Nobody is unseating Chicago and San Jose from that throne. We also talk about how terrible our defense group is this year, but Anaheims is actually terrifyingly poor, and their forward core is just wall to wall youth which while entertaining is usually a recipe for disaster.The only reason they may start well is because there are no expectations on them to challenege for the playoffs. This team tends to go opposite what they should. But they are definitely finishing bottom 2 in the conference
Great in-depth write up here. A couple notes though:I'm pretty confident we will finish bottom 5. I look at it like this...
We finished tied for 8th-10th worst in 2023-24, that was with a full season of Markstrom and Mangiapane, 50-60 games of Lindholm, Tanev & Hanifin; as well as Kylington and Zadorov combined.
We're replacing Tanev w/ Bahl... Hanifin w/ Miromanov... Kylington/Zadorov w/ Bean... Mangiapane w/ Mantha... Lindholm w/ Kuzmenko... Markstrom w/ Wold and more games from Vladar...
Then I look at the teams that finished around us and below us in the standings...
Buffalo hs Byram for a full season while adding Zucker and McLeod... but their season depends more on Cozens and Thompson bouncing back and internal growth of Power... are they still a bad team? or was 2023-24 a down year after being close to a playoff spot in 2022-23? I personally think they will be better.
New Jersey.... healthy Hamilton, addressed goaltending by adding Markstrom and Allen... they also added Pesce... like Buffalo was 2023-24 a blip on the radar after a much better 2022-23 where they were one of the better teams in the league? I think the reality is somewhere in teh middle, but I think they are a playoff team.
Seattle... another team in the same boat as Buffalo and New Jersey, bad 2023-24 after a good 2022-23... are the additions of Stephenson & Montour going to be enough to get Seattle back into the playoff race? I don't know, but I think at worst they'll maintain their level of play.
Ottawa... Chychrun, Tarasenko and the terrible Korpisalo out... Ullmark, Jensen & Perron in... Pinto will be around the full season... it's hard to imagine they will be worse simply via goaltending alone.
Utah... it's hard to believe they won't improve after adding Sergachev & Marino to their blueline and only subtracting Moser from the 2023-24 roster in teh deals. Thy should challenge for a playoff spot.
Montreal... they be bad, but I don't think they got worse.
Columbus... their "big" adds were Severson & Monahan... but their season depends more on the growth if their kids.... I think they improve slightly due to internal growth.
Anaheim.... I have the pegged as the worst team in the NHL this season. Not necessarily worse than 2023-24, but certainly not improved, while San Jose and Chicago took strides to improve.
Chicago... a healthy Hall and adding Bertuzzi and TT upfront will help Bedard take a step forward... adding Brodie and Martinez n the blueline will add some stability so it's not just on Jones and Murphy.... and Brossoit should be a decent improvement on Soderblom who will get to start in Rockford where he should have been last year. They will definitely be improved, maybe enough that with our step back that they could pass us.
San Jose.... they added some experience in Toffoli, Wennberg and Goodrow to help insulate Celebrini... they're still not going to be good. Probably only better than Anaheim.
Looking at those teams, as well as Philly, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Washington and St. Louis... I legitimately think we could very easily finish bottom
Hot take: Wolf having a Vezina caliber season is all that is needed.Just a note, rarely have one-way offensive wingers ever been the difference between playoffs and not on bad teams.
Our defence is going to be atrocious this year. Really there are two top 4 guys on the entire roster and a bunch of question marks. Would it be awesome if Bahl and Bean turn into something good? Absolutely, is it likely? Probably not.
I like to do an if's game. General rule is the more if's the less likely a team is to be good.
So for the Flames to make the playoffs it would require:
If Huberdeau has a recovered/motivated season.
If Kuzy plays at the same level from the end of last year, through the whole year.
If Shango can replicate last year
If Coleman can replicate last season.
If Mantha finds chemistry with Huberdeau or on the roster.
If Wolf gives us essentially a Vezina caliber season.
If there's no drop off to Kadri's game.
If there's no sophomore slump for any of the returning rookies.
If Bean can be a dependable bottom pair guy.
If Bahl can develop into a good middle pair guy.
If Miramanov ends up being an offensive catalyst on the PP.
You compare that to like the Avs, and it's like:
If the team stays healthy.
If goaltending doesn't fall apart.
I don't think they'll be record-low bad. But I could see them winning 4/10 games; 65/66 point pace. They won 7 games of their last 18 after all their trades last year. That's 46 point pace. I think it'll be better than that, but not much.
Simply put, I don't think we have the horses on the back end to insulate Wolf and Vladar. We're looking at some combination of Bahl, Bean and Miro in our top 4. Offense is the least of my concerns. I think we could finish in the 13-17 range in GF, but I'm expecting us to be one of, if not the worst defensive team in the league, we were already tied for 10th worst in GA last year, I fully expect our GA/GP to rise by about half a goal a game, to the 3.75 range.
