ruxpin

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1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

 

  Things could break right, all of these guys could stay healthy and rediscover the touch that they once had but it is son extremely unlikely. I have them with around 82 points, 7th in the Division.

Good post all around.   I agree; they have jumped the shark.  

Or, Oni prygnuli na akulu.

On 8/16/2023 at 2:33 PM, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

I can see some Mitch Marner lite in him if he was on the wing.

 

Not sure if Torts would give him a shot though.

I'm okay if he moves to wing, but I like him better at center. He just needs wingers that will show up (cough cough Farabee).

22 hours ago, yave1964 said:

LAST SEASONS RECORD 38-27-17 93 points 2 points out of a playoff spot, plus 8 goal differential.

 

 STAT OF THE YEAR, NOT JUST FOR THE FLAMES BUT FOR ANY TEAM They became just the 3rd team EVER to lose 30 games or more by one goal, their 31 one goal losses is the second most in history. On top of that they shattered their own team record with 17 overtime losses. This team simply did not know how to win.

 

ADDITIONS Sherengovich came over from the Devils. They brought in long time assistant and player friendly Ryan Huska to be the head coach and longtime Flame alum Craig Conroy to be the GM. Retread Oesterle will serve as the 7D. 

 

SUBTRACTIONS Sutter is out as coach. Treliving is gone as the GM. Toffoli wanted out, he was dealt to New Jersey. Spare parts Lucic, Michael Stone, Ritchie, Trevor Lewis and Troy Stecher were all shown the door.

 

KIDS IN THE SYSTEM Lots. Matthew Coronato is going to be a very good goal scorer for years to come. Walker Duehr is a fantastic forward prospect. Jakub Pelletier is going to be a middle six winger for a decade. Dustin Wolf has pushed himself into the conversation for top young goalie prospects with a second consecutive fantastic season with Stockton. A good four or five other kids will be fighting for ice time this year.

 

  I was a Sutter apologist for much of last year, i like a tough coach who isnt afraid to put the fear of God into a team but sutter lost the room completely. His biggest failing was giving guys like ritchie and Lucic top six minutes at various times throughout the season and not trusting the kids. It cost him his job and will likely tarnish his hall of fame resume a tad. 

 

  SO THE QUESTION, ARE THEY STILL CONTENDERS? I give new President of hockey operations Mloney and GM Conroy so very much credit, they didnt panic sell. Rumors were that Lindholm, Hanifin and Backlund all wanted out, none have (so far) been dealt. They have taken it slowly, assessing where they are as an organization. I give Treliving credit for last season as well, he lost Guadreau for nothing, instead of doing the same with Tkachuk he dealt him for Huberdeau, Weegar, and signed Kadri. It didnt work out but he went down swinging.

 

 SO THE ANSWER, ARE THE FLAMES IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM A CONTENDER? Absolutely yes, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES. 31 one goal losses will never happen again. If they slip back into the middle of the pack with that number this year, league average last season was 17, that bumps them to 107 points.

 

  Losing Toffoli hurts, plain and simple he was lights out last season. Sherengovich is a solid hard checking 3rd line winger who can sneak a goal in every now and then, nothing more. He along cannot and will not replace the offense. But man the kids, led by Coronato can and will score. clearing out the deadwood, Ritchie, Lucic, Lewis were not very good or interesting. By not panic trading as Treliving did, they have kept the core of a damn good team that was snakebit and couldnt get catch a break all year. The kids, a fresh new front office with an optimistic outlook IMHO many folks will look past the club and forget that two years ago they were one of the leagues darlings. Not me, i am going to buck that trend. I have them second in their division with 105 points and a damn fine year.

I'm not bullish on over 100 points. I think they may sneak into the playoffs as an 8-seed, but I just don't like this team.

Too much has to go just right with their kids.  I think Huberdeau will likely be better (could he be worse?) but no matter how you slice and dice it, Barkov does not play for Calgary, so you won't see Huberdeau return to Florida production.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of Markstrom. He's not terrible but can be. And I think two seasons ago was his career high water mark.  He's going to have to be at least that good because I still think their defense is suspect and their forward lines are decent but mismatched players.

The middle to bottom of the conference is terrible, so things could go well enough that they get in, but I would not think they have any contender qualities. I don't think they can skate with the stronger teams.

