Speculation: Armchair GM Thread: Long long journey through the darkness, where is our goalie?

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SKRusty

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Jan 20, 2016
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volica said:
Jankowski's processor speed is too slow, and while physically gifted, he still needs to put on 15-20 pounds. I fully expect him to be Calgary's 4C this year. We wouldn't of had to go out and pick up 2 natural centres in the offseason if we thought Jankowski would easily surpass Backlund.

At this point, he's a non-puck dominant centre. We're not sure what the finished product looks like, but we'd have to get an exponential curve to see him as a 2C, let alone a 1C. Not ruling it out, because his progress curve has been excellent; but it's unlikely.

He struggled at the NHL last year. He was often outmatched. Keep in mind, outside of 4 goals in the last game of the season in a meaningless game Vegas didn't really even play in; and a hot streak from Bennett in November/December, Jankowski scored 7 goals the rest of the way. That's still decent production from a rookie, but we're also looking at a guy who'll be 24 by the start of the season.

I expect him to carve out a bit more of an offensive Brian Boyle type career. Late bloomer who's a great internal asset. I see a 15-20/13-15 type centre, big, wins draws (Eventually), and plays with the puck a lot.

Slow Processor??? Mark sees the ice and anticipates plays better than most of the team but his default setting is defensive which shows him as tentative but with some talent he could jump in more offensively. Lets be honest most of the season he was either partnered with boat anchors in Brouwer and Hathaway (Love the guy's grit but he isn't good enough for a third line role.) The argument about goals is irrelevant. It is like saying Sean's hat-trick doesn't count because the other team lost the will to compete. There were many games especially in the first half where Jankowski was likely the best player on the ice and was not rewarded. As a rookie I would expect him to burn out like Chucky did the year before.

Mobiandi said:
Backlund put up 47 pts two seasons ago playing with rookie Bennett, Frolik and Colborne. He then followed it up with 53 pts and was the main reason we made the playoffs. Jankowski got 8 assists this season and a quarter of his goals against a Vegas team that was trying not to get injured. That isn't to say I don't like Jankowski but he faded hard after the bye week. Playing with Aho and being given a lot of PP time, Lindholm still hasn't reached Backlund's career highs in points even with the latter being slaughtered with defensive assignments.

It's true the 3M line had a down year offensively but it's way off base to suggest Backlund is being carried by Tkachuk. He's a damn good player in his own right and still finished with 45 pts last season

Didn't say Backs was carried I said he benefited from playing with a gifted young player. Backs is like Bozak. He can play 2C for a while but there are better options out there. Bozak may have more offensive flare but Backs is better defensively.

At 29 there is a good chance we have seen the best Backlund has to offer as far as points and potential. Backs is a great 3C shut-down guy who can chip in here and there. All I am saying is the Flames could really use either Jankowski or Lindholm to pass him on the depth chart. To win the cup you need a minimum of 3 very good lines and a forth line that can add when the others are off.


DominikBokkFan said:
Lindholm didn't even really play with Aho that much, plus in 2016-2017 Lindholm had one of the best primary assist generation 5on5 in the league.

You brushed a large part of the problems for Lindholm in Carolina. He was so versatile that when a RW or center was injured or slumping Lindholm was used to fill the gap. He played up and down the line-up at both wing and center. One night he would be the 3rd line center, the next he was Staal's RW, and then the next he was centering the line for Aho's. It really did not allow Lindholm to build chemistry or gain traction.

Lindholm is a play-maker that benefits from finishers. Aho and Teravainen are from the same cloth thus they were not a good fit. Staal was the set-up man for Skinner and Williams. THis all left a hole a t the 2C slot for a finishing center that neither Rask or Lindholm could fill so it was musical chairs all season long.

The nice thing is that with Monahan you have a finisher for Lindholm. Playing with Chucky, Neal, Bennett(If he ever gets his crap together) and Jankowski you have some finishers. I really like the trade for Lindholm because Calgary needed another solid set-up guy.
 
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Mr Snrub

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The nice thing is that with Monahan you have a finisher for Lindholm. Playing with Chucky, Neal, Bennett(If he ever gets his crap together) and Jankowski you have some finishers. I really like the trade for Lindholm because Calgary needed another solid set-up guy.

Monahan seems like the obvious choice given his shot, but I almost feel Lindholm would be better feeding Neal with Backs at C. Just feel the style of play is a bit better of a fit
 

Lunatik

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Oct 12, 2012
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Monahan seems like the obvious choice given his shot, but I almost feel Lindholm would be better feeding Neal with Backs at C. Just feel the style of play is a bit better of a fit
Except Neal is better on the right side than left.
 

Mr Snrub

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Except Neal is better on the right side than left.

It's not like he's bad on the left side though. Just seems like Gaudreau and Monahan like tic tac toe in deep and to slow the play down a bit better (precisely the reason I think they would work well with Tkachuk), whereas Neal and Lindholm are both pretty quick players who like to do their work while still moving at a good pace.

It's great that we as fans even get to have a discussion about this, though. I guess this probably belongs in the lineup thread but oh well.
 

Lunatik

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It's not like he's bad on the left side though. Just seems like Gaudreau and Monahan like tic tac toe in deep and to slow the play down a bit better (precisely the reason I think they would work well with Tkachuk), whereas Neal and Lindholm are both pretty quick players who like to do their work while still moving at a good pace.

It's great that we as fans even get to have a discussion about this, though. I guess this probably belongs in the lineup thread but oh well.
I'm not against Neal and Lindholm together, but if they are, Lindholm needs to be at C and Neal RW

Maybe something like this would work better.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Tkachuk
Bennett - Lindholm - Neal
Frolik - Backlund - Ryan
Brouwer - Jankowski - Czarnik
 

Der Jaeger

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Feb 14, 2009
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Johnny Hoxville said:
I’d probably move Brouwer for Ladd or Okposo. Okposo would be my top choice

Sabres fan. Interesting.

