Brad, you did what? Episode 2

This is the wildest offseason I have experienced! Who would have thought Monahan, Tkachuk, and Gaudreau would be all gone? Like everyone else who heard the rumors, I refused to believe they would go away. Yes, sometimes I live my own little world.

We rebuild it. Stronger, faster...  oh, never mind. Well, here we are now, Calgary Flames Management's own version of the Six Million Dollar Man.  

The first question is whether or not Kadri is worth Monahan and a first. Monahan has not fit into the Sutter System from the start. Combine that with his injuries, and Mony has never gotten off the ground with the Flames. Despite all that, I think that he will excel with the Habs. The price of the first-round pick goes with the territory when asking a team to take all of his salary. 

In signing Kadri, the Flames are getting a proven winner. Kadri brings a new attitude into the dressing room. He will put an intensity into the team that will no longer accept losing. The Flames have not acquired Kadri only for his offensive talent, but also for his attention to detail in his game. He brings tons of grit into his game. He gets into people's heads. I don't expect him to get ninety points, but I expect him to get 50-60 points and to be a shutdown player. A little more offensive than Backlund, with a touch of grouchiness, he is the perfect Sutter player. 

Yes, I've heard what the naysayers have to say about the Kadri contract. At the end of his contract, Kadri will be as old as Methuselah. My answer is that Methuselah has two more possible cups to his resume. The Flames are in a win-now mode. They will take their chances with Kadi until he turns 39. Brad is a "put-up or shut-up" general manager. He is fighting for his job.

Randy

Brad you did what?

My wife almost had a heart attack on July 23 around ten pm. I might have gotten a little excited about a specific trade. I was told that Tkachuk was signed and delivered to the Blues. You can imagine my astonishment when the trade went down. 

While everyone worries about the status of Huberdeau and Weegar, even if they don't sign, the Flames scored big time at the deadline. Don't worry; the Flames will not be left holding the bag; they will unload both players at the deadline if they don't have them inked to a contract extension.  (Update: Huberdeau signs a $10.5 mm 8-year extension August 4.)

Now, what do we know about Cole Schwindt? We know he is excellent on the draw. He works hard in the corners and will not be cheated or outworked with the puck. He is also hard to take off the puck. 

Schwindt has been improving his shot each year. He is becoming a more and more solid third-line centre. He can also play wing. Most people consider him a B+ prospect. Cole is tenacious when covering his assignments and will stick to opponents like glue.

The Flames signed Mangiapane and Kylington to avoid arbitration. This way, the Flames can move on with these two upcoming stars. I love it when teams can avoid the arbitration hearings, erasing the resentment of the players.

As for the contracts, I like them. Kylington is developing into an all-around defenceman. He might be a steal at this price if he doesn't get traded before the camp starts. 

The Mangiapane signing was crucial. He will be motivated to prove his naysayers out of Calgary they're wrong. The Flames are thin on the forwards, and he could not lose the 35-goal scorer after the Gaudreau fiasco; Eat Bread brings a certain tang to his game, but he does not get the respect he deserves. 

The Flames have 10 defencemen and one of the league's best defensive cores. The addition of Weegar puts Kylington or Hanifin as excellent trade bait to bringing in another top-six forward. Filling the void left by Tkachuk will be hard. No single player can replace Tkachuk, but they can find another 20-goal scorer to help fill the void. The offensive side of the game is going to be accomplished by committee. Everyone will have to pick up their game after the loss of Tkachuk.

Randy

2022 Draft: Calgary Picks

Calgary doesn't have a first-round pick in this year's draft. The Flames will be exploring different ways to get into the first round. Could Monahan be shopped? Andrew Mangiapane? Then the dreaded question that I don't even want to ask — could the rights of Johnny Gaudreau be up for grabs? Flames have lots of options if they want that first-round pick. With the Flames' salary cap problems, they may very well seek different options to make room for Matthew Poitras, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk's contract under the salary cap. I am hearing they would love for Johnny to sign but aren't sitting back and will be aggressive in the free-agent market. 

Going into this draft, the Flames need a second-line forward with some scoring skills. They really need some help with the secondary scoring. Quite often, if the top line did not score, the Flames laid an egg. They need a sparkplug, someone who can put some energy into the lineup. They should add another dman who is good in the defensive game. The Flames still are hanging their goalies out to dry. They need to be more defensive and responsive this season. A stay-home dman would be nice. Those are the two biggest concerns to be addressed this season. 

 

If things stay the same, the Flames will have a second-round pick, a fifth-round pick, and the seventh-rounders. 

My suggestions are:

59 Matthew Poitras  

Centre 

Poitras is a reliable two-way centre whose defensive play improves his offensive paralysis on the ice. Matthew will win his share of battles with the puck. His strength is taking advantage of other players' mistakes. He will get into players' psyches. Scouts love his hard work and stable influence in the dressing room. 

155 David Moravec 

Defense 

David is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of player. David is a stay-home defenseman who will be a great penalty killer. He bails out other players' mistakes and does not panic with the puck. He has no fear. He plays like a big man and will have to bulk up, as he is kind of small. His intensity makes up for the lack of size, a typical stay-at-home dman. 

219 Ben Hemmerling 

Right-Wing

Offensive upside. Hemmerling has the potential to be a solid third-line forward. A solid skater who works without the puck. A good wrist shot with some zing to it. Ben could develop into an NHL'er, but it will take some patience.

