Calgary constantly plays down to the level of their opponents. They simply chose not to show up at all tonight (besides Markstrom). I wpuld not be surprised if a beer league team could give them a run for their money simply because they choose to give the other team a chance. The effort tonight was hilarious

Montreal is NOT trading Danault. They will let him walk to FA if he does not resign. We will use him as our own rental before we trade him

Even if they do, I think CGY wld need to add to this trade to get him am I right? Sam Bennett is younger but hasn't proven to be anything more than a bottom 6 player..

Sabres accept

Sabres fan here
At first glance, i was like “f*ck no!” Bc that pick could be top10
But Monahan is signed for 2 more years after this, AND you’re holding salary (that’s huge)
So even though i don’t “love” Monahan, I’d do that

A change of scenery could be just what Mitts needs too
He’s got all the talent in the world, so it certainly could be a trade we regret in a few years

Nice proposal imo

I don’t think you’re getting that much for Gaudreau though

Monahan at 4 mil is definitely worth Mittelstadt and, hopefully, A mid rd 1st....

He is worth more than that. He's a young consistent 30 goal scorer on a good contract. When do you see those traded for a mid 1st pick?

I mean, you were up against a team with a fire lit underneath them. This was an equivalent performance to Vancouver playing Vegas last playoffs. No matter how hard we tried, we were hopeless last year. Now the narrative was flipped. Its no doubt Vancouver's failures have been work ethic driven in part due to the lack of practice, they've been a completely different team the last 3 games.

I just don't see any reason to be upset at your team. Only people in the "Fire Ward" boat are the ones who think Mangiapane isn't being used right, but having a project in bennett and a kid with a higher ceiling in Dube are reasonably the focus. But in all, I saw no fault in Calgary's game tonight. Vancouver was playing some top tier hockey - late round playoff level hockey. Nothing CGY could have done better or differently.

Thought an outside perspective might make it seem as if Vancouver is horrible, really the team just woke up 3 games ago... they've been playing a really high level of hockey the past 3 games, ultimately a product of finally developing the right chemistry mixed with the schedule slowing down to allow sufficient practice time.

I didn't suggest the trade. Just said the Sabres would accept....

I know, you said he was worth a mid 1st and an unproven NHL er. Im stating he's worth way more than that. Of course everyone in Buffalo accepts. Lol

IDK what games you were watching but Calgary hasn't shown up to play since their game at home vs Edmonton. They literally aren't even trying out there and basically leave Markstrom out to dry. Im not complaining that much about misuse or anything and it sucks when we are down 3 of our regular centers half way through the game (at least Lindholm came back). However, the entire team basically went into this series expecting free wins and aren't even trying. Tkachuk is invisible, Gio gave the puck nearly away every shift, the forecheck is pretty much nonexistent, every single pass and attempted play is extremely sloppy.

I am not taking away from Vancouver playing a good game or anything, they clearly had the drive. The issue is Calgary didn't, there was literally none at all. Calgary pretty much came into this series expecting to coast out of it with 8 points and have played like they should get zero.

I was watching our last two games vs you.

I don't watch flames games regularly so I can't comment on the whole picture.

However, tonight I know Vancouver played a completely different game - pretty much playoff level. You don't see teams playing playoff level hockey with such fine detail at this time of year.

Ultimately I'm saying that the narrative that Calgary sucks and is playing down to their opponent is incorrect because Vancouver's not been playing like a bottom team the last 3 games. They've been sparked and have something to prove. Its hard for you guys to get a W when literally every guy on the other side is playing mistake free, picture perfect hockey.

Tonights game was more impressive than even some of last years playoff games. I essentially think Calgary could have done little differently in this game. If Vancouver played any worse, Calgary would have had the drive.

I'm not sure what game you were watching but the Flames could not string two passes together, didn't know how to respond to Vancouver clogging up the neutral zone (our preferred zone entry method is several drop passes until Gaudreau gets the puck and then dangles in on his own), no forecheck whatsoever, blew coverage in the defensive zone countless times, and couldn't break the puck out, generally resorting to weak flips that are easily held in (this plus a blown coverage led to the Hughes goal for example). Calgary played atrocious tonight, and even if you want to blame it on poor systems (bad breakouts, no forecheck, not responding to our only zone entry method getting shut down, etc.) all that is just more evidence that Ward isn't a coach you win with. Lucic gets played like an important 3rd liner and is an absolute plug, he shoulda fed someone some fists to try and wake the team up if he wants to actually be worth even a 4th line roster spot (preferably Edler, the elbow on Lindholm followed by a blown high-stick on Tkachuk shoulda meant he faced some sort of retribution if any of our players had a spine).

