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

[SaintMorose]

If we're top 9 in the West near the deadline it's a bit of a kick in the teeth to sell hard, if the Flames keep up this pace I'd expect Conroy to only move Kuzmenko and a depth D then look to sell bigger pieces at the draft/over summer.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

If we're top 9 in the West near the deadline it's a bit of a kick in the teeth to sell hard, if the Flames keep up this pace I'd expect Conroy to only move Kuzmenko and a depth D then look to sell bigger pieces at the draft/over summer.

I could actually see the Flames standing pat, but being a salary broker for other teams and gaining some assets that way.

 

[herashak]

Vladar with a goalie cap dump coming back is probably the only trade that returns much as of now

 

[The Gnome]

Only on HF could people be mad we are winning. I get wanting higher picks, but people don't seem to realize that this is development for what you already have in the lineup. Yeah our offense sucks, but it literally has nowhere to go but up...As does the rest of this roster.

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

Only on HF could people be mad we are winning. I get wanting higher picks, but people don't seem to realize that this is development for what you already have in the lineup. Yeah our offense sucks, but it literally has nowhere to go but up...As does the rest of this roster.

Hey now, don't exclude twitter from people complaining about wins

 

[JPeeper]

Only on HF could people be mad we are winning. I get wanting higher picks, but people don't seem to realize that this is development for what you already have in the lineup. Yeah our offense sucks, but it literally has nowhere to go but up...As does the rest of this roster.

Ah yes, 34 year old Kadri, 35 year old Backlund, 32 year old Coleman, 31 year old Huberdeau and 29 year old Kuzmenko only have up to go with their offense.

A solid core to build around going forward.

Honest question, do you genuinely think this team can compete in the playoffs with this roster? My view of success is winning playoff rounds and being competitive for the Cup, not watch a bunch of regulation wins for the next 20 years. That's my point of view, if others are perfectly fine beating the Islanders on a Tuesday in November over competing in the 2nd and 3rd round of the playoffs in May, that's fine too.

 

[Yepthatsme]

Ah yes, 34 year old Kadri, 35 year old Backlund, 32 year old Coleman, 31 year old Huberdeau and 29 year old Kuzmenko only have up to go with their offense.

A solid core to build around going forward.

Honest question, do you genuinely think this team can compete in the playoffs with this roster? My view of success is winning playoff rounds and being competitive for the Cup, not watch a bunch of regulation wins for the next 20 years. That's my point of view, if others are perfectly fine beating the Islanders on a Tuesday in November over competing in the 2nd and 3rd round of the playoffs in May, that's fine too.

Counterpoint: we are now 10-6-3, with Coronato, Wolf, Zary, Pospisil with plenty of runway to improve, help on the way with Pelletier, Honzek, Gridin, Basha, Parekh, and Brzustewicz, four 1sts in the next two drafts, and what looks to be a whopping 30M in cap space next year. Our laneway for improvement is hilarious, and while I don’t think we keep it up 10-6-3 is a 99 point pace.

 

[RasmusAndersson]

Counterpoint: we are now 10-6-3, with Coronato, Wolf, Zary, Pospisil with plenty of runway to improve, help on the way with Pelletier, Honzek, Gridin, Basha, Parekh, and Brzustewicz, four 1sts in the next two drafts, and what looks to be a whopping 30M in cap space next year. Our laneway for improvement is hilarious, and while I don’t think we keep it up 10-6-3 is a 99 point pace.

I agree with this and love seeing our young core lead the way. I absolutely love how Conroy sold off our 6 expendable vets last year to let our young guys take on big roles while accumulating picks and prospects. He has done an incredible job.

But it’s funny to hear you saying this, because I vividly remember last year when you thought that we shouldn’t trade Marky, and that by trading Marky we would be tanking. I believe your exact quote was “A Vladar-Wolf tandem will be an arduous tank until Wolf gets years of experience just to be able to take a starters load, let alone start to excel at it. There won’t be much of a competitive team when you start allowing an extra goal per game like we currently are when Markstrom doesn’t play.”

