'14-'15 Flames' 23 Man Roster

[Anglesmith]

why is everyone having Colborne as second line winger?

Plain and simple, he was a very effective player last year as a rookie.

 

[Taranis]

Plain and simple, he was a very effective player last year as a rookie.

...and he only played the last half as a right winger. I would be excited to see his season total after playing an entire year of third-second line right winger.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Colborne is a very skilled player and has very good hands, if he can get stronger and bring more of an edge to his game, he could very easily be a 20 goal scorer for us every year playing with Monahan and JG.

 

[Lunatik]

Hudler – Backlund – Möller*


Möller has awesome chemistry with Backlund and is one of the best euro free agents. He is way better than Cervenka.

my god that line would be extremely soft. And it;s unlikely Hudler will play LW, he has been a RW for the Flames

 

[Wheels of Poirier]

I was curious to take a closer look at Dale Weise, not having seen much of him other than during Montreal's run, and he is exactly the type of player I would love to have filling in a bottom-six RW role with the Flames; he's only 25, fair size at 6'2", 210lbs.. had 16 pts and was a plus-6 in 61 games this year, and I thought he was in absolute clutch beast mode in the postseason prior to getting his wig split.. Only made 750k or something this year; could probably be had next year for a milly.. read one of his interviews and he really seems like a genuine guy.. I'm sure his teammates love him; could be a positive influence in the locker room with his work ethic, and I'm already having mad visions of Byron-Bouma-Weise together (on Big Ern's nights off).. No shortage of character on that line.. what do you guys think?

Edit: Send Granlund to PHX in a package for Stone; offer sheet Weise, sign Cammy, and we could have something like this next year ~

Gaudreau-Monahan-Cammalleri
Baertschi-Backlund-Colborne
Glencross-Stajan-Hudler
Byron-Bouwma-Weise*
Reinhart/McGrattan

Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Smid
Stone*-Wideman
Cundari/Wotherspoon

Ramo
Ortio


Not quite playoff caliber, but certainly getting there..

 

[Taranis]

Here is what I envision in a "I trust the young prospects" type lineup that I would like to see, mind you probably would be better in a year or two time when they gain some NHL experience.

Glencross - Backlund - Hudler
Gaudreau - Monahan - Colborne
Baertschi - Bennett - D. Jones
Bouma - Knight - McGratten

Brodie - Giordano
Russell - Wideman
Smid - Wotherspoon

Ramo
Greiss

That leaves us with Reinhart, Granlund and Poirier as forward call ups that could direct swap. If a trade for Hudler happens replace with Poirier. Struggling/injured left winger or center bring up Reinhart for grit, Granlund for scoring. This leaves Stajan as the odd man out.

By the way, assuming we get Bennett or Draisaitl is anyone else super excited about our depth at center?

 

[SaintMorose]

Would be a stretch but I'd like to try for:
Statsny at $6M x 5 years
Brodeur under the agreement he would be a 35 game back-up $3.5M x 1 year
Callahan at $4.75M x 3 years
Niskanen at $5M x 5 years

Assuming we cant get them, get 2 relatively easy to grab UFAs
Pardy and Gust

Glencross - Backlund - Jones
Gaudreau - Monahan - Colborne($1.75M)
Baertschi - Stajan - Hudler
Bouma($2M)/Reinhart - Bouma($2M)/Knight - McGratton
Byron($1.75M)

Gio - Brodie
Russel - Smid
Pardy ($1.1M) - Wideman

Ramo
Gustavsson ($1.9M)

re-sign in Oct
Backlund @ $4.25M x 4 years
Brodie @ $4.95M x 7 years

 

[Eye of Ra]

my god that line would be extremely soft. And it;s unlikely Hudler will play LW, he has been a RW for the Flames

vrbata is soft also, diffrence with möller and vrbata is nothing.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Here is what I envision in a "I trust the young prospects" type lineup that I would like to see, mind you probably would be better in a year or two time when they gain some NHL experience.

Glencross - Backlund - Hudler
Gaudreau - Monahan - Colborne
Baertschi - Bennett - D. Jones
Bouma - Knight - McGratten

Brodie - Giordano
Russell - Wideman
Smid - Wotherspoon

Ramo
Greiss

That leaves us with Reinhart, Granlund and Poirier as forward call ups that could direct swap. If a trade for Hudler happens replace with Poirier. Struggling/injured left winger or center bring up Reinhart for grit, Granlund for scoring. This leaves Stajan as the odd man out.

By the way, assuming we get Bennett or Draisaitl is anyone else super excited about our depth at center?

If we signed Bennett I would want to see him on the first line (assuming Monahan will be on the second) or back in junior. Putting him on the third line is a waste of what he can do and doesn't give him enough offensive opportunities as a rookie. He'll be a highly skilled player and deserves to start things out at a high level of competition.

