Post by Calgary Flames on Feb 6, 2022 17:17:23 GMT -6
Despite being one of the better teams in the West, the Flames have continued to make moves. But they aren't the type of moves you would usually see a contender make. So what the fuck is going on? Why have they made these deals? Is GM Sean McAndrews bored? Maybe. Has he spent to much time in the hot tub and let his brain go to steamy mush? Probably. Let's have a look at his most recent trade and get an explanation for the insanity.
To Calgary: Olli Juolevi, Robby Fabbri, Year 2023 rd 3 (STL)
To St. Louis: Jakob Pelletier (P), Nicholas Shore, Cole Huckins (P), Emil Heineman (P), William Stromgen (P)
Breaking down the trade. Flames get a farm D man in Juolevi and a 3rd liner in Fabbri for their best prospect in Pelletier and a useful defensive forward in Shore and 3 more prospects. Doesn't seem like a game changer so what was McAndrews rationale on this one?
"Well," began GM McAndrews, "this deal gives us a bit of a lift with Fabbri in the bottom 6 immediately and didn't cost us more than Shore who can't really skate. He was necessary to move so that the contracts made sense. The real value here was to our 2022/23 roster. We have secured a strong forward with a good PO in Fabbri who is on a real good contract and locked up for 4 years. Salary cap certainty is really important to us and now we actually have a full roster for next year without having to go to free agency. If we can snag someone so be it. If we don't? We still like our roster."
Let's see how the Flames lineup projects next season.
LW/C/RW
Line 1: Oshie Monahan Kane
Line 2: Tatar Lindholm Nylander
Line 3: Zadina Krejci Fabbri
Line 4: Still plugs
Defense 1: Dahlin Heiskanen
Defense 2: Mattheson Lindgren
Defense 3: Maatta Timmins
Extra D: Juolevi Van Reimsdyk
Goalie: Smith Bobrovsky
You can see since the last time we wrote a similar article there is expected to be much better balance in the top 9 at forward with Zadina and Nylander having fantastic seasons in the AHL. Meanwhile Timmins is sure to challenge the two current veteran rearguards for a spot due to his potential MVP season for the farm team. Juolevi has high PO and has already shown early chemistry with Timmins so a strong re-rate is not out of the question.
McAndrews commented on the above projection, "It's too soon to say but those rankings could be right. As you have seen we have split up Dahlin and Heiskanen but they are currently our best two D. Also I don't know where the bottom pairing D will settle out based on ratings. What I do like is that we will certainly have an improved 3rd line and some young D pushing our veterans. "
When asked about trading away so much prospect capital McAndrews responded with, "Losing Pelletier hurt but we were happy with Juolevi's upside and he is likely much closer to being NHL ready. Maybe just one more season. The rest of these guys we though we could replace later in the draft. Also if some of our younger players push out valuable veterans we should be able to recover some further draft or prospect capital. We are comfortable with our scouting group and think we can recover from the moves we have made in short order."
McAndrews certainly seems to have a plan. But a wise man once said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." That wise man then bit off another man's ear, got a face tattoo, and destroyed himself on a segway. So who knows.
To Calgary: Olli Juolevi, Robby Fabbri, Year 2023 rd 3 (STL)
To St. Louis: Jakob Pelletier (P), Nicholas Shore, Cole Huckins (P), Emil Heineman (P), William Stromgen (P)
Breaking down the trade. Flames get a farm D man in Juolevi and a 3rd liner in Fabbri for their best prospect in Pelletier and a useful defensive forward in Shore and 3 more prospects. Doesn't seem like a game changer so what was McAndrews rationale on this one?
"Well," began GM McAndrews, "this deal gives us a bit of a lift with Fabbri in the bottom 6 immediately and didn't cost us more than Shore who can't really skate. He was necessary to move so that the contracts made sense. The real value here was to our 2022/23 roster. We have secured a strong forward with a good PO in Fabbri who is on a real good contract and locked up for 4 years. Salary cap certainty is really important to us and now we actually have a full roster for next year without having to go to free agency. If we can snag someone so be it. If we don't? We still like our roster."
Let's see how the Flames lineup projects next season.
LW/C/RW
Line 1: Oshie Monahan Kane
Line 2: Tatar Lindholm Nylander
Line 3: Zadina Krejci Fabbri
Line 4: Still plugs
Defense 1: Dahlin Heiskanen
Defense 2: Mattheson Lindgren
Defense 3: Maatta Timmins
Extra D: Juolevi Van Reimsdyk
Goalie: Smith Bobrovsky
You can see since the last time we wrote a similar article there is expected to be much better balance in the top 9 at forward with Zadina and Nylander having fantastic seasons in the AHL. Meanwhile Timmins is sure to challenge the two current veteran rearguards for a spot due to his potential MVP season for the farm team. Juolevi has high PO and has already shown early chemistry with Timmins so a strong re-rate is not out of the question.
McAndrews commented on the above projection, "It's too soon to say but those rankings could be right. As you have seen we have split up Dahlin and Heiskanen but they are currently our best two D. Also I don't know where the bottom pairing D will settle out based on ratings. What I do like is that we will certainly have an improved 3rd line and some young D pushing our veterans. "
When asked about trading away so much prospect capital McAndrews responded with, "Losing Pelletier hurt but we were happy with Juolevi's upside and he is likely much closer to being NHL ready. Maybe just one more season. The rest of these guys we though we could replace later in the draft. Also if some of our younger players push out valuable veterans we should be able to recover some further draft or prospect capital. We are comfortable with our scouting group and think we can recover from the moves we have made in short order."
McAndrews certainly seems to have a plan. But a wise man once said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." That wise man then bit off another man's ear, got a face tattoo, and destroyed himself on a segway. So who knows.
