Post Mortem : What happens now?

[howard_the_duck]

I've held off on mentioning this, as it's third hand information and should not be taken as gospel, but have heard that there's substance to the rumors of Johnny looking to go East.

Hoping the team success and re-focused offer from the Flames FO will help deter his departure from happening.

[Coach]

It all depends on Gaudreau, so you have to know what you have there ASAP. It can’t be situation that is bleeding into draft time etc.. Because if he is interested in going elsewhere, I’m honestly open to a total fire sale. Not that I really dislike the players or anything. I just feel with Gudbranson/Zadorov playing themselves into bigger contracts and the loss of our best player w Tkachuk also a question mark, I think you could potentially deal basically everyone on the top end of the roster for picks and futures and see what we have in 3-4 years.

If Gaudreau is back, and Sutter is back, and we can find a way to keep playing the game they did in the regular season again, I’m down for more. This was a tough loss, but I think people need to remember things like the Rangers w Lundqvist, the Caps with Ovi, the Canucks and Sedins, etc… sometimes you get tastes but never win. Sometimes you get over the hump. Only one team goes through and sh** happens. This was a good team that had a bad series. If the gang can be back again, I’m on board.

[PepsiFree]

Keep:
- Gaudreau
- Tkachuk
- Mangiapane
- Jarnkrok
- Lewis
- Kylington
- Gudbranson
- Stone

Walk:
- Carpenter
- Ritchie
- Zadorov

Shop:
- Lucic
- Dube
- Hanifin
- Valimaki
- Toffoli

Make some room for young guys, deal with center if Monahan can’t go, and hunt for a top 2/3 D. I’d consider keeping Zadorov but I think he’ll make too much. He’s not particularly good with the puck, but you could trust him to come out of the corners with it.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by ClubFlames

The biggest need for this team is a steady #2 dman. The need is more of a #1 dman but they are very hard to come by.

Hanifin and Andersson were completely exposed in the playoffs. Tanev injury truly set us back and showed us how much we need another steady presence.

All this talk of trading Tkachuk - Not sure how I feel about trading a 100 point player. He has his flaws but with maturity I still believe he can be a much better player in the mold of Brad Marchand but with more offense. Great on your own team and annoying to others.

Johnny has to sign here or else everything is out of the window.

Lucic must retire. Good guy, great in the room but cannot keep up in the league anymore.

Monahan is a tough one, injuries took a toll on him but with his salary and production doesn't make sense to have him on the roster.

Zadorov & Gudbranson: You try to sign one of them, no need for both as Mackey looks like he is ready to make the jump.

Kylington: I don't think he has another gear. He is what he is in my opinion, a decent option for #5 but his erratic skating (speed is there but really needs to work on his edge work) and little to no strength will always be an issue going forward in the playoffs.

Jarnkork and Mangiapane: I would re-sign them.

We have to give younger players a chance next year to make the roster and move away from the Ritchie's Lewis' and Lucic type players.

Jarnkork is 30 years old... Back to Nashville for $750k

[manwiches]

I'd be lying if i said i wasn't disappointed in the post season.

Lots of decisions to be made, however, remember that Colorado went through 4 (i think?) years of post season disappointment before this year.

I think playoff resilience and experience takes some times. If we are able to sign Johnny and Tkachuk together, bring in a more consistent D than Hanifin, we are in a good position to challenge and have a competitive team for several years.

[CroFlames]

I am not campaigning for a rebuild.

But I have become jealous of clubs who won the right to draft bonafide stars.

Tampa - Hedman, Stamkos.
Pens - Crosby, Malkin.
Caps - Ovi
Leafs - Matthews.
Avs - Mack & Makar.
Oilers - McDrai+++.

It would be nice if once we fell ass backwards into a Connor Bedard or Shane Wright level of player.

Seeing Makar and McDrai absolutely light up the playoffs makes me sad. I love Johnny, but he's not those guys. The blown call last night left such a bad taste in my mouth; I'm really understanding a lot of the posters now who are saying they are taking a break or leaving the NHL product for good. Iginla was my all-time favorite player, and I never "took him for granted" but I guess I should have enjoyed his dominance more.

