Speculation: Where do you expect us to finish in our division

[Mobiandi]

56 games, meaning we're gonna play 9 times against 4 teams (probably WPG, MTL, OTT, TOR) and 10 times against 2 teams (probably EDM, VAN).

Arrivals:
- Markstrom
- Valimaki
- Tanev
- Leivo
- Nordstrom
- Nesterov
- Simon
- Domingue
- Petrovic
- Blasty

Departures:
- Brodie
- Talbot
- Rieder
- Jankowski
- Quine
- Lomberg

I have us in 2nd behind Toronto. I believe this season will be a track meet and Geoff Ward will have to worry more about balancing player health more than tactical hockey.

More than ever, I think the teams that blow their load in the first 15 games will really struggle as the season goes on. But teams like Montreal and Vancouver don't have any other option so they'll be aggressive from day 1 to impose themselves. I think we'll see a trademark slow Flames start and we'll turn it up a gear in the last 20 games.

1. Toronto
2. Calgary
3. Winnipeg
4. Montreal
5. Edmonton
6. Vancouver
7. Ottawa

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[Corpus X]

56 games, meaning we're gonna play 9 times against 4 teams (probably WPG, MTL, OTT, TOR) and 10 times against 2 teams (probably EDM, VAN).

Arrivals:
- Markstrom
- Valimaki
- Tanev
- Leivo
- Nordstrom
- Nesterov
- Simon
- Domingue
- Petrovic
- Blasty

Departures:
- Brodie
- Talbot
- Rieder
- Jankowski
- Quine
- Lomberg

I have us in 2nd behind Toronto. I believe this season will be a track meet and Geoff Ward will have to worry more about balancing player health more than tactical hockey.

More than ever, I think the teams that blow their load in the first 15 games will really struggle as the season goes on. But teams like Montreal and Vancouver don't have any other option so they'll be aggressive from day 1 to impose themselves. I think we'll see a trademark slow Flames start and we'll turn it up a gear in the last 20 games.

1. Toronto
2. Calgary
3. Winnipeg
4. Montreal
5. Edmonton
6. Vancouver
7. Ottawa

1. Toronto
2. Calgary
3. Edmonton
4. Montreal
5. Winnipeg
6. Vancouver
7. Ottawa

 

[User1996]

1. Toronto/Calgary
3. Edmonton/Montreal
5. Winnipeg
6. Vancouver
7. Ottawa

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

1. Toronto
2. Vancouver
3. Edmonton
4. Calgary
5. Winnipeg
6. Montreal
7. Ottawa

 

[Deen]

Yeah I think we hover around 4th/5th depending on injuries and how Markstrom plays. Could be as high as 2nd if he has an MVP season. Toronto is going to dominate the division imo. Montreal will make some noise too. I think Vancouver will be 6/7.

 

[super6646]

Between first and seventh...

Honestly though I wouldn't be surprised to miss the playoffs this year. Our top 4 looks slow af and our center group is bottom 3 in the division. I'll say 3rd, but honestly I just have an ugly feeling about this year.

 

[CamPopplestone]

All I know is regardless of how we do, I'm looking forward to this season. Short season, no pre-season, get right into a sprint. I dig it. Gonna be different.

 

[Volica]

Should be top 2.
Honestly, love how this team is built especially the backend for the amount we will be playing the same teams. Honestly, I think Toronto and Edmonton will struggle almightily. This is a weird one where you’re almost playing multiple playoff series.

 

[User1996]

I can’t believe people are expecting anything other than top 2 honestly. This is the best team we’ve had in so long.

 

[Kranix]

ahead of crybaby scheifele dirtpeg

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

The depth on our blue line could sting a bit.

other than that I think we’ll be good. I expect a bounce back from Johnny.

I still think the Leafs are probably the favourites.

2/3 Flames and the Oilers. Honestly see a bit of a drop off after.

I think Montreal likely makes it but they are going to have to rely on Price to steal a series before their eventual demise.

Vancouver takes a step back imo.

Winnipeg has no D but maybe their talent up front can make up for that.

Ottawa will be better but I still think they finish last.

 

[Volica]

Should be top 2.
Honestly, love how this team is built especially the backend for the amount we will be playing the same teams. Honestly, I think Toronto and Edmonton will struggle almightily. This is a weird one where you’re almost playing multiple playoff series.

Just to add this this

I think Calgary has one of the best overall mixes of top tier talent and depth, both on the defensive and defensive end.

