Do we have an elite A+ player on our team? Who does this team lean on?

[Finger Cookin]

Without fussing over specific adjectives and semantics, we will be leaning on Smith, Giordano, Hamilton, Gaudreau, Monahan, and Backlund this year.

[FlameyMcFlameFace]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

There are at best 5 elite forwards in this league: Crosby, Matthews, Laine, McDavid, and Kane.

There are arguably 10 additional franchise forwards that you might build a team around: Getzlaf, Ovechkin, Toews, Tarasenko, Malkin, Eichel, Stamkos, Kucherov, Seguin and Tavares

Do the flames have one of these franchise forwards? No. But neither do 18 other teams in the league. There are ~30 franchise players in the league; the flames have 2 franchise defensemen and two additional top pairing defensemen. Thats the strength of the team.

Yeah but are any of those 18 other teams winning the cup anytime soon? We play to win the cup thats the point. In todays NHL you need one of those guys. You can argue Nashville's case in going to the finals. But then lets start our comparison with Nashville, are we better? Are we close? What is it?

[dino7c]

JG is a playmaker with a 3rd or 4th liner on his wing...he is a really good player but can't carry the team himself. Most of the players being mentioned are lottery 1st or 2nd overall...not really a fair comparison. Flames need to win on depth and defence. They had a bad game...I wouldn't give up yet

[blankall]

Gaudreau is a star...take away his bad start to last season, and he's one of the top producing players in the league over the last 2.5 years. He's had one bad game this season, get over it. He's also pulled a struggling Calgary offence into the playoffs twice now. He's the kind of player who drives offence and creates the opportunities. If doing that while producing at a PPG doesn't make you a star, what does?

Gaudreau isn't a Crosby generational talent, but he's the next level. He can definitely play the level of a player like Kane.

[dabrit]

Originally Posted by genetic_phreek

Well said.

Backlund is our fastest player. I think that is a problem. For the last couple years I hear about us having a fast team which I've always disagreed with. We play a fast style game, with average speed players that have to “play smart” just to be competitive.
An example for a fast player is Kylington who may screw up a lot but has the tools to recover. We need more of this on forward. I feel we need a better balance in team speed. Mostly on forward

This is how I see our forward group in terms of speed/skating

Monahan – Slow but smart
Johnny - Quick and shifty but not fast
Ferly – Average
Backs – Fastest skater on the team
Frolik – Average
Tkachuk – Slow but smart
Versteeg – Average and shifty
Brouwer – Slow
Benny - Fast but weak
Glass – Average but a banger
Hathaway – Fast and a banger
Stajan – Slow but defensive
Jagr – Slow but a genius
F Hamilton – Average
Lazar - Average

AHL guys we have a few fast skaters in Mangi, Poirier, and Shink. I think Klimchuk and Janko skates pretty good as well.

See I don't agree I do think Gaudreau is fast but this new" system" isn't allowing Gaudreau to do Gaudreau things. How many breakaways did we see Johnny on in his first couple of years in the league?? Countless and if you followed him at the World juniors, Worlds and in college you can see that breakaway speed time and time again....

But now it's like Glen is telling Johnny " Hey man slow down to the speed of your less superior line mates" instead of just letting him do his thing which opens up everyone else for easy tap in goals or himself scoring he has a underrated deadly accurate shot wrist shot and sick backhand as well.

JG is not being allowed to be JG that's what I'm seeing on the ice.

If this team doesn't play with pace we are done for. We've shown we can play with pace before I'm just not sure why now we have to play like we have lead boots on

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by flamesfan2.0

Yeah but are any of those 18 other teams winning the cup anytime soon? We play to win the cup thats the point. In todays NHL you need one of those guys. You can argue Nashville's case in going to the finals. But then lets start our comparison with Nashville, are we better? Are we close? What is it?

Ok, how do you propose we magic ourselves into having one of those guys?

We went through a rebuild, we were terrible and still we weren’t terrible enough. The Oilers had to go through two in order to finally compete.

I get that the Stanley Cup is the goal but some of you are acting like you just build a Stanley Cup team and go ahead and compete for it. You have to be lucky to hit the top class in the draft at the right time of you want elite talent, and you can’t just wallow at the bottom of the standings until it happens for you or we’d hear twice the complaining we do now.