It was for the 2014-15 Flames.Just a note, rarely have one-way offensive wingers ever been the difference between playoffs and not on bad teams.
Our defence is going to be atrocious this year. Really there are two top 4 guys on the entire roster and a bunch of question marks. Would it be awesome if Bahl and Bean turn into something good? Absolutely, is it likely? Probably not.
I like to do an if's game. General rule is the more if's the less likely a team is to be good.
So for the Flames to make the playoffs it would require:
If Huberdeau has a recovered/motivated season.
If Kuzy plays at the same level from the end of last year, through the whole year.
If Shango can replicate last year
If Coleman can replicate last season.
If Mantha finds chemistry with Huberdeau or on the roster.
If Wolf gives us essentially a Vezina caliber season.
If there's no drop off to Kadri's game.
If there's no sophomore slump for any of the returning rookies.
If Bean can be a dependable bottom pair guy.
If Bahl can develop into a good middle pair guy.
If Miramanov ends up being an offensive catalyst on the PP.
You compare that to like the Avs, and it's like:
If the team stays healthy.
If goaltending doesn't fall apart.
I don't think they'll be record-low bad. But I could see them winning 4/10 games; 65/66 point pace. They won 7 games of their last 18 after all their trades last year. That's 46 point pace. I think it'll be better than that, but not much.
What the Flames to win first overall in 2026 Draft and get Gavin McKenna.I'm looking forward to the 2025, 2026, and 2027 drafts. With the right management, superb drafting, and a little bit of luck, the Flames organization can build a real cup contender.
to bad the Penguins are in need of a Crosby replacement thenWhat the Flames to win first overall in 2026 Draft and get Gavin McKenna.
to bad the Penguins are in need of a Crosby replacement then![]()
yeah wtf is up with that. The odds are against these three franchises getting the franchise saving megastar AGAIN. And they did it.![]()
The NHL when Pittsburgh, Edmonton and Chicago go too long without generational/Elite talent.
you are looking at the odds wrong...its the odds are against anyone BUT those 3 franchises getting a franchise altering/saving megastar.yeah wtf is up with that. The odds are against these three franchises getting the franchise saving megastar AGAIN. And they did it.
I kind of get it. When you have superstars you throw all your draft capital and the kitchen sink to keep the team competitive as long as possible. And because you generally have success with said star players, any picks you do keep generally don't amount to much at all. Eventually those stars will retire or leave and your team will plummet to the bottom of the league with no good upcoming prospects to fill roles so your odds of drafting high are very realistic.yeah wtf is up with that. The odds are against these three franchises getting the franchise saving megastar AGAIN. And they did it.
Agree on most of this, though I think we should also figure out our plan with Ras. A year ago I considered him untradable and a must re-sign. Now with Parekh, Brzustewicz, and Mews as our RD depth I'm leaning towards dangling him for more picks/prospects (I look at Nashville's 3 1sts and top 10 prospect pool and think he would be a good fit there as well as they have the assets, for example).I really want to see us using the season to figure out some things. Presently I have these questions about the roster that I want to see answered this season:
1. Is Zary a center or a wing?
2. Is Pospisil a center or a wing?
3. Is Miramanov a project that is worth investing in?
4. Is Pelletier something or nothing?
5. Which of our defense first guys (Kuznetsov, Solovyov, Bahl, Grushnikov) are able to do that in the NHL?
6. Is there a market where we can get real value for one of Coleman or Kadri?
We aren't going to know which of our offensive D are potential stars this season, but we can half-way know if we have the goalie. I don't need to see Kevin Rooney trotted out as our 4C with Lomberg and Duehr. I want to see if Pospisil can be our 4C with Lomberg and Pelletier. I have zero use for a traditional veteran 4th line.
Agreed on Pelletier. For me Andersson is already clear. I'm moving him. He's too inconsistent. Some 40 game stretches he looks like a #1 and some he looks like a #4. I'd rather keep Weegar as the show the way vet.Agree on most of this, though I think we should also figure out our plan with Ras. A year ago I considered him untradable and a must re-sign. Now with Parekh, Brzustewicz, and Mews as our RD depth I'm leaning towards dangling him for more picks/prospects (I look at Nashville's 3 1sts and top 10 prospect pool and think he would be a good fit there as well as they have the assets, for example).
Also I want them to try Pelletier with Backs and Coleman.
Rooney is a C, I don't think he'll be relevant to their playing time. Whether or not the team sees Zary or Pospisil will be where Rooney fits in, if yes to either he likely sits in the pressbox.I'm hoping Pelletier and Coronato have huge camps.
Not sure I want Duehr and Rooney playing over them two.
But we've got too many forwards. Conroy should maybe make a move or two to open spots for Pelts and Coronato.