The reason I think Toronto and Edmonton will be worse than people are predicting because they're faaaaaar too top loaded for a season you're going to be playing each other 10 times (ish). The amount of back-to-backs, and three in fours there's going be this season, you're not going to be able to rely on your top 2 players every single night.

Like, have you seen who will be playing on those two teams' bottom 6? It either an all-star team from 2013 or a bunch of run-of-the-mill garbage you'd be able to sign to PTO's any year. I think this year will also require you to rotate 8-9D to be successful to keep your team fresh. Half the teams in the Canadian Division barely have 4 guys they can comfortably roll out each night, let alone a bottom pair and a 7, 8D in case of injuries.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I think Nucks will be way way better than most expect.

 

[Volica]

The depth on our blue line could sting a bit.

other than that I think we’ll be good. I expect a bounce back from Johnny.

I still think the Leafs are probably the favourites.

2/3 Flames and the Oilers. Honestly see a bit of a drop off after.

I think Montreal likely makes it but they are going to have to rely on Price to steal a series before their eventual demise.

Vancouver takes a step back imo.

Winnipeg has no D but maybe their talent up front can make up for that.

Ottawa will be better but I still think they finish last.

Have you seen what Edmonton/Toronto/Winnipeg/Vancouver/Ottawa will be using as their regular 4/5/6D?
If there's any strength the Flames have a clear advantage over the rest of the Canadian Division, it's defence 3-8, and probably right near Montreal in terms of overall depth of lineup.

I'd put it this way:

Top Tier Forward Ranks (F1-F6)
Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver/Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa

Forward Depth Ranks: (F7-13)
Montreal/Calgary/Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton/Ottawa

Top Tier Defence Ranks: (D1-3)
Calgary/Vancouver/Montreal/Toronto (I could argue around ranking any of those teams 1-4), Winnipeg/Edmonton/Ottawa (Same thing here, I could debate any position between those three).

Defence Depth Ranks (D4-8)
Calgary/Vancouver, Montreal... Maybe Edmonton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa? It's trash here. Like, big time trash.

IF you're not sure what I'm talking about, here's the list of guys who will be in the top 4 at different times for the other four teams:
Poolman, Fortbort, Pionk, Beaulieu.
Hall, Dermott, Bogosian
Jones, Russell, Larsson
Zub, Brown, Wolanin

Like... Say what you want about Calgary, but having Giordano, Tanev, Andersson, Hanifin and Valimaki; flanked by Nesterov, Kylington, etc looks like hitting pay dirt compared to the rest of the division.

When you break down how these teams kind of shake out, you notice that Calgary's done a quiet job in filling in a lot of holes. They still lack that top tier talent (the Matthews, McDavids of the world), but they have some all-star caliber players, and a lot of depth (Derek Ryan, who will likely be stapled to the 4th line, would be a God-send for pretty much every team in Canada ).

 

[Mobiandi]

Montreal's going to be a very pesky team

I don't see Edmonton doing well at all unless they get 9 powerplays a game

 

[Volica]

I think Nucks will be way way better than most expect.

If goaltending holds up, they have a chance.
Love the top end forwards, love the defence they've put together, forward depth is questionable; but as long as that Goalie holds up, they're going to be a legit team in this division.

I think too much credit is being given to Toronto and Edmonton.
Edmonton needed a 30% PP to sputter into a playoff position.
I think Toronto won't know what to do in the Prairies this year. That's a team that gets lambasted by its fans and media for being super soft. You're going to be playing between Edmonton/Calgary/Winnipeg 30(ish) times this year... All three of those teams have the ability to put hair on your chest (and very different from picking up random 1 game trips throughout the season).

Like, think of the back to backs, and how many of those will happen. It's going to be like, Toronto with a 3-0 lead against Edmonton Friday night... they bring out the knuckle-draggers to set the tone for Saturday night when they have to do it again

This season is going to be as close to like '05-07 hockey as you can get (with even more games against the same teams!).

 

[Volica]

I can’t believe people are expecting anything other than top 2 honestly. This is the best team we’ve had in so long.

I was thinking about this earlier today.
In 2014, if future me told me:

"Hey man, in 6/7 years, this team is going to have two all-star wingers, two centremen who'll score 25+ a year, Backlund will still be an elite two-way centre, there's going to be another two wingers with some maaaajor upside just breaking into the league, the defence will have a recent Norris Trophy winner, along with possible the best U-23 defensive group in the league; oh, also, there's a Vezina type goalie in net too."