On 8/9/2023 at 6:35 PM, yave1964 said:

22-23 RECORD 42-33-7 91 points missed the playoffs by a single point  continuing the leagues longest missed playoff streak. minus four goal differential

 

ADDITIONS Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson, a couple of veteran stay at home guys were brought in to hopefully righten up the defense. Thats it. End of list.

 

SUBTRACTIONS Jack Quinn will begin the year on IR and miss most of the season. Craig Anderson retired. End of list.

 

This team has a talented bunch of young forwards led by Tage Thompson, Cozens and Mittelstadt. Two number one picks in Power and Dahlin lead the blueline. They also have 22 first rounder Savoie and 23 first rounder Benson who fell to them at 13. Both are outstanding forward prospects but wont be on the roster for a few years. The talent here is simply scary and their time is going to come.

 

  So the question, do they make the playoffs?

 

  My answer is no. I feel the teams who they are fighting with, Ottawa and Detroit both significantly improved while buffalo essentially stood still, and Boston took a step back but is still better.. Skinner has hot/cold years and scored 35 last year, he will slip. Tuch and Thompson had surprising career years and will likely slip as well. The defense was a clown show, bringing in Clifton and the five hundred year old Johnson does not change that. I like Levi, like really like him, I have him rated as one of the top five goalie prospects in the league but my opinion is Buffalo takes a small step back due to career year players finding their level and Levi going through growing pains. They had holes that needed filled and did nothing about them.

 

7th place 90 points, the best 7th place team in Hockey but the missing the playoff streak will continue. 

When you break it down as you do, it's hard to argue individual points.  I think they get in as one of the two wild cards and it's solely on the idea that what much of what you say is true, they'll have much better goaltending next year.

That, and the fact I'm not at all bullish on Ottawa.

5 hours ago, CoachX said:

at 1:39 in the video I can see contact to the head just prior to the body. His helmet snaps back. Not saying youre wrong, just sayin there is head contact first. I disagree it was incidental

1:20, 1:28, and 1:39, I see nose/forehead as initial point of contact.  I don't think there's anything incidental about it.  Possibly accidental, but not incidental.

Not completely buying accidental, either.   I'd say get your head up, but on this particular play it's not like he was carrying the puck and admiring his handiwork.  The puck was loose and bouncing, and he was trying to find it corral it.    I'm by no means a Lindros defender, but that would probably be a suspension in today's game except that he's a Penguin so he'd get a medal.

On 8/15/2023 at 3:34 PM, CoachX said:

Last superstar this team had was Lindros

How quickly you forget Jon Sim!

@yave1964

I disagree with the whole post.

I mean not really, but  "dead on" on every post is kind of getting monotonous.

10 hours ago, Bertmega said:

Crumb Bum

OMG!  How are you?

3 hours ago, yave1964 said:

His dad Dan pitched for a decade for the Tigers.

I remember Dan!  I had no idea the relationship. That's very cool.

On 8/14/2023 at 5:54 AM, thegx.ca said:

I'd say they're in the rebuild right now and only thing they got right say far is keeping the coach...

Do you keep the GM?

From my vantage, they won the Cup because they accidentally tripped over it. I've never been an Armstrong fan.

10 hours ago, jammer2 said:

 I put the odds of him coming over at about 10%. 

Interesting. That's about where my "give a s**t" level is.

On 8/11/2023 at 7:05 PM, yave1964 said:

  2022-23 RECORD 37-38-7 81 points, 14 points out of a playoff spot. minus 38 in goal differential

 

ADDITIONS  Kevin Hayes comes over from the Flyers to replace Ryan O'Reilly. Oskar Sundqvist comes back to bring grit and hardness to the 4th line. Joel Hofer comes up from the AHL to push Binnington in net as a B rated goalie prospect. 

 

SUBTRACTIONS Greiss retired. The big ones were Taresenko went to rhe Rags at the deadline, O'Reilly and Acciari went at the deadline to the Blues. Barbachev was dealt to the Knights. 

 

PROSPECTS tHE TOP BOYS ARE years away from providing help, Bolduc may make the team as a goal scorer on the wing but if so will be raw and score about 15 goals and be a negative defensively at least at the start of the year. Zach Dean came over from the Knights in the Barbachev deal and looks like a potential 3rd line center but again, very raw.

