Flames Development Camp

[MonahanTHEMoneyMan]

I think we pick in top 3... I don't see colorado or tampa or florida or Nashville(Great coaching) picking ahead of us. the only teams with a legimate shot at #1 pick are buffalo and NJ, but NJ losing its pick could put us in top 2.

 

[MarkGio]

Florida still has as many question marks about defense and goaltending as we do.

If Colorado's defense doesn't improve they are a option.

If Dallas's defense is poor again or Kari gets hurt for a large portion of the season they are an option.

Buffalo is rumored to be trying to move Vanek and Miller so they are an option.

NJD is obvious option.

If Tampa's goaltending doesn't step up they are an option.

Nashville hasn't really improved from last year.

I personally think Winnipeg could fall apart.

So there is 8 teams and that doesn't include teams like Columbus that had a great year but it was unexpected and Philly who still don't have a #1 goalie.

All of those teams have a head start on the rebuild as well as a better, more established core.

Colorado has probably the best forward line-up in the league when you add McKinnon and Tangauy IMO. That alone warrants at least contention material.

Tampa Bay and Florida got a little worse with Wiess and Vinny replaced by Barkov and Drouin, while Nashville got better with a huge steal in Jones. Calgary on the other hand got a lot worse. You can't easily replace the 150pt void that Iginla, Tanguay and Bouwmeester left behind.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

All of those teams have a head start on the rebuild as well as a better, more established core.

Colorado has probably the best forward line-up in the league when you add McKinnon and Tangauy IMO. That alone warrants at least contention material.

Tampa Bay and Florida got a little worse with Wiess and Vinny replaced by Barkov and Drouin, while Nashville got better with a huge steal in Jones. Calgary on the other hand got a lot worse. You can't easily replace the 150pt void that Iginla, Tanguay and Bouwmeester left behind.

This. Unless you're expecting everyone to have career years, you're not going to make up for that gap on the scoresheet. Yes, Backlund will have a good season if he stays healthy, and yes, Sven will have a good season if he's not rattled, but our top line will still probably look something like Glencross - Cammalleri - Stempniak. Only one of those players is a legitimate first line forward and he's getting traded at the deadline.

The only real improvement the Flames have made is <controversialopinion>adding O'Brien</controversialopinion>, but all he does is make the team harder to play against, not make it better at winning. I'd say Florida's draft picks will pull it out, same with Colorado. Buffalo could move behind us but that's contingent on what happens with Vanek and Miller. New Jersey's going to miss out obviously. Tampa will do fine with Bishop in net. I'd say the only team that could foreseeably finish behind us is Winnipeg. Say hello to Ekblad.

 

[Trae]

Anyone else seen Berra's interview on the flames site?

"Yeah, is really beautiful you have small mountains. In Switzerland we have really big mountains".

Yeah, that entire interview in general if you watch it again is all about "big and small".

I got to feel bad for Jersey. They lost Oduya, Comier, Bgfors, and two first round picks, one of which will be a top 5 pick, for nothing but 150 games of Kovalchuck.

Not to mention the (arguably) best goalie in NHL history, Clarkson, Parise, and a few guys here and there have left their roster lately with nothing in return.

Plus they're also struggling financially. Given how hard it will be to recover from this, I imagine they will have to worry about losing their franchise in a decades time.

Did I miss something, is Brodeur retiring? Or do you consider Johan Hedberg to be the best goaltender in NHL history?
______________

As for the standings, can't imagine we'll pick outside of the top 5, we have gutted our team. If we finish better on the season, you should be pleasantly surprised, you should not expect it though, it's foolish and really is only wishful thinking.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Yeah, that entire interview in general if you watch it again is all about "big and small".



Did I miss something, is Brodeur retiring? Or do you consider Johan Hedberg to be the best goaltender in NHL history?
______________

As for the standings, can't imagine we'll pick outside of the top 5, we have gutted our team. If we finish better on the season, you should be pleasantly surprised, you should not expect it though, it's foolish and really is only wishful thinking.

