The first order of business for the Flames is getting Kylington locked up. I expect this will be for 1-2 years at no more than 850k, probably closer to league min.
This leaves us with only two real needs—one which is glaringly obvious and major (a right shot top 6 forward with a knack for scoring goals) and one which management has deemed the most pressing for some reason, a 3RD. Personally I’m fine with Valimaki or Nesterov playing 3RD and Valimaki or Kylington playing 3LD but this is a need apparently.
For the top 6 right shot forward there are a few potential trade candidates. It’s unlikely that we sign Hoffman unless we can somehow dump Lucic. Some candidates out there include TyJo (obviously Tampa would need to retain and probably still pay us to take him, but he's still a pretty effective player for the right price tag), Palmieri (I've heard he doesn't like Canada, dunno how true that is but he might come for a playoff run), and Bobby Ryan (probably the easiest to acquire/most likely to be dealt, he's on a 1 year deal on a bad team at an affordable ticket, they'll be looking for picks at the deadline). I feel like all these guys could be a fit. A less likely candidate would be Kase, I feel like if Hanifin does end up getting dealt to Boston, Kase will be part of the package coming back (Kase+Studnicka or Vaakainen?), I don't really see a DeBrusk or Carlo deal that makes sense. The Flames aren't afraid to discuss big ticket trade targets, they were in on both Stone and Hall the last couple years, and are willing to part with picks and guys like Hanifin or Kylington (unlikely Dube or Valimaki are involved though), so maybe there's a bigger trade out there for a better player.
For the 3RD we probably could end up signing a guy like Bowey (I've seen Koekkoek thrown around but he's a left shot too, might as well just slide Valimaki, Kylington, or Nesterov over at that point). Hamonic and Vatanen make sense but they'll cost more than league min and thus probably be priced out. Most ACGMs address this by trading Ryan but I don't think that's a good idea.
I'm gonna talk here about Derek Ryan, because he's traded a lot in ACGMs. I don't think we can afford to actually trade him without a 4C with NHL PK experience coming back, he's a key part of our PK. Right now our only forwards with experience killing penalties are Lindholm, Backlund, Ryan, and Nordstrom, and Nordstrom isn't guaranteed a lineup spot (him, Lucic, and Simon will be fighting for 2 spots). I would like to see guys like Simon, Tkachuk, Bennett, or Dube developed into a PKer but it doesn't make sense to throw them into the fire by trading a stable defensive presence from the bottom six and not replacing him. That said, the Lightning are cap-strapped obviously and Paquette is a capable 4C with PK experience and he's cheaper than Ryan so maybe that's an option, and that would let us sign a guy like Hamonic or Vatanen for the 3RD role.
In general I think we're heavily relying on Giordano+the top line rebounding and getting back to their 2018-19 form (might be out of reach for Giordano as he's probably not winning another Norris, but if he's healthy next season he should be able to improve on last year, and it's not an unrealistic expectation for the forwards to rebound), as well as Mangiapane and Dube taking a significant step forward, in order for us to succeed. Bennett will also need to return to his 18-19 form, if not taking a step forward from that, another year like last regular season and he's probably gone. Hopefully he can build on a strong playoffs and chemistry with Lucic and Dube to establish himself as an actual 3C and hopefully a 15-20 goal, 35-40 point guy. As well, Andersson should really be taking over as a true top pairing #1 guy in the next year or two, the sooner the better. Hopefully Tanev and Giordano can provide the mentorship and sheltering necessary to groom Hanifin, Valimaki, and Andersson into the best they can possibly be within the next couple of years.
I think Bowey is a good target. Most people don’t realize he was Detroit’s 2nd highest scoring defenceman last year. We were a horrible team, but at 25 I think he still has some room to grow with the right partner. But, I’m also not positive he’s the right kind of defenceman that Calgary needs on a bottom pair. Perhaps an upgrade over Kylingnton?
People seem to have Bobby Ryan pegged for a 2nd round pick at the deadline. I don’t know if it’ll cost that much, but I’d welcome it. He won’t be around past the TDL regardless. Boston fans won’t like the idea of trading Studnika, but I can see Kase being a part of the deal 100%
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