 

[Anglesmith]

If we signed Bennett I would want to see him on the first line (assuming Monahan will be on the second) or back in junior. Putting him on the third line is a waste of what he can do and doesn't give him enough offensive opportunities as a rookie. He'll be a highly skilled player and deserves to start things out at a high level of competition.

That's how the Oilers got to where they are.

We can't fall into the trap of treating the draft like a market for polished, superstar players. The guys picked at the draft are still prospects. If we draft the guy, he'll have about 5 years time to develop into a number one centre. I'm sure you'll agree that Monahan was given plenty of opportunity last season, and he was by no means put on the first line.

In fact, putting a guy on the first line as a rookie is actually decreasing his offensive opportunity, because playing against the best players on the other team would probably result in a lot of defensive-zone play. Much better to put him on the second or third line and shelter his minutes.

 

[Lunatik]

vrbata is soft also, diffrence with möller and vrbata is nothing.

I'm not sure what your point is, I don't see anyone putting a line of Hudler, Backlund and Vrbata together as a trio since most Flames fans know Hudler is RW. I think most people that have the Flames signing Vrbata have him on a line with Glencross and/or Stajan.

 

[TheHudlinator]

I'd say it's very far from realistic actually. It's borderline insanity.

I originally threw together the roster to show we don't need to spend much money to ice a team, so I figured I'd throw it up here. I don't get the worry about being competitive, if you mean for the playoffs then again I think your delusional, and I think the coaching staff and leaders on the team proved last year that they will be competitive in games even if they lose the majority of them. I'd still rather ice 50% rookies over bringing in more over the hill washed up players like Heatley, Havlat, etc.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

That's how the Oilers got to where they are.

We can't fall into the trap of treating the draft like a market for polished, superstar players. The guys picked at the draft are still prospects. If we draft the guy, he'll have about 5 years time to develop into a number one centre. I'm sure you'll agree that Monahan was given plenty of opportunity last season, and he was by no means put on the first line.

In fact, putting a guy on the first line as a rookie is actually decreasing his offensive opportunity, because playing against the best players on the other team would probably result in a lot of defensive-zone play. Much better to put him on the second or third line and shelter his minutes.

I see Bennett as ideally fitting in as a first-second line tweener next year, so really putting him directly on the first line isn't necessarily ideal, I agree. However, I think Monahan should definitely play as the second line centre for most of next year, so I would support shuttling Bennett up to the first line and having him play there to see how he deals with top minutes and to allow him to work with the most offensively talented players on the team.

I do agree with your analysis though that playing on the first line could result in a lot of defensive-zone play, but I think Bennett might have the breakout ability to not make a mess of things and produce like a second-line forward nonetheless.

 

[Lunatik]

I originally threw together the roster to show we don't need to spend much money to ice a team, so I figured I'd throw it up here. I don't get the worry about being competitive, if you mean for the playoffs then again I think your delusional, and I think the coaching staff and leaders on the team proved last year that they will be competitive in games even if they lose the majority of them. I'd still rather ice 50% rookies over bringing in more over the hill washed up players like Heatley, Havlat, etc.

okay Mr. Lowe.

 

[TheHudlinator]

okay Mr. Lowe.

Sutter's veterans worked so well

 

[FLAMESFAN]

What would it take to get Tom Wilson out of Washington? That kid is a beast, and I'm sure they have no plans of trading him - but.....

With Gaudreau/Bart & Granlund all being small offensive prospects, we have room to move one of them. What about starting with Bart? And maybe Cammy or Wideman??
Washington has Ward & Brower already on the RW, and Tom was rarely getting more than 9 mins of icetime. They could also use Wideman on D

GlenX/Backlund/Hudler
Gaudreau/Monahan/Wilson
Granlund/Stajan/Jones
Bouma/Colbourne/McGratt

 

[Lunatik]

Sutter's veterans worked so well

Sutter wasn't rebuilding, so bringing him up doesn't exactly make sense.

The Flames are rebuilding and your suggestion is to hand the reins to rookies that have yet to earn full-time roster spots. The exact same thing the Oilers are doing on their quest to build something special.

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

Sutter wasn't rebuilding, so bringing him up doesn't exactly make sense.

The Flames are rebuilding and your suggestion is to hand the reins to rookies that have yet to earn full-time roster spots. The exact same thing the Oilers are doing on their quest to build something special.

They are on the path to greatness.

 

[Volica]

why is everyone having Colborne as second line winger?

He played well with Monahan last year; given the same role, a year older and larger, that should be money in the bank.

