Speculation: Armchair GM 2024-25 Season, Craig Conroy's Can Do Calgary Flames

[crackdown44]

Or there's a high chance he wants to test UFA. Even if the acquisition cost is low, spending such assets on a rental like that doesn't seem like a good idea. Especially if there's a potential (unfounded/low or negligible risk or not) that he could create locker room issues.



Yes and no. I think one of the issues Vancouver has is that they have a lot of talent, but locker room leadership has always been quietly their Achilles heel. This has been an issue going all the way back to Luongo/Schneider, Miller/Pettersen/Horvat/Hughes etc. I also have a strange feeling that the current leadership group is still somewhat influenced by the Sedins (like they use them as advisors, but perhaps rely on them a little too much in a weird way)? It also slightly seems that until recently, the Swedes on the roster have been kinda low. Hoglander, Lekkermakki and Brannstrom (plus Lindholm last year) are the Swedes on the roster (perhaps sorta like a Baertschi home sick sorta situation for a while?).

I mean, yes, you want these guys to perhaps not rely on stuff like this, but IMO it's a personal preference thing. We do have stronger support on the roster for guys like Backlund and Andersson who maybe could help him with his growth and leadership comfort. Sometimes, it's nice to get that extra tool and support for development. But also yes an org might hope they don't always need stuff like that to maximize their contributions.

Flames have the right type of group, so perhaps if Pettersen doesn't have to feel obligated to be involved in some of the leadership/rifts, it could work out? But agreed it's a heavy risk and gamble. TBH, Gaudreau (RIP) used to also say he wasn't comfortable with some of the leadership stuff, but finally began to bloom for stuff like that under Sutter. It's best not to always assume that the higher you fly, the more you should be able to "just figure it out".

I totally get the concerns by other posters... but TBH, it's not an unreasonable risk to take based on our current situation and timeline IMO. I felt the same way for someone like Laine and there's cause for excitement from Montreal right now, even if the concerns are not totally gone.

Kakko is an RFA this summer

 

[Yepthatsme]

We needed a 1C when that was all that we were missing. When we had Gaudreau and Tkachuk and a strong defense we needed a 1C to put us over the top and firmly plant ourselves as one of the top contenders in the NHL.

Now we'd be spending a bunch of futures to add a 1C to a roster that has nothing on it. This team as it stands doesn't have a clear 1st line forward and has a defense comprised of spare parts. They win by outworking teams and being underestimated, and I don't think one player (unless it were McDavid or Mackinnon) significantly changes that. The Flames would just go from being the 9th or 10th best team in the West to the 7th best. We'd need to successfully build an entire foundation in short order around Pettersson to be anything more than the western conference New York Islanders.

I think the point is moot because Vancouver isnt going to trade him in division but if the Flames finally got their 1C only for him to be surrounded by a core of overpaid and aging players I might have an aneurysm.

Core of over paid veterans? After Huberdeau, who do we even have that’s over paid? We are on the cap floor.

Getting that 1C is the only hard part of this conversation. Our defense being full of spare parts is a pretty bad summation considering it has Weegar, Andersson, and Bahl currently, with droves of defensive talent on the way from our prospects. Missing out on top line talent is also a very easy problem to solve once you have that 1C, wingers are the easiest position in the sport to add through any of the draft, free agency, and trades. I honestly can’t imagine being sad about the Flames spending assets to get a 1C, it should be the biggest priority if one becomes available.

Centre depth of Petterson, Kadri, and Zary instantly becomes top 10 in the league, we look lined up to have top goaltending, and our defense looks like it’s 2-3 years away from being a strength again. Other than just wanting to blow it up no matter what, Calgary should be chasing any of these opportunities as they arise. We are the most setup team in the league to pursue it with our excess draft picks, depth of prospects, and cap space as well.

 

[Figgy44]

Kakko is an RFA this summer

Oops my mistake. I must have mixed up that status with someone else.

He's arb eligible though. Many GM don't like that.

 

[Mobiandi]

If we want to go there, I bet the Canucks would deal us Pettersson if we included Wolf. Wolf/Kadri/Bahl/1st for EP40/Demko/Desharnais

Demko is made of glass, Kadri has a cup and could tell Miller to shove it, and Bahl improves their top 6D. We could tank for a couple years without Wolf here anymore and shoot back up after some lottery picks.

 

[Dack]

Core of over paid veterans? After Huberdeau, who do we even have that’s over paid? We are on the cap floor.

Getting that 1C is the only hard part of this conversation. Our defense being full of spare parts is a pretty bad summation considering it has Weegar, Andersson, and Bahl currently, with droves of defensive talent on the way from our prospects. Missing out on top line talent is also a very easy problem to solve once you have that 1C, wingers are the easiest position in the sport to add through any of the draft, free agency, and trades. I honestly can’t imagine being sad about the Flames spending assets to get a 1C, it should be the biggest priority if one becomes available.

Centre depth of Petterson, Kadri, and Zary instantly becomes top 10 in the league, we look lined up to have top goaltending, and our defense looks like it’s 2-3 years away from being a strength again. Other than just wanting to blow it up no matter what, Calgary should be chasing any of these opportunities as they arise. We are the most setup team in the league to pursue it with our excess draft picks, depth of prospects, and cap space as well.

Overpaid and aging, guys may be fairly paid now but in a year or two that could change a lot. Kadri in particular is 34 and signed for 4 more years. If Andersson is actually re-signed he's going to be getting paid to stay here. They offered Hanifin 8x8, I expect they'll offer Andersson more. We'll be paying 30+ million for 3 guys (Petersson included) with one of them being Jonathan Huberdeau.

Our defense is currently spare parts? It has Weegar and Andersson, Kevin Bahl is just a guy to me. I don't think he's anything more than a #5 long term. The prospects look good but they're only prospects, we have one guy that could maybe be considered blue chip and even as a fan of his he's no guarantee. We could get multiple top 4 D out of our current prospect pool or we could get a couple bottom pairing PP guys and AHL lifers.

See if I'm Vancouver I'm asking for Zary in any Pettersson deal. So in this idea what are we trading to get Petey? If it's a 1st and Honzek I'd be all over it but if that were the case it would be done already right? I think even with his down year and the locker room issues an in divison Pettersson deal is going to HURT. I don't think we acquire Pettersson and stay asset rich which then makes adding anything worthwhile to our roster once we actually have our 1C difficult. No one wins with one star up front and even if wingers are easier to acquire they're still going to cost assets and money, the Flames have those now but do they actually have enough to start buying a team? At this point in time we have a top 10 prospect pool, 4 firsts in the next two years (although right now at least 2 look to be late firsts) and cap space but that's all going to dry up quickly if we're trying to buy our way to an actual contender.

Personally, I don't think the Flames have the foundation in place for a quick turnaround, I think they're better off staying the course and continuing to amass assets until we have a few core players of our own at which point you start spending. I fully understand how rare it is that a C of Pettersson quality is avaliable but I just don't think the Flames would be able to build anything worthwhile around him if they were to acquire him at this stage in their retool.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

The equivalent Calgary offer would be Pachal, a 3rd and a 6th for a RW who has struggled. Winger is not a position that the Flames should spend trade assets for.

I'm still convinced that the Pachal extension (right after the trade) was not a coincidence, and the Flames were at least involved in the trade discussions. I don't think they can trade their 3rd though, it's tied up in the Monahan trade conditions.