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

[crackdown44]

Yeah I mean last year we drafted 9th even though we had Lindholm, Hanifin and Tanev for over half the year. We dealt Markstrom in the summer too

Wouldn’t have been unrealistic to think this team might finish bottom 5, or at the very least bottom 10

 

[Mobiandi]

If Kadri carries positive value, we'd be foolish not to trade him in the summer. We can look at overpaying Tavares as a stopgap or even Matt Duchene (don’t like him but not the worst option).

 

[Zirakzigil]

The Flames drafted 9th last year after collapsing after the trade deadline. Leading up to Hanifin/Lindholm/Tanev trades they were fighting for a playoff spot. The expectation this year was poor goaltending and no depth on defense. Neither of which happened. Again, to bottom out you would have to gut the defense and offense. Which would most likely ruin Wolf and Co for the chance of maybe drafting a player that might turn into a star.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Once again, the Flames literally finished 26th in 2015-2016 all of one year after that 2014-2015 cinderella season. And that was despite Gaudreau putting up a point per game and Giordano being a real number one defenceman getting norris consideration.

You don't have to be the worst of the worst to finish in the bottom 10, just a little below .500.

 

[Volica]

Yeah I mean last year we drafted 9th even though we had Lindholm, Hanifin and Tanev for over half the year. We dealt Markstrom in the summer too

Wouldn’t have been unrealistic to think this team might finish bottom 5, or at the very least bottom 10

If Vladar played every game this season we'd probably be a bottom 5-6 team.
Problem is that Wolf is getting the lion's share now and that dude is legit one of the best goalies on the planet as a rookie netminder.

Like if hockey had an accurate WAR statistic, Wolf would probably be leading the league in that metric

We need elite talent, there's no question. This team doesn't score enough and doesn't create enough chances. There's a major lack of creativity. It's a team of essentially middle 6 players and one of the worst defensive groups in the NHL.

 

[Sparky93]

Not really sure why people are upset. This is probably the best possible outcome, to end that rancid Monhan trade. Players will age and contracts will expire. Wolf looks amazing but we've all seen young goalies walk in and look almost unbeatable before. Teams study up in the offseason and the following year they look pretty mortal. Not saying that it will happen, just saying that it wouldn't be the first time.