The Stanley Cup is the goal, but icing a competitive team is the requirement. They’ve met that requirement. That’s literally all we can logically ask for. Monahan is at the top of his class, we stole Tkachuk, Gio and Gaudreau came from essentially nowhere and turned into all-star calibur players. There’s not much else you can do so why are some acting like not having an elite player is anybody’s “fault”?

The Penguins and the Blackhawks are anomalies, nobody is going to be able to replicate that success through purposeful moves. It takes luck, so so so much luck. Pittsburgh had 4 of the very best players in the game by position, and when one faultered another magically emerged at the exact right time to take his place. Chicago also had 4, if not 5, on incredible contracts for the bulk of their cup appearances. You can’t just replicate that.

We’re no worse off than Nashville, Anaheim, New York, Minnesota, St.Louis, Boston, etc. For every team with an elite player that wins the cup there are 10 where having an elite player wasn’t enough to overcome well built teams, and we are that. Point to the Brouwers, the Stajans, whatever, every team has them. We’re not unique, but we’re part of the pack again. As a hockey fan that’s just got to be enough because it gives you an honest chance. If everything but the Stanley Cup is a crippling disappointment to you that ruins the joy of hockey then join the fans of 30 other teams each year in just hating life.

We lost one game. Get it together.

[Lanny_McDonald]

No, we don't have Connor McDavid, but I'd take the Flames roster over the rest of the Oilers dumpster fire anytime, and that includes the German Gretzky. McDavid is in a different class, but it helps if you have a game plan to deal with him.

Gulutzan doesn't seem interested in trying to address that elephant in the arena. He's supposedly a great Xs and Os coach, but hasn't been able to come up with a way to deal with the one guy who tips the scales in every game he plays. I think we have the talent to deal with him, just no plan in how to do that.

[DazzlinDino]

I think Johnny and Monahan are capable of being game changers, but last night their best players were better than our best players. I remember when Johnny broke into the league he was scoring goals from behind the net on his knees like he had something to prove, but last night it was McDavid that played like he wants to win the scoring race and show he is the best in the league. McDavid played with a purpose like he had something to prove, our top guys "last night" played more like role players. It wasn't personal it wasn't chippy, we didn't play Edmonton like we were going to beat them. We just basically collectively laid down and conceded. GG has to get these guys ready for game one of the season like it personal because like it or not we probably have to beat these guys if we plan to go further in the playoffs. We haven't proved that we can the best when it matters and that in a nutshell is the difference between Darryl Suttter and GG. Sutter got pissed and called a spade a spade if his top players didn't show up.

Johnny and Monahan are our leaders they have been given the role of the top players on our team but many times last season it was Backlund's line that carried us through the season. It's only one game but the Flames need to make it personal if they expect to rise and win these types of games against the oilers.

[chedder]

this:

Johnny going up the ice at half speed and then dumping the puck in.....

if this is what they're being forced to do, and it seems to be the case, we are in for a long year and we better be prepared for Gaudreau and Monahan to have another "off year" production wise.

[djsFlames]

Gaudreau had been at an elite level until his second contract. Bennett could be. Hamilton is on his way.

Johnny has taken a step back, and needs to rekindle that mojo and swagger that made him stick out from the rest of the players, alike 97.

[dabrit]

Originally Posted by chedder

this:

Johnny going up the ice at half speed and then dumping the puck in.....

if this is what they're being forced to do, and it seems to be the case, we are in for a long year and we better be prepared for Gaudreau and Monahan to have another "off year" production wise.

My point exactly....what in the actual F@ck ia with this garbage coaching logic.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by chedder

this:

Johnny going up the ice at half speed and then dumping the puck in.....

if this is what they're being forced to do, and it seems to be the case, we are in for a long year and we better be prepared for Gaudreau and Monahan to have another "off year" production wise.

They aren't being forced to dump it in, except by the Oilers defense and back checking.

Don't think Gulutzan wants what we saw last night. People seem to be confusing poor decision making by our forwards with coaching.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

They aren't being forced to dump it in, except by the Oilers defense and back checking.

Don't think Gulutzan wants what we saw last night. People seem to be confusing poor decision making by our forwards with coaching.

Got to give some credit to the Oilers. They seem to get up for the BOA more than the Flames as they don't seem to suffer from nearly the amount of defensive breakdowns you see when they play other teams. It's almost like they were playing playoff hockey the way they locked things down last night.

[oldschoolcalgary]

its a bit of semantics really.