I'd be like

"Holy shit! I'm so excited to see how Bennett turns into a 25 goal guy."

Then future me would be like.

"Oh yeah... man... about that."

Then I'd be like.

"And Gillies! A Vezina goaltender!! Wow, or what it that off-the-board pick of Mason McDonald? Niiiice, It's great Gaudreau is a star! Who's the other guy? Probably Emile right? And Klimmer took the long road like we predicted, but he's got everyone thinking he's got some real potential eh?"

Then Future me would be like:

"Only one of those statements is true, best of luck in the past."

 

[Khrox]

"And Gillies! A Vezina goaltender!! Wow, or what it that off-the-board pick of Mason McDonald? Niiiice, It's great Gaudreau is a star! Who's the other guy? Probably Emile right? And Klimmer took the long road like we predicted, but he's got everyone thinking he's got some real potential eh?"

Ooof. I think what hurts is I really thought Klimchuk could make it as a Glencross-type player. Middle six 15-20 goal 40 point player with a bit of edge. Like, he had all the tools, just couldn't get there.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I was thinking about this earlier today.
In 2014, if future me told me:

"Hey man, in 6/7 years, this team is going to have two all-star wingers, two centremen who'll score 25+ a year, Backlund will still be an elite two-way centre, there's going to be another two wingers with some maaaajor upside just breaking into the league, the defence will have a recent Norris Trophy winner, along with possible the best U-23 defensive group in the league; oh, also, there's a Vezina type goalie in net too."

I'd be like

"Holy shit! I'm so excited to see how Bennett turns into a 25 goal guy."

Then future me would be like.

"Oh yeah... man... about that."

Then I'd be like.

"And Gillies! A Vezina goaltender!! Wow, or what it that off-the-board pick of Mason McDonald? Niiiice, It's great Gaudreau is a star! Who's the other guy? Probably Emile right? And Klimmer took the long road like we predicted, but he's got everyone thinking he's got some real potential eh?"

Then Future me would be like:

"Only one of those statements is true, best of luck in the past."

I didn’t get my permission slip signed for this feels trip.

 

[Bounces R Way]

 

[Mazatt]

Vancouver is in a weird spot where they showed the growth to be in the race for 2nd in a division with the Golden Knights, but it was based off of a breakout year by Miller, and now I feel people are going to overrate them or underrate them based on expecting that to fall off, or expecting the playoff series' to be an indicator for the future. I think they'll make the playoffs but they'll definitely struggle at times, expecting Miller to be a ppg player all of the time is a very heavy order, same with Pearson's production, + Holtby dropping off a lot recently gives a lot of reason for concern (especially since Demko was good for like, 3 games last season and wasn't spectacular in the regular season.

Oilers, on the other hand, are getting massively overrated. They lost their best d-man in Klefbom and have no internal replacement for that, and they signed a player Buffalo wouldn't want and are claiming it as a massive victory (Kahun). It's easy for other fanbases to look at Edmonton and say "Oh, they have McDavid and Draisaitl, they're going to be so good!" Except that near 30% pp was would held them, what, ahead by 4 points? You drop that to a still league leading 26%, and suddenly the Oilers are potentially the 9 seed, they weren't anything special that year, and getting 44 powerplay points over 70 games is a horribly unsustainable pace no matter how good the team is. Plus, historical pp%'s are historically followed up by average pp%'s, so if they're down to 20% they're screwed. If they had % last year that's 19 goals they aren't able to produce anymore.

Let's not also act like the Flames are perfect, we lost Brodie who was at times our best d-man early last year, and a bounceback from Gaudreau and Monahan is far from a sure thing. With it being a sprint to the finish having Tanev has potential to backfire if he predictably gets injured, since our 7 and 8 d-men aren't anything special, and either have been 7th d-men for a while or haven't really played in the NHL before. On the other, other hand, Versteeg once said Bennett isn't great in the regular season because finding a reason to get up for every game and be completely motivated like with playoffs is a difficult task (paraphrased, of course), and this condensed season of mini-playoff series against the same teams could hopefully act as the extra kicker for him to be half as impactful as he is in the playoffs. Personally I see them coming 3rd behind Toronto and Vancouver/Montreal, but it's absolutely anyones division to take

 

[Khrox]

I have Calgary third. But I feel that 1-3 is going to be *REAL* tight race. I figure I'll either be right, or I'll be pleasantly surprised with a top 2 finish. I also feel that Vancouver could potentially be a 4th finish. Ottawa obviously last.

