Quoting: Dr_Invictus
Well, I do agree with the middling farm system. Our drafting has improved under Treliving, but that's not saying much given our record since Button and Sutter were GMs (I'm excluding feaster here since he drafted Gaudreau.. that's about it though). I disagree about our asset management though.
Calgary team is a team overstocked on bottom 6 forwards, most of which are overpaid, which leaves little room for farm players to join the system or get any experience. It's a log jam with no concentration of elite talent at any one position. Teams are constrained by roster size and cap space. Your top 6 forwards need to have GAAs above the league average; your top 4 d need GAAs above league average, and you need a goalie tandem with a positive wins above replacement to win in this league. Calgary hasn't positioned itself to succeed in any of those categories. There was no need to sign Stone, Lewis, Ritchie, Coleman or Rooney. AHL to NHL conversation ration is about 0.32pts. While I get that there are AHL lifers who score well in that league, their growth potential is also limited compared to a player in their early 20s. The median age for peak production in the NHL is 28, and everyone regresses to that bell curve eventually. In the 18 total minutes Philips played this season, you're telling me he didn't have a higher ceiling than Lewis or Ritchie? We wouldn't know if he had chemistry with Huby or Lindholm because Sutter never gave him a chance to play. Those gambles are easier at the start of a season then they are now. The reality is that the veterans didn't perform well across the board. Michael Stone may have a bomb of a shot, but it rarely hits the net. There was zero need to sign him. We also lost Valimaki, which was a 1st rounder and who is lighting it up in Arizona: That's not good asset management. You could see the lack of energy and spark this team had all year, and young players have that. we'll lose Philips, and likely Zary if this keeps up.
It was also terrible asset management not to sell at the deadline. Short of Anderson or Lindholm, everyone should have been on the block. It's a deep draft, and having additional capital going into it would have turned this organization around. St. Louis did the same in 2017, and then won the cup in 2019. Nashville took a haul of picks into the draft and is still better positioned to make the playoffs than the flames. This team obviously is not Stanley Cup Material, so what was the goal to "stand pat"? It's not like solely UFAs were on the table this trade deadline. Calgary could have taken a bad UFA contract back to make any deal work. This team's culture is all about mediocrity because they are never willing to sacrifice anything to get something for the future. While Walker and Pelletier are making strides, neither is projecting as a top line player: They're both middle six forwards at best. There is nothing in the pipleine to be excited about beyond Wolf and Cornato. We never leverage the opportunities to sell and are thus, never in a position to get those game breaking players when they are available. You only Win through the draft and that requires better asset management than we've seen.
We are absolutely on the same page regarding Stone, he was a good soldier but having him anywhere near the top 6 on the back end for most of the year was an absolute joke.
I won't push back on Ritchie, Stone, Rooney because they've produced about as expected, Lewis has had a tremendous season and anchors the 4th line, there's no reason to not have him there night in night out as he has been a stapple on the penalty kill and has really good underlying 5 on 5 numbers, Duehr wouldn't be playing at the level he is without Lewis on that line. Coleman has been exactly as advertised and him and Backlund plus whoever continually have some of the best numbers in the league, it doesn't get talked about enough but he's a point off from his career high and is having a hell of a season.
Valimaki had one of the worst camps he's had since coming into Calgary, Meloche, Desimone, Gilbert, Mackey, Poirier were all significantly better than him, hindsight is unfortunate but at the time that's absolutely the right move. Phillips is a career AHL'er who can't play defence and fits nowhere in the Flames line up that would provide a spark. There are plenty of AHL'ers that have led the league in points that never get more than a handful of games in the NHL because they often lack a 200ft game and their skillset doesn't translate to the NHL, that becomes rather evident when watching Phillips live. Zary was drafted the year after Pelletier, why would you expect him to leave any time soon? He had a significant injury and a half point per game in his first pro season, there was no reason to give him a second look until the end of this season when he's settled into the pro game a little more and has been popping off.
If the Flames come into camp next season with:
Huberdeau - Lindholm - Toffoli
Mangiapane - Kadri - Coronato
Pelletier - Backlund - Coleman
Dube - XXXXX - Duehr (Zary, Schwindt, Ruzicka, Jones)
Weegar - Andersson
Hanifin - Tanev
Kylington - Stetcher
Markstrom
Wolf
There are jobs to be had, players need to come in and do as Duehr does and steal a job even while averaging 8 minutes a night, from day one he made it nearly impossible to justify scratching, benching or sending him down. Phillips did nothing in camp or limited opportunity, Valimaki showed nothing, Gawdin, Kirkland, Philp of last year showed nothing, it's fairly rare the current Flames have a player walk from the system and go on to have an overly successful career. Best example may be Derek Grant at this point? I don't know if you can think of better off the top of your head, I could certainly be missing someone.
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
Dr_Invictus a aimé ceci.
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