I only bring this up to reinforce the idea that we need to continue the youth movement, but we don’t need to absolutely tank and hit rock bottom for a rebuild, or retool, or whatever you wanna call it. We have 4 firsts the next two years, some extra 2nds and 3rds, and we have some young guys (Wolf, Zary, Coronato) showing legit potential as top of the lineup players.

Are we gonna be a contender this year?
Probably not, but let’s keep letting the young guys flourish and accumulating picks and prospects, because with the right asset management Conroy can build a legit contender with the pieces we have. We just need to put all our assets towards that high-end C. In Conroy I continue to trust

 

[RasmusAndersson]

I also just wanna acknowledge how incredible the Lindholm and Markstrom trades were. We absolutely fleeced Vancouver, got a 1st AND a high-potential RHD who projects to be a solid 2nd pair and 1st unit PP offensive dman, AND a middle-6 winger, for 30 games of Lindholm!!!! What a steal. Kuzmenko has the same amount of points as Lindholm and his contract isn’t absolutely crippling lol.

And for 1.5 years of 34 year old Markstrom, we got a 1st and a 24 year old top-4 LHD who has fit seamlessly beside our #1 dman. Bahl was such a great find as a secondary piece in a Markstrom trade.

Not to mention the fact that Conroy made these moves when his back was up against the wall and he had no leverage because everyone knew we were sellers. IMO these incredible moves more than make up for a slightly underwhelming return for Hanifin and maybe Tanev. We gotta trust Conroy, although obviously his work has only just begun. If he can draft as well as he can trade, I will feel very positive about our management for the first time in what feels like forever. What a feeling

 

[SaintMorose]

That Devils pick doesn't need to rise very far to be better than the pick sent to Montreal assuming the Flames can keep this up.

and if just 1 of Seattle or LA remains ahead of the grease, our holding a playoff spot can get really really funny

 

[The Gnome]

Ah yes, 34 year old Kadri, 35 year old Backlund, 32 year old Coleman, 31 year old Huberdeau and 29 year old Kuzmenko only have up to go with their offense.

A solid core to build around going forward.

Honest question, do you genuinely think this team can compete in the playoffs with this roster? My view of success is winning playoff rounds and being competitive for the Cup, not watch a bunch of regulation wins for the next 20 years. That's my point of view, if others are perfectly fine beating the Islanders on a Tuesday in November over competing in the 2nd and 3rd round of the playoffs in May, that's fine too.

I think for me that isn't the point. For the players you mentioned above we also have a lot of young talent throughout the lineup, that is not only contributing in a big way towards winning, they are developing the "right way". Winning breeds winning. If our young players get to develop in this kind of environment, we are so much better off imo.

If there was a McDavid waiting in the wings, I get it. I still wouldn't be unhappy with our wins, but I would see the point of wanting to tank. I just think with our young roster pieces already in place and the volume of picks we have coming up the next few years, this team is in a fantastic spot and ahead of schedule. I haven't been this excited to be a flames fan since the cup run, and I do not underestimate the value of winning in relation to player development.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

That Devils pick doesn't need to rise very far to be better than the pick sent to Montreal assuming the Flames can keep this up.

View attachment 934057

and if just 1 of Seattle or LA remains ahead of the grease, our holding a playoff spot can get really really funny

View attachment 934058

I don't believe the NJ pick factors into the conditions at all. It was purely between the Flames pick, where it falls (top ten or otherwise) and Florida's.

 

[SaintMorose]

I don't believe the NJ pick factors into the conditions at all. It was purely between the Flames pick, where it falls (top ten or otherwise) and Florida's.

It doesn't, I just think it's worth a mention that we could pick higher than what we lose to Montreal

 

[Bond]

I am team tank but I am still enjoying the wins. They can still regress pretty hard and get a top ten pick but if they make the playoffs then hopefully they win a round. I will only get mad if Conroy pulls a Treliving and makes a Hamonic trade in the offseason. Next year they will either be back to bottom ten team or some more youth will have to surprise.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Counterpoint: all that winning in 2014-2015 did jack all for the Flames in the end. They literally finished with the 6th overall pick the following season. And then arbitrarily decided the rebuild was over and started moving futures for win now players.