The cost to go to a game is insane, and there are other entertainment products in Calgary. Cavalry is tons of fun, and Canada's national team is soaring right now. I don't know, I'm just really disappointed how last night went down. This series should be going to Edmonton 3-2 right now.

[Vinny01]

Keeping Johnny is the main priority. What happens there impacts what other decisions should be made.

No matter what I think they need to find a way to rid themselves of Lucic. See if the Pens or Kraken have interest. Monahan is another player I am not sure they can afford but I don’t see him going.

Zadorov will walk, they will make other changes at the bottom of the roster. Some young guys can make their way to the roster lead by Pelletier.

What happens with Johnny will determine what happens with Tkachuk and Mangiapane in my opinion. Not sure what to do with those guys until we know if Johnny is staying or going

[Harry Lime]

CroFlames - New Jersey is shopping #2, and local beat writers have written about potential trading partners. Would that pick plus Dawson Mercer eliminate any excuses about high draft picks, sending Tkachuk and Valimaki the other way?

Juraj Slafkovsky is 6'4, 210lbs a sniper and good skater playing in the men's league (liiga) in Finland. He could be NHL ready in 2023-24. Oh, and Olympic MVP.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

CroFlames - New Jersey is shopping #2, and local beat writers have written about potential trading partners. Would that pick plus Dawson Mercer eliminate any excuses about high draft picks, sending Tkachuk and Valimaki the other way?

Juraj Slafkovsky is 6'4, 210lbs a sniper and good skater playing in the men's league (liiga) in Finland. He could be NHL ready in 2023-24. Oh, and Olympic MVP.

The issue is there is no way NJ gives up that price unless they know they can sign Tkachuk.

And I don't see them giving up Mercer.

If you can get #2 for Tkachuk I do that deal ALL DAY LONG. And then I draft Logan Cooley to get a potential #1 centre. Not Slafkovsky.

[Scary Eloranta]

I'm not campaigning for a rebuild either but even if they brought the entire team back next year, they still wouldn't be good enough to contend. So I have no idea how signing Johnny & Tkachuk and moving a few other pieces are going to help get this team to the next level.


If those two stay, then I guess we just have to expect the same results because we will never get over on the coilers or avs. If they leave, we drop down way down to bottom feeders who may or may never win the lottery and draft a generational player.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

The issue is there is no way NJ gives up that price unless they know they can sign Tkachuk.

And I don't see them giving up Mercer.

If you can get #2 for Tkachuk I do that deal ALL DAY LONG. And then I draft Logan Cooley to get a potential #1 centre. Not Slafkovsky.

This is the kind of deal where you're not losing in short term and can extend the window. Team needs more cap flex and a high pick, ELC would go a long way to adding flexibility.

[madmike]

At the end of the day if Gaudreau leaves, the Flames should dismantle this roster because they won’t be competitive. But they won’t.

That said, without Gaudreau this isn’t a playoff team, even if they keep everyone else.

[kermitology]

If the Flames don't re-sign Gaudreau, it's over man. Strip the carcass for parts, I'd even thank Darryl for his service and move on. He did not have good answers to the coaching strategies of Rick Bowness (of all people) and Woodcroft. That was really tough to see. The Flames played so scared of Edmonton, and that just can't happen.

This franchise is stuck in the doldrums. The league and ownership won't budge on building a new arena without the city paying a huge sum of it, which is definitely not in the interests of the city, and is bad long term for Calgary.

This year was the one year.. last year could have been it if Sutter was here to start the season. But yeah.. brutal ending. Tkachuk is a good player, but he's too hot/cold and he got too involved in extra curriculars. He'll become phenomenal for another team once he fully matures, but he very much does not want to stay in Calgary longer than he has to, so you have to qualify and trade - regardless of Gaudreau.

