup.

Markstrom for a young center would make sense.

Mangiapane will get traded unless he’s willing to sign an extension that the Flames think is acceptable.

Same for all other players as they come up to UFA.

Marky will get traded and not resigned, as he’s too old, unless it’s a one year contract, although I expect he’ll be traded prior to that time.

If Marky goes, they won’t be competing regardless on intent. They didn’t really compete this year with exceptionally great goaltending. Vladar and Wolf have been sieves this year based on expected goals allowed. But that should help the draft picks and the need to get some elite core players.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by browntrout

This team is due a lottery win or two, been overdue for years and well earned at this point

Put a celebrini along with whatever else we have in the system as well as on the ice things look a lot different. I think we have a rewlly solid base but center ice has to be addressed. Right now we have one long term second line center thats about it.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Reminds me of the Craig Button era.

Thanks for bringing back that nightmare memory.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

That save percent is worse than any of the Devils new goalies

Well of course it is, the team just lost key pieces and while going through a major transition. They also have had a tough schedule as of late. Do you think his save percentage would be the same in his past 4 games if he was playing for NJ? Dominik Hasek in his fn prime would have a worse save percentage in the same scenario. GM's are not stupid, they know these factors affect numbers.

[dissentowner]

Also, from everything I have heard when I look at the big picture this is absolutely not a rebuild. Maybe it should be but I think Conroy is going to deal a lot of that draft capital and other moves to get this team back in the playoffs as soon as possible. He won't use it on old aging vets but I expect he is going to bring in young pieces ready to contribute now. Everything I have heard indicates ownership wants a quick turnaround back to the playoffs.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Also, from everything I have heard when I look at the big picture this is absolutely not a rebuild. Maybe it should be but I think Conroy is going to deal a lot of that draft capital and other moves to get this team back in the playoffs as soon as possible. He won't use it on old aging vets but I expect he is going to bring in young pieces ready to contribute now. Everything I have heard indicates ownership wants a quick turnaround back to the playoffs.

If this is true, Flames are staying mediocre for a long time. Time to stock up draft picks make the picks and keep doing it for another few years.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

I'm a tad concerned about Markstrom's performance if they plan on trading him. He's now 87.8% in the four games without Tanev.

More specifically though it only got worse when Hanifin was gone too.

Two games without Tanev but with Hanifin he had an expected goals against of 6.67 but gave up 7.

In the two without both 5.6 expected and gave up 8

Pretty sure pro scouts understand the difference between an NHL defense and not.