Again, not undermining Vancouver, they played arguably their best game of the season. The difference is they played against a team that didnt even try to compete tonight. You can chalk it up to "Vancouver just completely shut them down" but Calgary is pretty good at raising the intensity, physicality and overall bitterness of the game when they are in an uphill battle. We literally didn't see any of that tonight; no scrums no driving the net looking for dirty goals, no big hits (besides Lindholm's revenge hit on Edler). The usually edge that Calgary plays with was just not there. It was like the Habs game a little while ago where they came out flat footed and didn't even try to get going. If Markstrom wasn't the elite goalie he is this was an easy 5 or 10 to 1 game for Vancouver.

Even then I'm annoyed Tkachuk didn't try to start something, like he's supposed to be the next captain right? Cause some havoc and get the team going, idc if its a 5 minute major for fighting. Bennett played well considering the lack of effort and Markstrom was once again incredible. But we can't go into every damn game and just say "oh marky will just bail us out" that's just wrong

Perhaps I was more amazed by the optimism in Vancouvers performance that I didn't think about what Calgary was before. I thought they were solid and put up a fight, but I'm not sure what the basis of comparison is. I guess there's 2 more games to find out.

Yeah I'm not sure what Tkachuk was doing tonight. Because technically the score was close I can understand not wanting to actually fight, because it's unlikely he'd be fighting a guy that hurts the Canucks as much as losing him would hurt us, but he should have been mucking it up more and forechecking harder. When I was going into PeeWee I went to a clinic my club recommended everyone attend that taught us all about how to bodycheck properly, take a hit safely, etc. I think 80% of this team missed that clinic because there are about 4 people that regularly throw a hit, and even those guys weren't doing it tonight, it's honestly pathetic. We had about 3 guys that I thought had meh to average games (Bennett, Dube, Lindholm) and everyone else sucked, not one guy looked even slightly above average outside Markstrom who was obviously phenomenal and nearly stole us a point we didn't deserve.

I could definitely see Tkachuk and Miller going at it, as a fan of both players I would very much enjoy that. Everything else you said I agree with.

In the other post you talked about Ward, Idk if firing him is the right idea here, I think demoting him back to assistant coach would cause less of a negative impact. There are some aspect that he brings that I like but he doesn't provide that "I'm the boss" aroura. He also lacks the courage to really try and change something when it's not working. For example he just kept putting Simon out with Gaudreau and Monahan when they clearly didn't mesh at all, the only reason Bennett got that chance is because his hand was forced by Tre above him. Even then Ward had a petty response to that by benching Bennett for no reason.

NJD interested in Johnny Gaudreau

But NJD would ideally like to lessen the impact on next two drafts by either (a) Spreading the picks over 3-4 years instead of over 2 years; (b) Adding a roster player instead of one of the picks; or (c) Taking some cap back instead of one of the picks. NJD could offer pretty much anyone except their core (Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, Smith, Severson and Blackwood) or their top prospects Holtz, Mercer, Foote, Walsh, etc).

Examples of counter-offers
1. Gaudreau....for.....Pavel Zacha, 2021 1st, 2023 2nd, 2022 5th
2. Gaudreau....for.....Miles Wood, 2021 1st, 2023 3rd, 2022 5th
3. Gaudreau....for.....Kyle Palmieri, 2021 1st, 2023 2rd, 2022 5th
4. Gaudreau/Lucic....for.....Andreas Johnsson, 2021 3rd, 2022 5th
5. Gaudreau/Lucic....for.....Yegor Sharangovich, 2023 2nd, 2022 5th

These are better options than the OP but I'd rather not give up this much for JG. I'd prefer the Timo Meier ideas that have been posted. It also depends where this pick is. A top 5-6 pick and we keep it imo. It should be the last piece before they really start to contend. Add vets to this team and go!

Sam Bennett for Danault is almost insulting... you want to get a elite defensive center, 7th in Selke votes, who produces around 50pts per year while shutting down the best opposing lines in the league for a dude that's barely break your top 9...

Also, not trading Danault. The plan is to go far in the playoff and resign him, and if that can't be done, let him walk.

You're over valuing him dude trust me. And he's not a consistent 30 goal scorer lol he's scored 30 twice in 7 years so don't know where you got that. Doesn't look like he'll get to 20 thus year.

Devils aren't trading that much for Johnny G

Picks must be protected. If they win lottery & NJ misses out on Owen Power, Shane Wright etc they would look like fools.

Despite (relatively) strong start, NJ will be lottery this year & good chance next. They are incredibly young & are looking for more draft capital and prospects, not less. The next two years first rounders are likely nearly untouchable short of a call from Chiarelli.