 

[Qubax]

CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
2014/2015 Flames

FORWARDS
Curtis Glencross ($2.550m) / Mike Richards ($5.750m) / Jiri Hudler ($4.000m)
Sven Baertschi ($0.894m) / Mikael Backlund ($1.500m) / Steve Downie ($3.500m)
Johnny Gaudreau ($0.925m) / Sean Monahan ($0.925m) / Joe Colborne ($1.500m)
Lance Bouma ($1.500m) / Matt Stajan ($3.125m) / Paul Byron ($1.200m)
Brian McGrattan ($0.750m) / David Jones ($4.000m)

DEFENSEMEN
T.J. Brodie ($2.125m) / Mark Giordano ($4.020m)
Ladislav Smid ($3.500m) / Brooks Orpik ($5.500m)
Kris Russell ($2.600m) / Adam McQuaid ($1.567m)
Mark Cundari ($0.860m)

GOALTENDERS
Karri Ramo ($2.750m)
Chad Johnson ($0.925m)

BURIED
Shane O'Brien ($1.075m)
RETAINED SALARIES (1.85% of upper limit)
Dennis Wideman ($1.313m—25.00%)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $58,920,333; BONUSES: $2,306,250
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $13,496,667

Smid-Orpik are NOT a top 4 pairing in the NHL

 

[Calculon]

Moreover, Orpik isn't even worth half of 5.5M a season at this stage.

 

[Guido Sarducci]

I originally threw together the roster to show we don't need to spend much money to ice a team, so I figured I'd throw it up here. I don't get the worry about being competitive, if you mean for the playoffs then again I think your delusional, and I think the coaching staff and leaders on the team proved last year that they will be competitive in games even if they lose the majority of them. I'd still rather ice 50% rookies over bringing in more over the hill washed up players like Heatley, Havlat, etc.

You're right. There needs to be roster spots open going into training camp.

Ideally the Flames would have 10 or even 15 guys competing for 4 or 5 open roster spots. Right now the Flames are in a good position to do exactly that. 13 one way deals, Monahan on an entry level and Colborne and Bouma almost certain to get one way deals. That makes 16. Add a forward, goalie and a D via trade and FA makes 19.

It's gonna be a real competitive camp if the young guys can actually see that there are jobs up for grabs. And if not enough of these guys show that they are ready you can always sign a decent stop-gap type player on Oct. 4. (Brendan Morrison type scenario)

 

[TheHudlinator]

Sutter wasn't rebuilding, so bringing him up doesn't exactly make sense.

The Flames are rebuilding and your suggestion is to hand the reins to rookies that have yet to earn full-time roster spots. The exact same thing the Oilers are doing on their quest to build something special.

Wait a minute? Handing a roster spot? This is suppose to be our guess of what the team could be, I believe that having 3 spots could be taken for JG, Granlund, Sven, Byron, Reinhart, (this years 1st), any other prospect, regardless of if you bringing Havlat/Heatley/(most UFA's) so I think letting the younger players know there is a space available if they work hard creates competition much more than bringing in someone on a big contract would. Outside of this years first and Sven who struggled with consistency the rest of those players fit our system and style very well. The Oiler's put 18 yearolds into their top 6 and expected them to produce that is not what I am suggesting at all (Outside of this years first all the players I think are ready are at least 20). I think that as many as 3 rookies are ready for the NHL and I think all could get 14-16 minutes a night and be very successful. The idea that having rookies in your lineup is wrong because the Oiler's did it is moronic imo as their coaching staff and veterans around those rookies were vastly different then what we have here and those rookies aren't the same type of rookies we would be bringing up. We all have a difference of opinion as to what we should do but to say that we shouldn't be giving rookies a chance in a rebuild is strange to me.

For me I would let the rookies battle it out if in training camp they don't look ready we can bring in a vet then there is no reason to fill up our roster before we see what we have.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
CGY Next Year
FORWARDS
Curtis Glencross ($2.550m) / Mikael Backlund ($1.500m) / Steve Downie ($3.650m)
Johnny Gaudreau ($0.925m) / Sean Monahan ($0.925m) / Joe Colborne ($1.660m)
Sven Baertschi ($0.894m) / Patrik Berglund ($4.000m) / Ty Rattie ($0.773m)
Lance Bouma ($1.635m) / Matt Stajan ($3.125m) / Brian Boyle ($1.700m)
Brian McGrattan ($0.750m) / David Jones ($4.000m)
DEFENSEMEN
T.J. Brodie ($2.125m) / Mark Giordano ($4.020m)
Ladislav Smid ($3.500m) / Roman Polak ($2.750m)
Kris Russell ($2.600m) / Anton Stralman ($2.500m)
Carlo Colaiacovo ($0.750m) /
GOALTENDERS
Karri Ramo ($2.750m)
Chad Johnson ($1.000m)
BURIED
Shane O'Brien ($1.075m)
RETAINED SALARIES (1.85% of upper limit)
Dennis Wideman ($1.313m—25.00%)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $52,469,417; BONUSES: $2,427,917
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $18,630,583

 

[Taranis]

Ty Rattie would be an awesome pickup, but given the woes at prospect at forward the Blues are having I think its pretty unrealistic.