Are the Flames better or worse after this off-season?

[Forgot About Drai]

In: Weegar/Huberdeau/Kadri
Out: Tkachuk/Johnny

Click to read more...

 

[JarvisFunk]

Personnel wise probably similar. But I don't think that offense rolls the way it did last year without Gaudreau stirring the drink, and I don't think Kadri touches his outlier season last year.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Ask me again in May.

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Ask me again in May.

That no fun mate.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I’d say it’s a wash. Forwards got older and a little worse. Defence got better.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Much better.

 

[thekernel]

I would rather have Kadri+Huberdeau than Gaudreau+Tkachuk, that's not even mentioning Weegar+1st. Calgary has pulled off a miracle offseason and I'm mad

 

[jetsforever]

My initial thought is worse but they've done pretty well from a bad situation.

 

[redwings25]

I have a feeling there still not done and will make a couple surprising trades. Just a gut feeling

 

[Beau Knows]

My guess is they'll be a little bit worse, but given the circumstances that's hard to complain about.

 

[JarvisFunk]

I would rather have Kadri+Huberdeau than Gaudreau+Tkachuk, that's not even mentioning Weegar+1st. Calgary has pulled off a miracle offseason and I'm mad

1st will be gone to dump Monahan

 

[TheGreenTBer]

They're better and deeper down the middle and on D. Going from Tkachuk and Gaudreau to Huberdeau alone is obviously a significant downgrade on the wing but if Huberdeau can drive offense on the 1st line they're going to be a threat. A team that easily go 3+ lines deep at C, with a deep defense, solid goaltending and coached by Darryl Sutter...that's probably a good team.

 

[McFlyingV]

Marginally better if not slightly worse. Depends how Weegar performs and how much Huberdeau + Kadri regress with a lot less talented rosters to play on.

I expected a bit of regression from them with Tkachuk+Gaudreau+Lindholm likely to regress anyways.

 

[JurassicTunga]

Better. Somehow.
What an offeseason.

 

[Soundwave]

They should have gone after Bedard, but since they're allergic to doing that, they salvaged what they could.

But still I think

Gaudreau slightly > Huberdeau, reason being Gaudreau scored 42 goals last year, Huberdeau has never scored more than 30 in his career. That's a significant gap in goals scored.

Tkachuk > Kadri

Weegar is a decent add but I don't think somehow if you add Weegar to their team they go any further in the playoffs than they did last year.

 

[Tralfamadore]

Weegar is good but Gaudreau and Tkachuk are a better pair than Hub and Kadri.

If they got better it wasn't by much. More of a lateral move. They did a great job considering the circumstances though.

 

[MuckOG]

I think they're still worse, but only slightly so.

Gaudreau, Tkachuk > Huberdeau, Kadri

 

[mriswith]

Weaker on the wings but much stronger at centre and defense.

More overall talent with the gap between Tkachuck/Gaudreau vs Huberdeau/Kadri being more than made up for by Weegar.

They added talent compared to last year, and the strength was redistributed across more important positions.

They're definitely better this year. They outperformed expectations last year so they might not have as a good a season next year as they did this year, but they're a better team going into the season.

 

[JohnLennon]

Huberdeau is the best player out of all 5. Adding a great top 4 defense and a top 6 center, I think overall the package they ended up with is better than what they had before. However, I think they will age quite poorly. Though it's hard not to root for them this upcoming season.

 

[KingsFan7824]

They're paying for the 30+ years of Huberdeau, who has been a pt/game winger for a while. Kadri is usually a 2C who's not in a big UFA year.

Huberdeau and Kadri are $6.35m cheaper this year than Gaudreau and Tkachuk, although that gap closes to under $2m next year. But, 7.5 years older collectively.

Pretty evident they would've kept Gaudreau and Tkachuk had they wanted to stay. Their loss was not the Flames choice. If they end up better, do the Flames get credit for that? Can you blame the Flames if they get worse?

If everyone has a normal average year, they're probably better this year, just due to the cap savings. It allows them to keep one or two guys that they otherwise would've had to get rid of or not get, like a Weegar and/or Zadorov But again, they didn't set out to have this summer happen, so it's kind of a weird categorization of possibly better.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Better. Weegar was the biggest add. Completely baffling stuff from Florida.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

If Kadri puts up 85+ points again it's a huge upgrade for them. He will like play with Mangiapane on his wing.

 

[Fig]

Lower ceiling, higher floor, new roster more of a fit for Sutter hockey...

I mean, purely from the vantage point of the Flames with a roster on par with last season and guys excited to play vs your biggest stars counting the days they're gone... I think that's better.

If you mean better in terms of 2021-2022 standings vs 2022-2023, no damn clue.

But I'm biased.

 

[banks]

I absolutely love their offseason. They're better, for sure.

Maybe not as well positioned for the future, as Kadri and Huberdeau are a bit older and they'll probably regress during these contracts. But they're unquestionably better this coming season.

 

[who_me?]

Worse.

Kadri just got his ring and his retirement contract, Huberdeau is 30 yo and just got his retirement contract, and Weegar is looking for his retirement contract.