Regardless of what happens this season, the Flames won't be true contenders without a bonafide franchise number one center. There isn't in the system.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Counterpoint: all that winning in 2014-2015 did jack all for the Flames in the end. They literally finished with the 6th overall pick the following season. And then arbitrarily decided the rebuild was over and started moving futures for win now players.

Regardless of what happens this season, the Flames won't be true contenders without a bonafide franchise number one center. There isn't in the system.

Basically you just need 3 high end Cs to be a good team.
This team is set up for longer term success than 2014-15 Flames. That team had a good core but no depth. And Treliving was completely inept, trading away all his picks, adding hopeless vets, giving away solid depth players like Byron and Kulak for nothing. Itwas just covered by the fact that he was gifted Backlund, Gio, Brodie, Monahan, Gaudreau and was lucky that Vancouver was stupid enough to pass on Tkachuk.

This group has a lot of depth. An emerging core of Zary, Wolf, Coronato, Bahl and Parekh. Lots of other interesting players like Honzek, Gridin, Morin, Pelletier, Strömgren, Brewski, Basha, Mews, Solo, Kuz and Battaglia.
Maybe we can find a 1C in a trade like Vegas did. We have the assets to make it happen.
Zary looked electric last night and should be able to handle the 2C role going forward.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Regardless of what happens this season, the Flames won't be true contenders without a bonafide franchise number one center. There isn't in the system.

Offer sheet Vilardi?

 

[Bounces R Way]

Unless we trade one or both of em we're still going to be picking in the 1st round and 2nd round twice. Would suck to give up a pick in the 10-15 range but I'm not super enamored with a lot of the projected 2nd tier of this year's draft.

Does seem like a good year for Cs at the top of the draft so that's where the success is kind of bittersweet for me. That big 200ft franchise C that can consistently carry the mail is such a necessary piece for a team looking to contend for a cup. Maybe Connie can swing a trade with one of these perpetual tankers to move up.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Offer sheet Vilardi?

Isn't he a winger? Although that reminds when some Kings fans were willing to trade Vilardi for Monahan on here. That would have been nice lol

Basically you just need 3 high end Cs to be a good team.
This team is set up for longer term success than 2014-15 Flames. That team had a good core but no depth. And Treliving was completely inept, trading away all his picks, adding hopeless vets, giving away solid depth players like Byron and Kulak for nothing. Itwas just covered by the fact that he was gifted Backlund, Gio, Brodie, Monahan, Gaudreau and was lucky that Vancouver was stupid enough to pass on Tkachuk.

This group has a lot of depth. An emerging core of Zary, Wolf, Coronato, Bahl and Parekh. Lots of other interesting players like Honzek, Gridin, Morin, Pelletier, Strömgren, Brewski, Basha, Mews, and Battaglia.
Maybe we can find a 1C in a trade like Vegas did. We have the assets to make it happen.
Zary looked electric last night and should be able to handle the 2C role going forward.

Depth is way better this go round but they're lacking elite talent pretty much everywhere except in net.

Wolf is a franchise goalie. That's a big hole filled. Ridiculous amount of depth on the wing but doubt anyone there will end up being as good as Gaudreau or Tkachuk.

But who's the number one defenceman? Andersson is certainly playing like it right now but does he re-sign? Parekh is still a question mark, not only in whether he pans out at all, but in that is he more of a Bouchard/Shattenkirk/Gostisbehere or Makar/Fox/Hughes? There's a world of difference between those two groups. Personally, assuming he pans out, I see him ending up somewhere in the middle, like a PK Subban, who, granted won the Norris but was always a defensive question mark.

I agree, Zary would be a solid number two center on a real contender. But there's no number one and that's not an easy thing to trade for as we all saw Treliving fail in that regard for like a decade. Although definitely not impossible - Tage Thompson and Nick Suzuki were both moved as prospects. Necas, currently playing wing but wants to be a center, was available but the Flames picked Huberdeau instead.

