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

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Backlund is not going anywhere. He has been fighting an injury and been abused on the PK. If another center could PK and win a faceoff to save their life that would be great. Pre Frost there was Backlund to take the majority of defensive faceoffs and Kadri. Now you at least have Backs, Kadri and Frost to give you some balance 5on5.
 
This might be Backlunds last year of top level effective play. Nothing wrong with gracefully aging.

I'd 100% leave it up to him with no pressure either way.

I think if craig makes another move or two more, flames could make a deep run anyway, flames are and have been built for the playoffs the last number of years. They aren't a Toronto/season super star. There take vegas/edmonton to all 7 games type of team.
 
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hockeyguy0022 said:
This might be Backlunds last year of top level effective play. Nothing wrong with gracefully aging.

I'd 100% leave it up to him with no pressure either way.

I think if craig makes another move or two more, flames could make a deep run anyway, flames are and have been built for the playoffs the last number of years. They aren't a Toronto/season super star. There take vegas/edmonton to all 7 games type of team.
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the Flames are not built for the playoffs. That is a fallacy the team used to to explain why they "underperformed" during the season. The Flames have not been built to be actual Stanley Cup playoff contenders since the 80's when they had 6 future hall of fame players.
and no the 2003-09 Flames were not built for the playoffs. They rode a red hot goalie to the finals in 04 and then crashed and burned in the 1st round the rest.
 
Mobiandi said:
If Backlund was offered a trade to a contender, I’m sure he’d take it
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I think the issue is the contract for most contenders. While many teams could absorb a 4.5M contract at the deadline, the issue is they'd eat their cap growth with Backlund.

If a team was a 3C away from being a favourite I guess there's a world? I could see Toronto maybe interested here, with the Treliving connection (who'd know Backlund very well) and the fact they have guys like Holmbeg in that 3C role who are probably not even everyday NHLers.

The issue is they can only take under 2.5M in cap this deadline unless they send some money out... but they either have nothing deals or long term stuff.
 
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Volica said:
I think the issue is the contract for most contenders. While many teams could absorb a 4.5M contract at the deadline, the issue is they'd eat their cap growth with Backlund.

If a team was a 3C away from being a favourite I guess there's a world? I could see Toronto maybe interested here, with the Treliving connection (who'd know Backlund very well) and the fact they have guys like Holmbeg in that 3C role who are probably not even everyday NHLers.

The issue is they can only take under 2.5M in cap this deadline unless they send some money out... but they either have nothing deals or long term stuff.
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I think the Wild would look long and hard at Backlund if he's made available. Their PK is abysmal and their 2/3 centers are producing at about the same level as Backlund... and they will have a ton of cap space opening up with the Suter and Parise buyout penalties dropping by about 6.5m each.
 
Lunatik said:
I think the Wild would look long and hard at Backlund if he's made available. Their PK is abysmal and their 2/3 centers are producing at about the same level as Backlund... and they will have a ton of cap space opening up with the Suter and Parise buyout penalties dropping by about 6.5m each.
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Wild are going after Brock Nelson! Marco Rossi / EK is their 1/ 2c! They won’t look at Backlund because they are going for Brock Nelson through trade or free agency! They aren’t trying to take on any money as they will give Kaprizov long term money also
 
Zirakzigil said:
That Graves contract is bad. I wouldnt say no from either side.
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I know it's bad, but I do think a change of scenery will be good for him, and with how quickly the cap is going to be rising, a 4.5m cap hit isn't going to be that bad. But I think such a move would make the team better right now without hurting the future. As rough as Graves has been, Bean and Miro make him look like Lidstrom and Acciari would be a nice add to the 4th line IMO, as we don't really have a young 4C-type coming up, unless Lipinski performs a miracle and gets himself a contract by June 1, but even then he won't be NHL ready by the time Acciari's deal ends
 
Lunatik said:
I know it's bad, but I do think a change of scenery will be good for him, and with how quickly the cap is going to be rising, a 4.5m cap hit isn't going to be that bad. But I think such a move would make the team better right now without hurting the future. As rough as Graves has been, Bean and Miro make him look like Lidstrom and Acciari would be a nice add to the 4th line IMO, as we don't really have a young 4C-type coming up, unless Lipinski performs a miracle and gets himself a contract by June 1, but even then he won't be NHL ready by the time Acciari's deal ends
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Graves needs to be with someone who is mobile and can pass. Hes slow and handles the puck like a grenade.

Acciari is a decent center, miscast in Pittsburgh though.
 
Zirakzigil said:
Graves needs to be with someone who is mobile and can pass. Hes slow and handles the puck like a grenade.

Acciari is a decent center, miscast in Pittsburgh though.
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I watched as many Providence College games as I could when they have Janko, Gillies and Gilmour... I became a fan of Acciari, B. Tanev and Walman from watching those teams.... funny thing is looking at the rosters now... I had absolutely no idea Kevin Rooney (and his brother Chris) was also there at that time as well.

As an aside, I'm kinda surprised Nate Leaman hasn't made the jump to pro hockey behind the bench... he's helped turn out a number of NHLers from a program that is not as lauded as some of the bigger schools and don't tend to get the high profile recruits.
 
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Volica said:
Personally don't see Backlund traded unless he comes to management and asks for it.
What are you getting him Backlund at this stage anyway?

No one's going to offer much with that second year left.
And next winter, if his game regresses a bit more... what? Trade him for a 4th? Who cares, if he doesn't want to go anywhere, wants to be a Flame for life, just let him do it. He's 1000000x the player Rooney is, even 2-3 years from now. He could play on my 4th line for as long as the wheels don't fall completely off.
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Nah, there comes a time to pass the torch. I often wonder what this franchise would look like today if we would've ran with Johnny-Monahan/Tkachuk-Bennett back in 2017.
 
Ryan Graves? Absolutely not, I forbid it. He is horrible.

Kinda hope Conroy doesn't do anything at the TDL and let the chips fall where they may. His Western Conference 1st place AHL team has plenty of guys worth a look in case of more injuries or 🤞 more veteran demotions. If there's a picks for cap move to be made that makes sense then by all means go for it. I think the owners are at least a little resigned to a more realistic 2027 outlook.
 
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super6646 said:
You didn’t specify in which league however 😂
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Just because he is miscast here, doesnt mean hes not an NHLer. Guy is pretty much what you want on any 4th line. Just so happens the Flames need a a right shot center who can win a draw. People werent complaining when the 4th line was Lombo - Rooney - Kirkland
 
Zirakzigil said:
People werent complaining when the 4th line was Lombo - Rooney - Kirkland
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I think it’s because we were still kinda in our winning ways when Kirky was playing. Twice as many points before he got hurt in half as many games as Roondog has played this season to date, the underlying stats weren’t as pronounced at the 20-game mark as they are now, and there was a little more to be upbeat and/or optimistic about.
 
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Zirakzigil said:
Just because he is miscast here, doesnt mean hes not an NHLer. Guy is pretty much what you want on any 4th line. Just so happens the Flames need a a right shot center who can win a draw. People werent complaining when the 4th line was Lombo - Rooney - Kirkland
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Miscast is an odd term here. It's generally used when someone is playing out of their natural position like when Sharky was playing center, or when someone is playing too high up in the lineup like Miro or Hanley in the top 4.

Rooney is not out of position at center and is already on the bottom line, so what part of that is a miscast? I'm not as hard on him as other people but clearly he's been struggling and it's getting to the point where refusing to try something else is just dumb.
 
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