AlbertaBoy12

LOL you know its summer when people are suggesting johnny wear gear from diablo..

I would be interested to see how the team looked if we added jagr for sure. I wonder if they would keep the 3m line together if they did add jagr, or if a line of bennett tkachuk and jagr does some good work. If that did happen, im curious who they would play on the backlund line and with ferland hitching his wagon to mony at least for the start of the season, it could make for an interesting bottom 6 as well. Jagr definitely makes this team better if he still has some tread on the tire. Johnny-mony-Ferland Frolik-backlund-brouwer Tkachuk-Bennett-Jagr Versteeg-Stajan-Lazar Thats how I would be starting training camp if we signed Jagr, although there is room for plenty of movement in the top 9.

I was just going off what you said about a 22 year old forward or 24 year old D man, if you arent trading a high prospect. It doesnt really matter if they are in the AAA or NHL they arent going to be worth much. That was all I was talking about.

This is my biggest problem, yeah they had some good chemistry with tkahcuk. But they will be fine without tkachuk, Id rather balance our top 9 then worry about ruining the chemistry of the 3M line.

True it is, but usually guys who are waiver eligible in the AAA arent the best players so they wont get traded for much anyways, im talking high end prospects.

Tkachuk and bennet had good chemistry last preseason, bennett also looked good with versteeg come the 2nd half. Persoanlly I dont think its a huge deal to switch tkachuk and brouwer for example, and thats something I may see happen. I think leaving ferland with the top line allows for continuity, but switching tkachuk with brouwer on the 3rd line(I know the season didnt end like that), shouldnt be a big swap, and might be good for the team. Its not really a radical change in my opinion. I think you leave versteeg with bennett, moving tkachuk there and putting brouwer with backlund, its only two wingers moving its not the end of the world in my opinion.

I dont necessarily disagree with what youre saying, but just playing guys in the NHL so you can get a read on them is kind of ridiculous especially if they arent ready. Further I think there is a big difference in how janko plays the game and how grant plays, that difference is noticeable at the AHL level, just as an example of being able to tell what a player is. Also I dont think there is any reasoning why a player whos ready to go wouldnt be traded because in the AAA. The problem is most teams arent trading their young guys who have a high ceiling if they are in the AHL. I dont think I agree that if for example we put rasmus andersson on the market or the ducks with brandon montour, that wouldnt fetch a good return. I just dont see why teams make that trade, but I dont agree that young players who are NHL ready wouldnt fetch much. I think we can all agree its not about waiting for a spot to open up, and unless they prove they can earn that spot why exactly are we letting them play? I dont agree with BH and always earned never given. But I also dont agree with just opening spots so that these guys can step in. If janko, poirier, and shinkaruk come into camp, earning a spot, then they will play, if they cant beat out stajan(for a center spot) or at this point brouwer, hathaway, hamilton for a bottom 6 spot, depending how things shake out, why are they playing in the NHL?

I personally dont see any problem with that either, these guys for the most part are in their early 20s and still have years of hockey ahead of them. I dont think theres any harm in letting them develop further, if they come into camp and blow the place up, then let em play. If they dont let them play more in the AAA and give them another a year. I think it was BB that said theres never been a prospect ruined by spending more time playing in junior, the AHL etc. But there is prospects ruined by coming up to the NHL too quick. I think of all the guys in the orginization, kulak and bennett might be the ones we see step up this season on the big club.

I would agree with Mac, its more important to get our 5 on 5 offense going then get tkachuk to learn a strong 2 way game. Im not overly concerned with a winger learned a strong 2 way game, and personally I think bennett has a pretty good 2 way game as it is, regardless of his -16. Bennett was also one of our better pkers last season, so I wouldnt be worrying about him being defensively deficient. Further to my point as the third line its not like they would be facing the best of the best at home, although on the road depending how things go, they might get harder match ups.

This is one of the funniest videos ive ever seen JJ, thanks.

Thats the way im thinking as I said above backlund only had 6 more points last season. I get that everyone loves the 3M line, but backlund and frolik were very good before tkachuk, and they should be very good after, there is no evidence to support otherwise. The person to get going is bennett, and if I remember correctly, him and tkachuk had some great chemistry last preseason.

backlund had 6 more points with tkachuk on his line and frolik has been very consistent without tkachuk, people need to stop making it out like tkachuk made the world go around on that line. They were both very successful the past couple seasons before tkachuk and all the evidence is there for them to be successful without him.

I dont think there has to be a big difference between us building and us being in "win now" mode, both could happen going into next season. Honestly johnny/mony will continue to produce regardless of who plays on their right side they have proved that. What needs to happen is bennetts line needs to really get going, if I was an opposing couch, deciding which guy to match with my top pairing, it would be difficult between the top 3 lines if bennett gets going. Also to go further with that, in my mind its ok to have a couple gaps in your forward group, if you have good pairings and a good defensive group, which at this point we do. I dont expect the flames to necessarily be the #1 team in the western conference next year, but if we were a wild card team again id be very disappointed. After November we were a top 5 team in wins, obviously that could change with injuries or luck. But our goaltending should be better from the word go, our defensive group is elite, and our forward group should take a step. I think if we arent a top 10 team next year, its disappointing. If Bennets line gets going, we are talking about 3 very good offensive lines, and an elite D corp, theres no way it shouldnt be a top 10 team.

Well in all honesty I dont think you can look at larrsson as a top pairing D man and not include the hamonic trade as both are on par with each other.. I would say trades are awash between the two franchises, although I think the flames beat the oilers by a bit, as the reinhart trade was terrible, especially considering reinhart got taken in the expansion draft. Further it only looks worse when we traded an extra 2nd for hamilton, and the same trade again with an extra 2nd for hamonic. The granlund trade is way too early to tell, and honestly was always a long shot for shinkaruk to make a huge impact. Not to be overly critical on your opinion, as I agree with most of it, just had a couple thoughts.

I would be surprised if these werent the pairings coming out of camp as well. The flames have said they are commited to pairings,and see bennett as a center. They had plenty of chemistry in the preseason last year, and I wouldnt be surprised to see it again.