 

[Mobiandi]

Have you seen what Edmonton/Toronto/Winnipeg/Vancouver/Ottawa will be using as their regular 4/5/6D?
If there's any strength the Flames have a clear advantage over the rest of the Canadian Division, it's defence 3-8, and probably right near Montreal in terms of overall depth of lineup.

I'd put it this way:

Top Tier Forward Ranks (F1-F6)
Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver/Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa

Forward Depth Ranks: (F7-13)
Montreal/Calgary/Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton/Ottawa

Top Tier Defence Ranks: (D1-3)
Calgary/Vancouver/Montreal/Toronto (I could argue around ranking any of those teams 1-4), Winnipeg/Edmonton/Ottawa (Same thing here, I could debate any position between those three).

Defence Depth Ranks (D4-8)
Calgary/Vancouver, Montreal... Maybe Edmonton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa? It's trash here. Like, big time trash.

IF you're not sure what I'm talking about, here's the list of guys who will be in the top 4 at different times for the other four teams:
Poolman, Fortbort, Pionk, Beaulieu.
Hall, Dermott, Bogosian
Jones, Russell, Larsson
Zub, Brown, Wolanin

Like... Say what you want about Calgary, but having Giordano, Tanev, Andersson, Hanifin and Valimaki; flanked by Nesterov, Kylington, etc looks like hitting pay dirt compared to the rest of the division.

When you break down how these teams kind of shake out, you notice that Calgary's done a quiet job in filling in a lot of holes. They still lack that top tier talent (the Matthews, McDavids of the world), but they have some all-star caliber players, and a lot of depth (Derek Ryan, who will likely be stapled to the 4th line, would be a God-send for pretty much every team in Canada ).

I also think we have incredibly underrated goaltending for once *knocks on wood*

Markstrom finally gives us some confidence in net and Big Dick Rittich is no slouch who has experience with a starter's load.

TOR: Andersen is my pick for best regular season goalie in the division but Jack Campbell isn't really an inspiring back-up to have with all the B2Bs this season.
VAN: Demko is a mystery and Holtby's been trending down for a while but has that pedigree and experience. They might be the biggest wildcard in net - could go great, could be a long season for them
MTL: Price and Jake Allen. This will be a steady tandem. Price's reputation precedes him but he doesn't turn into a god unless it's a big game and Allen doesn't show up unless it's against us, but they'll do quite well this season.
WPG: Hellebuyck and Brossoit. Over/under for Hellebuyck GP this season at: 45.5?
EDM: Smith and Koskinen
OTT: Murray and Nilsson. These guys are gonna see a lot of rubber this season

 

[Nanuuk]

1. Calgary
2. Toronto
3. Montreal
4. Edmonton
5. Winnipeg
6. Vancouver
7. Ottawa

Optimism reigns supreme this time of year. I like our club a lot. I feel we added a lot of value just by subtracting certain players. Their replacements are solid NHL pros and, in the case of Markstrom, an elite level goaltender.

Up and coming players like Dube, Mangiapane, and Tkachuk are a year older and will continue to improve. A couple of our stars are hitting their prime and are hungry to avoid another early exit.

Calgary is a fast team generally speaking and has a lot of grit.

Add in a new defensive schema that we briefly saw in the play-offs and there is no reason why they shouldn't challenge for top spot.

Toronto is a loaded team, but they have gotten slower with some of the vets they've added. This could be a weakness for them.

Montreal had made some great additions, but I'm not sure they've got more than two lines. They will still be tough.

Edmonton will be in the second year of Dave Tippett and they have two of the best players in the league. Goaltending will be an issue for them. Ditto their defence. They will also be a tough team.

I picked Winnipeg next. Another very good team with Vezina calibre goalie. Defence will be their weakness.

Vancouver has all sorts of positives going. I like their coach, I like their players, but they lost a few critical parts in the off-season. They could just as easily finish in the top four as 6th or 7th.

Ottawa. An exciting young team in a re-build. But they don't have enough to pass the other clubs.

 

[Fig]

Calgary has historically been a team that does well with a sprint and not a marathon of a season.

I think we have good reason to believe we are going to be ranked between 2nd to 4th in the division.