See my full mock draft here.

2022 Draft: What does a scout look for?

I often wondered what Scouts look for in a prospect, especially this time of year. I decided to go the horse's mouth and ask expert Russ Cohen. As we get ready for the draft, the Scouts are earning their paycheques. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Russ Cohen. 

All scouts look for different things. They all have a numeric system to apply to attributes like speed, as an example. They file the reports electronically after games. Some teams look for toughness, some are hard to play against. some speed, some playing the right way. Sometimes a scout can look at a player a few times and know his team has to get that player and then the rest of the visits is about confirmation before he recommends that player. Scouts' jobs depend on getting at least two players in every draft. Hopefully, they play 100-200 NHL games. You can't build a team through free agency in the cap world. Scouts are careful to use phrases like "generational talent". When the talent pool compresses as players move up that's when things either click or many times go sideways. Amateur scouting is vital to a team's future success.

I'm Russ Cohen. My website is www.sportsology.com. My Twitter handle is @Sportsology. It's there I push the other outlets I work for. The first draft that I covered was in 2001 and I've been covering everyone ever since then.  

I want to thank Russ for his time; he is a great Twitter follower and a wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend following him. He will make it worth your while. 

See my full mock draft here.

RIP Bearcat Murray

 

My heart is a little saddened today to hear of the passing of Bearcat. I remember him jumping on the ice, often helping an injured player. That injured player did not have to be a Flame; I saw him jumping off for the other team player if he could get there before their trainer. That was just the man; he was all class. I will never forget his manner, always smiling.  

Bearcat had a heart of gold. He was there for anyone who asked for help. He would have given the shirt off his back. He had his finger in many charities,  offering his time to help in any way he could. He will permanently be attached to the Calgary Flames. The man, the myth, the legend, Bearcat Murray. 

My sympathies to his friends and family. May God be with them at this time. 

Flame out: What went wrong

I could just copy other blogs of what went wrong and paste them here. Year after year, disappointment, and then the Flames make minor adjustments for the next season. After this year, I think small changes have come to an end.

The first choice was Tyler Toffoli's trade. Was it a complete failure? He was great during the regular season but went pretty quiet in the series lost to the Oilers. A rather expensive first-rounder, to say the least. He has one year left on his contract, so it might still be a little early to make a judgment on the deal. 

The first line did not come through during the crunch. I know it is not fair, but often, the stars get the blame when the team fails expectations. The Flames need more players who can perform under pressure instead of panicking. This core has not come through, so changes have to occur. But who goes?

First on the block is Johnny Hockey. I know losing him would suck, but in reality, what has this core done since they've been together? Early exit after early exit. Then there is the demand for the ten million dollars plus cap it will cost to keep him. Do we pay out the money? I don't see the Flames doing that (but I don't have any inside info on that.) Johnny's tenure with the Flames will be known for not being able to come through during the playoffs. I am not sure he wants to stay in Calgary; I think he has made up his mind about testing free agency. My gut tells me that if he wanted to stay, he would have signed by now. Johnny is one of the best players in the NHL. No one can doubt his talent, and someone will pay what he wants. He is one of the best Flames players ever.

Tkachuk is going to cost the Flames $9.9 million to qualify him. Yes, he is coming off a career year, collecting over 100 points. He scored 40 goals this season, another career-high. I could recite all the stats backing up his worth until I grow blue in the face. Tkachuk brings a lot of character to the dressing room, he gets into the teams' heads, and he throws off other teams' superstars. What he does without the puck might be more valuable than what he does with the puck. But can he get 100 points without Gaudreau? And will he stay when Gaudreau leaves?

Is Darryl Sutter too loyal to his players? Is the system at fault? Is it time to bring a new philosophy to the Flames' thinking? 

The Flames beating up along the boards has to change. It's a faster game now. Calgary's defence is too slow to compete with the faster teams in the league. It is time to get quicker and younger on the blueline, whether the Flames find the answers on the farm through the Heat or wheeling and dealing in the trade market. The number one guy I have been pushing is Connor Mackey I think he is ready to play now.

Randy

Are They Good Enough

 

So, did the Flames do enough? 

I know they are probably the best team in the Pacific Division. Apparently, they tried to get a depth defenceman, but couldn't make it work. The reason was there were not many options left by that point. I wonder if the Flames could have started earlier if they had made more cap room? They had to put Richardson on waivers just to be able to tinker in the final hour. 

The Flames could have made a cap casualty trade. Now bear with me—they could have traded Monahan for a cheaper third-line centre. If they are going to use Monahan as a third-line centre, they might as well use an actual third-line player to do the same thing for cheaper.  

One of my contacts has expressed how he feels about their use of Monahan: "They frankly misuse the talented centre."  I know Flames fans are often frustrated with Monahan, but is it his fault? When a team undervalues a player, can he help but think less of himself? 

The second part of this question: Should the Flames have considered making room for the Tkachuk and Gaudreau extensions next season? Could they have made a cap casualty trade without hurting the team? 

One contact explained why they couldn't dump any cap: "When you have the chance at the cup, you have to go for it." I countered about having to lose Tkachuk or Gaudreau next year. Another contact agreed with not changing anything before the playoffs: "You can't mess with a team's chemistry when it is one of the best teams in the League."  

With this discussion, I learned precisely what goes through a General Manager's mind at the deadline. They have to consider every option and then judge the likely result. Who knew?

Randy