Well, let's think about this. Martin's 41, and the Devils just traded for an up-and-coming starter-level netminder. Brodeur will probably retire at the end of the season and will end up playing about half of this one.

 

[TheHudlinator]

All of those teams have a head start on the rebuild as well as a better, more established core.

Colorado has probably the best forward line-up in the league when you add McKinnon and Tangauy IMO. That alone warrants at least contention material.

Tampa Bay and Florida got a little worse with Wiess and Vinny replaced by Barkov and Drouin, while Nashville got better with a huge steal in Jones. Calgary on the other hand got a lot worse. You can't easily replace the 150pt void that Iginla, Tanguay and Bouwmeester left behind.

Jones at this point isn't a top 4 defenseman so regardless of how big of a steal he was he won't have a huge impact this season. I agree that the Avs have a great forward lineup but their defense is worse than ours they could very easily crash and burn.

By moving Tangs and Jbo we give Sven and Brodie as replacements. Its a risk but we have the potential to replace the majority of the goals lost and fill several other holes.

We lost 150 points on Iggy, Tangs, Jbo and they won't be replaced with the guys we got in return for them. But we got ALOT more physical with Galiradi, Jones, SOB, Cundari. We also picked up a great faceoff center in Knight.

We lost offense no doubt about it but the 11th best goals per game team from last year (including games without all 3 mentioned) patched a ton of holes else where and I feel have upgraded in net (as I don't think we could have downgraded).

Simply put there are about 1000 question marks around our team and every other team like wise but I think if Brodie and Sven step up this team has the ability to be a much better team but we won't have any stars. I look at what Columbus did with their supposed "worst roster on paper" from last year and they won because of a strong team game (and great goaltending) if we can get just the team game they got I think we will see a improvement over last year.

 

[Trae]

Well, let's think about this. Martin's 41, and the Devils just traded for an up-and-coming starter-level netminder. Brodeur will probably retire at the end of the season and will end up playing about half of this one.

Yeah, but they haven't lost him like Parise, Clarkson, Kovalchuk, etc, haha

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Jones at this point isn't a top 4 defenseman so regardless of how big of a steal he was he won't have a huge impact this season. I agree that the Avs have a great forward lineup but their defense is worse than ours they could very easily crash and burn.

By moving Tangs and Jbo we give Sven and Brodie as replacements. Its a risk but we have the potential to replace the majority of the goals lost and fill several other holes.

We lost 150 points on Iggy, Tangs, Jbo and they won't be replaced with the guys we got in return for them. But we got ALOT more physical with Galiradi, Jones, SOB, Cundari. We also picked up a great faceoff center in Knight.

We lost offense no doubt about it but the 11th best goals per game team from last year (including games without all 3 mentioned) patched a ton of holes else where and I feel have upgraded in net (as I don't think we could have downgraded).

Simply put there are about 1000 question marks around our team and every other team like wise but I think if Brodie and Sven step up this team has the ability to be a much better team but we won't have any stars. I look at what Columbus did with their supposed "worst roster on paper" from last year and they won because of a strong team game (and great goaltending) if we can get just the team game they got I think we will see a improvement over last year.

Galiardi: 36gp, 14 PIM
Jones: 33gp, 6 PIM
Admittedly O'Brien and Cundari are benefits, but we have yet to see whether Cundari can translate his physical play from the AHL to the NHL. So O'Brien is really the only grit we added.

As for Knight, I don't see him playing until after the Cammalleri trade. Where would he fit into a starting lineup? We have Cammalleri, Hudler, Backlund and Stajan, and moving those players to the wings only makes things more complicated. Maybe Hudler to the right would work out, but that also probably sacrifices his point production. Knight will be winning faceoffs for Abbotsford for a few months.

 

[BrodieGoat]

Galiardi: 36gp, 14 PIM
Jones: 33gp, 6 PIM
Admittedly O'Brien and Cundari are benefits, but we have yet to see whether Cundari can translate his physical play from the AHL to the NHL. So O'Brien is really the only grit we added.