We know Conroy was after Mercer last year but Devils fans believe he's more of a winger anyway. And now the rumor is the Flames are hot after Cozens. But it'd take a piece like Andersson to make that happen. Plus Cozen's underlying stats are terrible and even Sabres fans believe he should be a winger.

Everything would be a lot easier if the Flames had just sucked and taken a Hagens/Misa/Frondell/McQueen. But the Flames never like to make things easy

 

[Yepthatsme]

I agree with this and love seeing our young core lead the way. I absolutely love how Conroy sold off our 6 expendable vets last year to let our young guys take on big roles while accumulating picks and prospects. He has done an incredible job.

But it’s funny to hear you saying this, because I vividly remember last year when you thought that we shouldn’t trade Marky, and that by trading Marky we would be tanking. I believe your exact quote was “A Vladar-Wolf tandem will be an arduous tank until Wolf gets years of experience just to be able to take a starters load, let alone start to excel at it. There won’t be much of a competitive team when you start allowing an extra goal per game like we currently are when Markstrom doesn’t play.”

I only bring this up to reinforce the idea that we need to continue the youth movement, but we don’t need to absolutely tank and hit rock bottom for a rebuild, or retool, or whatever you wanna call it. We have 4 firsts the next two years, some extra 2nds and 3rds, and we have some young guys (Wolf, Zary, Coronato) showing legit potential as top of the lineup players.

Are we gonna be a contender this year?
Probably not, but let’s keep letting the young guys flourish and accumulating picks and prospects, because with the right asset management Conroy can build a legit contender with the pieces we have. We just need to put all our assets towards that high-end C. In Conroy I continue to trust

I do admit I didn’t think Wolf would take the large step he has this year back then, and even Vladar with healthy hips are doing a lot better. I’ve always been one of Wolf’s biggest fans, I just expected slower and smoother progressions for him than the massive one he currently took.

I also remember this off-season softening on the stance, and going on the record thinking our team’s X-factors for this season were going to be Wolf, Bahl, and Miromanov. I said that if Wolf takes the next step, Bahl built on his performance in NJ and performed as a good top 4 guy (undersold him apparently), and Miromanov continued where he left off (had too high expectations for him but him and Bahl averaged out), we’d be around a playoff team this year. Was right on the money there up to this point.

 

[DomBarr]

It doesn't, I just think it's worth a mention that we could pick higher than what we lose to Montreal

ugh that is so glass 1/2 full . it's way better to lament the fact that the Flames are over achieving and it may result in a pick in the 11-20 range being sent to the Habs

 

[Khrox]

ugh that is so glass 1/2 full . it's way better to lament the fact that the Flames are over achieving and it may result in a pick in the 11-20 range being sent to the Habs

It could also result in the 31st overall pick being sent to the Habs (Flames/Panthers cup final baby) which would be the most hilarious option I think

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

ugh that is so glass 1/2 full . it's way better to lament the fact that the Flames are over achieving and it may result in a pick in the 11-20 range being sent to the Habs

Truly, the talent in this draft drops off after 10 anyway. A lot of maybes after that so really not much difference between 15 and 25 anyway.
I like Cam Schmidt. I was super high on him coming into the season and he’s terrorizing the dub. He likely drops cause of size and I think he’s the next Cristall/Stankoven who should have gone way higher

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Counterpoint: all that winning in 2014-2015 did jack all for the Flames in the end. They literally finished with the 6th overall pick the following season. And then arbitrarily decided the rebuild was over and started moving futures for win now players.

Regardless of what happens this season, the Flames won't be true contenders without a bonafide franchise number one center. There isn't in the system.

2014-2015 got fans excited and we ended up not only trading for Hamilton which led to Lindholm and Hanifin but still got 3 NHL players in the draft. It was absolutely a success. There was no chance we were bad enough to finish top 5 (and besides hanifin went 5th overall).