Okposo for Brouwer and maybe Stone as the basis of a deal? Sabres take on short term money for lower line/pairing players. Calgary takes on the extended salary but also the better player.

Thoughts?
 

The Gnome

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May 17, 2010
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Sabres fan. Interesting.

Okposo for Brouwer and maybe Stone as the basis of a deal? Sabres take on short term money for lower line/pairing players. Calgary takes on the extended salary but also the better player.

Thoughts?

In a vacuum sure. But the reality is with the signing of Neal, we cannot afford to take on another large cap hit. Especially for someone who plays like Okposo...That contract is going to look horrendous in a couple years, and currently there is still five to go. We'd be better off buying out Brouwer if needed and trading Stone to a team like OTT for a whatever pick we can get.

We have to many upcoming contracts for young guys that need to be addressed. Having Okposo on the books for 6 million a year would hurt us.
 
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Der Jaeger

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In a vacuum sure. But the reality is with the signing of Neal, we cannot afford to take on another large cap hit. Especially for someone who plays like Okposo...That contract is going to look horrendous in a couple years, and currently there is still five to go. We'd be better off buying out Brouwer if needed and trading Stone to a team like OTT for a whatever pick we can get.

We have to many upcoming contracts for young guys that need to be addressed. Having Okposo on the books for 6 million a year would hurt us.

Fair enough. Thanks for the feedback!
 

Mr Snrub

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In a vacuum sure. But the reality is with the signing of Neal, we cannot afford to take on another large cap hit. Especially for someone who plays like Okposo...That contract is going to look horrendous in a couple years, and currently there is still five to go. We'd be better off buying out Brouwer if needed and trading Stone to a team like OTT for a whatever pick we can get.

We have to many upcoming contracts for young guys that need to be addressed. Having Okposo on the books for 6 million a year would hurt us.

Yeah, I really likes the sound of acquiring Okposo before we signed Neal but taking on that contract probably isn't a good idea at this point, especially when we added three right shots this off-season anyways.
 

Flameshomer

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Comparing Backlund to Bozak should be bannable.

Not only that, but he compared Janko's rookie season to Tkachuk's. You've gone off the deep end my friend!!

I personally would love to see Lindholm given a shot at centre. I think this team is still lacking a line driving centre option (creating a 2a-2b line situation with backlund's line) and Lindholm has the possession numbers to potentially fill that role. Give him some offensive talent and we have a whole new line up front that can help us dictate play, something Janko-Bennett was absolutely overwhelmed trying to accomplish last year. Also I think Corsi has been replaced by better advanced stats, so Janko's 'good corsi' numbers mean virtually nothing. His WAR was pretty poor.
Personally I would agree that Janko is better than Bennett, but I know that's not a popular opinion and everyone wants to give Benny one more shot. As such I think we should capitalize on Janko's goal scoring bursts last year and trade him.

What we know is this:

Gaudreau-Monahan- ? is a viable first line
?-Backlund-Frolik is a viable middle six line (frolik can play both wings)

That leaves us Lindholm, Neal, Bennett, Jankowski, Tkachuk to fill those spots and round out a third line. The logical thing IMO is to take the best centre of the group (statistically, Lindholm) and pair with the best winger (I think Tkachuk, some will say Neal) to make us another viable pair and give us a new line. I really like the idea of Bennett-Lindholm-Tkachuk so that's my preference, but Bennett-Lindholm-Neal would probably be interesting too! This puts Janko in an interesting spot though. He's too good to be a 4th line centre; his numbers will just be suppressed there, and I'm not sure whether he's mentally prepared to sit most of the night and come out hard in specific circumstances. He doesn't seem to have the Grinder/Role player mind set. I'd be interested in seeing him on the wing potentially. Maybe he can learn from Neal to use his big frame and good shot.
 
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RedHot

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Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Neal
Bennett - Ryan/Jankowski - Frolik
Mangiapane - Ryan/Jankowski - Czarnik

Gio - Brodie
Hanafin - Hamonic
Kulak - Rasmus

Extras
Lazar, Brouwer, Stone rotates with Rasmus as needed if he's still around.

PP1 Gaudreau - Monahan - Tkachuk - Neal - Giordano
 
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Bjornar Moxnes

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With Pulock signing really cheap, I hope he's used as a comparable for Hanifin. Yes he's proven less, but still if Hanifin does bridge, please be no more than 3mill if it's only 2 years. If he doesn't, even better.
 

CraigsList

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Sabres fan. Interesting.

Okposo for Brouwer and maybe Stone as the basis of a deal? Sabres take on short term money for lower line/pairing players. Calgary takes on the extended salary but also the better player.

Thoughts?

If it happened, I wouldn't hate it. But, as another poster mentioned, it would not make very much sense for us to acquire Okposo when we already invested so much money in Neal.
 

Skobel24

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May 23, 2008
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If it happened, I wouldn't hate it. But, as another poster mentioned, it would not make very much sense for us to acquire Okposo when we already invested so much money in Neal.

Would make the lineup a lot stronger.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Neal
Bennett - Jankowski - Okposo
Klimchuk - Ryan - Czarnik

No clue if they could make the cap work.
 
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Bjornar Moxnes

Stem Rødt og Felix Unger Sörum
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Would make the lineup a lot stronger.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Neal
Bennett - Jankowski - Okposo
Klimchuk - Ryan - Czarnik

No clue if they could make the cap work.

I doubt they would make the cap work, but boy call me biased that top 9 is top 3-5 in the league.
 
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