As for Knight, I don't see him playing until after the Cammalleri trade. Where would he fit into a starting lineup? We have Cammalleri, Hudler, Backlund and Stajan, and moving those players to the wings only makes things more complicated. Maybe Hudler to the right would work out, but that also probably sacrifices his point production. Knight will be winning faceoffs for Abbotsford for a few months.

Hudler and Cammy are W also unless Granlund beats Knight in training camp I doubt Knight starts in the AHL I can see him in the 2nd or 3rd line most likely 3rd

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Hudler and Cammy are W also unless Granlund beats Knight in training camp I doubt Knight starts in the AHL I can see him in the 2nd or 3rd line most likely 3rd

Moving Cammy to left wing means Galiardi doesn't make the starting lineup, unless we want to put him in a fourth line role that he is wholly unsuited and unprepared for. We need him at centre. Same goes with Hudler.

 

[1989]

In order to get the most favourable return for Cammalleri at the deadline, the Flames should showcase him at his natural position as much as possible.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

In order to get the most favourable return for Cammalleri at the deadline, the Flames should showcase him at his natural position as much as possible.

I think that's playing with fire and could potentially screw up Sven's development by shoving him into a bottom six role. I'm okay with playing him at centre and getting a second-round pick out of it.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Galiardi: 36gp, 14 PIM
Jones: 33gp, 6 PIM
Admittedly O'Brien and Cundari are benefits, but we have yet to see whether Cundari can translate his physical play from the AHL to the NHL. So O'Brien is really the only grit we added.

As for Knight, I don't see him playing until after the Cammalleri trade. Where would he fit into a starting lineup? We have Cammalleri, Hudler, Backlund and Stajan, and moving those players to the wings only makes things more complicated. Maybe Hudler to the right would work out, but that also probably sacrifices his point production. Knight will be winning faceoffs for Abbotsford for a few months.

Out of everyone at the prospect camp not named Bartschi, Corban Knight is our most NHL ready prospect. I will honestly be shocked if he doesn't make the team.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Out of everyone at the prospect camp not named Bartschi, Corban Knight is our most NHL ready prospect. I will honestly be shocked if he doesn't make the team.

I agree, from what I've heard Knight has been awesome, but there's simply not space for him right now without making some awful lineup changes. The best I could imagine is maybe moving Cammalleri to left wing, putting Baertschi on a second line role instead of Glencross and throwing Galiardi under the bus by making him play on a fourth line. No solution is pretty. I would really be okay with just keeping him in Abbotsford for a while and having him come up once Cammy leaves.

 

[MarkGio]

Jones at this point isn't a top 4 defenseman so regardless of how big of a steal he was he won't have a huge impact this season. I agree that the Avs have a great forward lineup but their defense is worse than ours they could very easily crash and burn.

By moving Tangs and Jbo we give Sven and Brodie as replacements. Its a risk but we have the potential to replace the majority of the goals lost and fill several other holes.

We lost 150 points on Iggy, Tangs, Jbo and they won't be replaced with the guys we got in return for them. But we got ALOT more physical with Galiradi, Jones, SOB, Cundari. We also picked up a great faceoff center in Knight.

We lost offense no doubt about it but the 11th best goals per game team from last year (including games without all 3 mentioned) patched a ton of holes else where and I feel have upgraded in net (as I don't think we could have downgraded).

Simply put there are about 1000 question marks around our team and every other team like wise but I think if Brodie and Sven step up this team has the ability to be a much better team but we won't have any stars. I look at what Columbus did with their supposed "worst roster on paper" from last year and they won because of a strong team game (and great goaltending) if we can get just the team game they got I think we will see a improvement over last year.

How is Jones and Galliardi more physical? Avs fans were saying Jones was soft.

And we already had Sven and Brodie while Tanguay and Bouwmeester was on the roster. They didn't replace them, they only got a promotion.

And what good would it serve us to go on a Columbus-like run? Why not draft a star forward or defensemen with our top 5 pick, while trading Stempniak + Cammy at the deadline for more future assets.