Calgary has some good players...but A+ players? No we don't.

those elite blue chips, as someone mentioned, are few and far between and typically I would characterize them as guys that can take over a game...

as much as i like the guys on our team, i doubt there is any that put the fear of god into the opposition or players you would need to modify your system to account for...

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The Flames have no Superstars. There are only 8 or 9 superstars in the game today and some are better than others. McDavid, Crosby, Ovechkin, Matthews, Laine, Tavares, Kane, Tarasenko and Malkin.

The Flames have a good group of players that are in that next tier.

Yes this is (Mostly) true, I'd put Price & maybe Karlsson in there as well. The Flames have Star players... but we don't have any Superstar players and most of the teams in the NHL are in the same boat.

There are at best 5 elite forwards in this league: Crosby, Matthews, Laine, McDavid, and Kane.

Not sure I'd still put Kane in that group (nor that Laine belongs there just yet).

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by 442scotty

We have some very good players... No great players and if people think Jagr is going to make a difference they are going to be disappointed

Treliving has done some great work but his free agent signings leave a lot to be desired... Brouwer, Bollig, what's his name from Cochrane... Glass? Is this the best we can do ? Sigh

Bollig was a trade. Brouwer is a bad signing. Frolik was a good signing. Hiller was a good signing for a year. Ramo kept us from being Oilers terrible. Engelland earned his money.

Jagr.

Free agency is a terrible way to acquire impact NHL players. The best free agent signings of the cap era are Scott Niedermayer and Zdeno Chara. Most every other big free agent deal has its share of headaches. Parise and Suter @ $7.8 until they're 42. Hossa retiring due to a 'skin condition'. Wade Redden. Jay Bouwmeester. Andrew Ladd. Clarkson. Keith Yandle. Brian Campbell for $56 million ultimately costs Chicago the chance to retain Byfuglien and Versteeg (that and Tallon forgetting to qualify them).

Free agency is awful.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Bollig was a trade. Brouwer is a bad signing. Frolik was a good signing. Hiller was a good signing for a year. Ramo kept us from being Oilers terrible. Engelland earned his money.

Jagr.

Free agency is a terrible way to acquire impact NHL players. The best free agent signings of the cap era are Scott Niedermayer and Zdeno Chara. Most every other big free agent deal has its share of headaches. Parise and Suter @ $7.8 until they're 42. Hossa retiring due to a 'skin condition'. Wade Redden. Jay Bouwmeester. Andrew Ladd. Clarkson. Keith Yandle. Brian Campbell for $56 million ultimately costs Chicago the chance to retain Byfuglien and Versteeg (that and Tallon forgetting to qualify them).

Free agency is awful.

I think you're downplaying the role many free agents played in actually winning a cup. Yes, free agents have their costs, but so do deadline acquisitions. That being said, it's basically impossible to build a championship team without getting high quality players and depth/role players somewhere. Picking up FAs is a form of sacrificing the future for the present.

What happened to Hossa is very unfortunate, but he was also a key member of the cup winning teams, and Chicago may not have won without him.

FAs can also be a great source of free assets for rebuilding teams. Many teams have picked up FAs and flipped them at the deadline.

Even the Parise contract isn't so bad. Yes it's long, but acquiring Parise, and Suter who came with him, has turned the franchise around. The contracts are also very front loaded. There are always teams looking to acquire guys to help them meet the cap floor, and either of those contracts would be perfect for that.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Johnny produces points but inconsistently. Against teams that play him tougher - he doesn't seem to produce. That needs to change for the Flames to become a contender. He is paid to be consistent and just isn't enough.
I wouldn't be opposed, depending on how this season goes, to him being traded. I love watching him play but I just don't know if he's a guy you win with if he's your supposed best player.
An unpopular opinion I know.

[Love]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

Johnny produces points but inconsistently. Against teams that play him tougher - he doesn't seem to produce. That needs to change for the Flames to become a contender. He is paid to be consistent and just isn't enough.
I wouldn't be opposed, depending on how this season goes, to him being traded. I love watching him play but I just don't know if he's a guy you win with if he's your supposed best player.
An unpopular opinion I know.

I mean, he can't do it all by himself. He isn't the only player on that topline. It would be nice for Monahan to generate something and then feed Gaudreau for a tap-in for a change.

[Angelino]

No, Calgary does not have an Elite A+ player I think there are only a handful at most in the league. Unfortunately Edmonton has one.