 

SO,,,,,, WHERE ARE THEY? On the way down.  Hayes is not O'Reilly. Vrana is not Taresenko. Binnington no longer is Binnington. Faulk sure as Hell is not Pietrangelo. It has only been four years since the Blues shocked the world with a Stanley Cup, only four players are still here from the improbable run. The rookies ready to step in now are pedestrian, save possibly Hofer and the few prospects they have who are good to very good are several years away.

 

tHEY WILL HAVE 79 POINTS and finish 7th in Division. They are essentially irrelevant for the next several years. 

This is dead on. I was there last summer, but it's become worse due to the changes you cite.  At least they have recent Cup memories.

40 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

French don't like to fight any ways...

 

Je me souviens.

Je me rends.

49 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

Horvat signed 8x8.5 million

This has buyout before it's over written all over it.  And that's a lot to write on it.

Great write up, yave.   Can't disagree with any of it.

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

He'll do well in Pittsburgh. They meet the mediocre team criteria.

Don't be insulted, Pens fans.

I'm a Flyers fan.  I can only dream that my team can one day be mediocre.

8 hours ago, Puck_Pun said:

Hmm, interesting. 

 

Karlsson certainly did well last year, but to me it seems he only stands out when the team around him is mediocre. It's clear the sharks want to look to the future but are unable to work out how they will do this. They wanted to dump an expensive contract but there seems to be little thought as to what to do then.  "Idk... how about My Koffman?" Accompanied with some shrugs.

 

He *could* do well at the pens, or he could spend four years kinda floating around like he did the first few years at SJ.

He'll do well in Pittsburgh. They meet the mediocre team criteria.

49 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

OMG .... could you imagine the ruckus/rioting that would cause among the fan base ......  that would be a classic Fletch move.

Well, it would need to also include some picks and/or prospects coming to Philly.

In 2024, the Habs have a 1st and a pick in each of the first four rounds. They have two firsts in 2025 (theirs and Calgary's)..

If Hart and DeSmith are the centerpiece, I need a 2025 first (Calgary's) and a 2024 second (Colorado's).  And a prospect.

3 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

Desmith adds to what appears to be a crowded Montreal goalie crease with no true starter

DeSmith gives Montreal a goalie to send back in a trade for Carter Hart.   Fully story at 11.

8 hours ago, Rangers1994 said:

Had NYR won the Lindros case in 1992, would they have still won the Cup?

Man, that's hard.   It depends on this, I think:

There was no cap, so does the drafting of Lindros negate the trade for Messier?

The trade would have included Nemchinov and Richter.   Amonte would have been part of the trade, as well.   He was traded before the Cup-winning playoffs and the net from that trade (Matteau & Noonan) played well.

So, the pause here, for me is what happens with Messier and Richter?   Does the trade of Richter mean John Vanbiesbrouck is the starting goalie?

Does a Rangers team with Lindros but without Nemchinov, Messier, Matteau, and Noonan -- not to mention without Richter -- with the Cup?

I have a hard time believing they win without Messier & Richter.   I'm going to say "no, they don't win the Cup. Not that same year, anyway" but what a thought experiment!

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

Maybe the Hoffman's can rent out the Karlsson home......

I'm glad you hit on this.

I saw the trade and was highly entertained that Hoffman was going back to the Sharks in a trade for Karlsson given their history.   Gotta love it.

2 hours ago, Howie58 said:

For whatever reason, the time of this signing reads more like a long-term strategic move than a short-term tactical one.  

 

Thoughts

Yes on the bolded. It does have that feel to it.

Frost isn't signed yet.  I'm wondering about the implications there, as well.

2 hours ago, radoran said:

 

If we're not going to talk about serious offers and whether we would trade Zegras in the same situation, I think my offer is fair.

 

 

Anaheim is in exactly the same situation as the Flyers. Any piece one sees there that could be a foundational piece for the Flyers ALREADY IS for the Ducks.

Absolutely no disagreement.

And yeah, I know your proposed offer was in the spirit of what had gone before.

13 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

I'd offer future considerations and maybe offer to take a draft pick with Zegras.

 

Lol

This is why we don't trade much in fantasy. Lol  Ristolainen is Finnish, though, so I think we should get at least two draft picks and the guy named Future.

I had a friend who named his kid "Return," so I suppose "Future" is possible.

9 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

Anything but a Porsche...