In 3 years we could have Janko, Ekblad, Gaudrea, Monahan, Reinhart. as our forward core. We saw this year how Monahan could have easily become Drouin or Jones, so why waste that opportunity again?

 

[MonahanTheMan]

How is Jones and Galliardi more physical? Avs fans were saying Jones was soft.

And we already had Sven and Brodie while Tanguay and Bouwmeester was on the roster. They didn't replace them, they only got a promotion.

And what good would it serve us to go on a Columbus-like run? Why not draft a star forward or defensemen with our top 5 pick, while trading Stempniak + Cammy at the deadline for more future assets.

In 3 years we could have Janko, Ekblad, Gaudrea, Monahan, Reinhart. as our forward core. We saw this year how Monahan could have easily become Drouin or Jones, so why waste that opportunity again?

If Ekblad is part of our forward core he really is far more talented than I'd thought... No, but you're right. We ought to put our money in futures, especially next year since it's such a thin draft and we need to be within the top five to get anything really good.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

I agree, from what I've heard Knight has been awesome, but there's simply not space for him right now without making some awful lineup changes. The best I could imagine is maybe moving Cammalleri to left wing, putting Baertschi on a second line role instead of Glencross and throwing Galiardi under the bus by making him play on a fourth line. No solution is pretty. I would really be okay with just keeping him in Abbotsford for a while and having him come up once Cammy leaves.

Keep in mind Feaster has said he's still scouring the trade market. We may see some guys moved yet.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Keep in mind Feaster has said he's still scouring the trade market. We may see some guys moved yet.

I am okay with this

 

[Anglesmith]

Moving Cammy to left wing means Galiardi doesn't make the starting lineup, unless we want to put him in a fourth line role that he is wholly unsuited and unprepared for. We need him at centre. Same goes with Hudler.

Isn't Galiardi a bottom six forward who has experience as a fourth liner?

Fourth liners aren't all Jackman and Big Ern.

 

[MarkGio]

If Ekblad is part of our forward core he really is far more talented than I'd thought... No, but you're right. We ought to put our money in futures, especially next year since it's such a thin draft and we need to be within the top five to get anything really good.

Talented like a fox!!

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Isn't Galiardi a bottom six forward who has experience as a fourth liner?

Fourth liners aren't all Jackman and Big Ern.

But does he have what we'd want in a fourth liner? He's not necessarily an energy player or particularly defensive/tough to play against.

 

[Anglesmith]

But does he have what we'd want in a fourth liner? He's not necessarily an energy player or particularly defensive/tough to play against.

As far as I understand, an energy player is exactly what he is.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

As far as I understand, an energy player is exactly what he is.

In what sense? He doesn't seem to shoot frequently and from what I've heard isn't particularly fast or aggressive in the neutral zone. Then again, in all fairness, I don't pay much attention to the Sharks so I could be utterly wrong.

From everything I've heard though he is simply a solid third-line forward whose purpose is to add depth scoring.

 

[Anglesmith]

In what sense? He doesn't seem to shoot frequently and from what I've heard isn't particularly fast or aggressive in the neutral zone. Then again, in all fairness, I don't pay much attention to the Sharks so I could be utterly wrong.

From everything I've heard though he is simply a solid third-line forward whose purpose is to add depth scoring.

I'm just going on what we've heard since the acquisition. For example, Feaster said that he liked "TJ’s size and versatility. He competes hard, is a very good energy player, and he is only 25 years old."

We all know that he's a great skater and has size. Seems like if the fourth line is the only place we'll have room for him, he has the tools to excel in that role.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

I'm just going on what we've heard since the acquisition. For example, Feaster said that he liked "TJ’s size and versatility. He competes hard, is a very good energy player, and he is only 25 years old."

We all know that he's a great skater and has size. Seems like if the fourth line is the only place we'll have room for him, he has the tools to excel in that role.

I hope Feaster was telling the truth on that one, given the gap we have at left wing on the fourth line anyways. If he works out in that position and can still produce even half as well as he did in San Jose we won that trade.