I think Gaudreau loves Calgary - as do his family, but he also really wants to win, and he can be a second piece in another puzzle and win on another team, it's never going to happen here.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Sober day after thoughts:

As everyone has said, nothing can happen until Johnny is decided.
If he leaves, we should re build.

If he stays, we have to try again with most of this group.
I feel different this year than the post Dallas and Colorado years. Those seasons I knew the team just wasn't good enough and the top line especially was never going to cut it.

This year is hurts because it was the Oilers, but the overall team still is much better and rarely did I feel they were actually outplayed.

The top line was mostly good to me (except Tkachuk) and it took Markstrom completely sucking and the middle 6 mostly sucking to lose this way.
If you started this series over with the same players 5 times, I don't think we'd lose the same way.

Rasmus and Noah had some crazy mental mistakes but are very young and will get much better next year. I'm not giving up on them yet.

Kylington showed his youth and lack of structure without Tanev, but that would have looked very different with Tanev healthy.

This teams wins games 2 or 4 (or both) if Markstrom is better and likely game 5 if the refs were better. Game 3 is the only one they were truly outplayed IMO.

All that while McDavid is playing at a level not seen in decades, so as much as it hurts, it's not time for the management group to react emotionally and reactively.
Leave that to us fans

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I am not campaigning for a rebuild.

But I have become jealous of clubs who won the right to draft bonafide stars.

Tampa - Hedman, Stamkos.
Pens - Crosby, Malkin.
Caps - Ovi
Leafs - Matthews.
Avs - Mack & Makar.
Oilers - McDrai+++.

It would be nice if once we fell ass backwards into a Connor Bedard or Shane Wright level of player.

Seeing Makar and McDrai absolutely light up the playoffs makes me sad. I love Johnny, but he's not those guys. The blown call last night left such a bad taste in my mouth; I'm really understanding a lot of the posters now who are saying they are taking a break or leaving the NHL product for good. Iginla was my all-time favorite player, and I never "took him for granted" but I guess I should have enjoyed his dominance more.

The cost to go to a game is insane, and there are other entertainment products in Calgary. Cavalry is tons of fun, and Canada's national team is soaring right now. I don't know, I'm just really disappointed how last night went down. This series should be going to Edmonton 3-2 right now.

I don't put Shane Wright in this category. Nice player, but not a generational type of talent, whereas Bedard has the makings of something special.

[NewFan]

I think Gaudreau will sign here. Most of good east teams are don't have cap and NJ and PH are so bad now. So he will take max money with full no movement clause to control his future and will stay here at least next 2 years. Then he may ask to be traded to PH or other team for the Cup if Flames are bad that time. And he has some buddys here.
But we can't afford Tkachuk. So he will be traded for A prospect with a draft pick and may be one cap dump around $4 mill.

[Ashasx]

If Gaudreau wants to win, there aren't many competitive teams with over $9 million in cap space this summer.

It's possible a team could make room for him. Otherwise, Gaudreau would have to take a significant discount to play on a contender.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

I don't put Shane Wright in this category. Nice player, but not a generational type of talent, whereas Bedard has the makings of something special.

I know, but Wright would still be phenomenal to have.

Hedman, Stamkos, Mackinnon, Draisatl etc aren't generational either, but damn good players and I would love to have something like that on this team.

Crosby, Ovi, and maybe McDavid/Makar are generational, but chances of snagging one of those is slim, but it does appear that Bedard could reach that level.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

If Gaudreau wants to win, there aren't many competitive teams with over $9 million in cap space this summer.

It's possible a team could make room for him. Otherwise, Gaudreau would have to take a significant discount to play on a contender.

Not contenders but New Jersey and Philly would have to be the front runners.

Philly is a mess but adding gaudreau to New jersey could be a solid core. Not sure he wants to go back to an inexperienced team though.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by NewFan

I think Gaudreau will sign here. Most of good east teams are don't have cap and NJ and PH are so bad now.

Are they so bad compared to what the Flames would be without Gaudreau though?

Johnny goes to one of them and maybe they look like us, we look like them. He's responsible for a ridiculous amount of this teams offense.