420since1974

Many of the Oiler fans that were on the team's official message board have moved to: http://the-omb.proboards.com/#category-3 They went this route because many of them did not want to go to the HF boards.

It makes my ears bleed.

In that scenario, one would hope that it may drive down the cost of UFAs, but there always seems to be a fair number of GMs who will overpay. It is definitely an interesting thought for debate, personally I'm not sure which way it would go.

I wonder what the total costs are for a team from the day that they draft a player until the end of their ELC. Those costs may include the value of the draft pick itself, plus the scouting, development, insurance, travel, and legal costs incurred during the length of the ELC. I would hazard a guess that except for the Top players, the costs are higher than the value of the player during his first contract. NHL teams definitely need some security (RFA rights) on their investment, but whether that needs to be 7 seasons/27 years old is up for debate. IMO, It would be quite tough to keep any roster together if every player gained UFA rights immediately after their ELC.

At worst, it is a trade of two bad contracts with the Flames saving $7M and potentially receiving a 3rd round draft pick. In real money: 4 years of Lucic for Calgary = $16M. 4 years of Neal for Edmonton = $23M + 3M retained on Lucic. IMO, there was no place for Neal in Calgary's Top 6 and Lucic should fit in fine in the Flames Bottom 6.

The advanced and counting stats aren't actually that far apart for these two over the last two seasons. If you look at the last two seasons at 5v5:Counting Stats:Neal:GP: 134G: 22 A: 20P: 42Shots: 264Shooting Percentage: 8.33%Hits: 88Lucic:GP: 161G: 11A: 28P: 39Shots: 185Shooting Percentage: 5.95%Hits: 492Advanced Stats:Neal:CF%: 50.5%CF%: -1.76%HDCF%: 47.4%GF%: 46.4%xGF%: 48.1%xGF% Rel: -4.69%PDO: .992Offensive Zone Start: 59.5%LucicCF%: 50.9%CF% Rel:2.09%HDCF%: 50.8%GF%: 47.1%xGF%: 51.2%XGF% Rel: 2.3%PDO: .992Offensive Zone Start: 49.8%

In my mind, the ideal way to make Cap Space to re-sign the RFAs would be to trade Frolik and Stone for draft picks. Second choice would be to trade them for prospects.

With only 5 picks, I feel that the Flames did a decent job in this draft. I expect that all of them are at least 3 – 4 years away from the NHL, but they all could become valuable assets. 26. Jakob Pelletier (LW/C/RW)– I like what I’m hearing about his drive, energy, and skill. My only concern is his size. If he bulks up a bit, I could see him in a similar vein as Brendan Gallager. 88. Ilya Nikolaev (C) – It sounds like he is a very good N/S skater who is defensively responsible. Even if his lateral skating and offensive consistency don’t improve much, I think that he will still become a good NHL middle 6 defensive forward. 116. Lucas Feuk (LW) – Good but not great skater with very good offensive instincts and skills. IMO, he will have to improve his defensive game to make it in the NHL. 150. Josh Nodler (C) – Elite play-maker with a rocket of a shot, he’ll be playing in the excellent Michigan State program. 214. Dustin Wolf (G) – Though small compared to many current NHL goalies, he seems to have all the skills need to become an NHL starter. He could be the Flames “steal” of the draft.

JTech780: I'm kind of on the fence regarding taking on Jason Zucker's contract. 4 more years at a $5.5M Cap Hit ($5.625M per in actual dollars). He's only been close to worth those dollars once (during the 2017/2018 season). He will be nearly 31 years old when it expires. Beginning July 25, he will have a 10 team no trade list. That said, I'd certainly take a shot at him for Frolik+ a bottom 6 roster forward, or a B prospect, or a 2020 3rd round draft pick. Personally, I don't have much interest in Joel Eriksson. In the NHL, his best season has been 6G + 10A = 16P in 75 games. IMO, the only advantage that he has over Mark Jankowski is that he is two years younger and plays a little better of a 200' game.

There will certainly be changes, as that appears to be Treliving’s M.O. Heck. he changed out 1/3 of the roster and 3 coaches last season. Personally, I think that the current group has learned some harsh lessons from this season’s play-offs. I feel that the ones who do return for next season, will be more motivated and less fearful of the play-offs next season. I don’t expect them to win the conference next regular season, but my guess is that they will go further along in the play-offs, in part due to their trials and tribulations this year.

If we're keeping the pick, I'd look long look at drafting Moritz Seider or Lassi Thomson if they're still available at #26.

Wouldn't he be an import and an over-ager in the CHL next season? If so, that would take up 2 roster spots. In that case, I'd bet on him playing overseas for a year.