Post by Calgary Flames on May 9, 2022 9:40:10 GMT -6
Well there was not much done on deadline day for the Flames. This was a bit of a surprise as GM Sean McAndrews was vocal about wanting to add a depth forward with good DF to take some minutes away from their star players that are also killing a lot of penalties. The Flames also are one of the lower scoring playoff teams in the league so a top 6 forward was also potentially in the cards. Also, perhaps more surprisingly, there were rumors late that the Flames were even looking to potentially upgrade at defense which has been a real strength of the team.
We're going to have a quick interview with GM Sean McAndrews:
Question 1 Can you comment on your lack of trades in general?
McAndrews: Yeah sure, we find deadline can be really busy but it can be tough to close a deal when time gets short. We did kick a lot of tires heading into the day but those talks didn't really progress to the point where we were really close to finalizing something on deadline day.
Question 2 Why weren't you able to land that defensive forward?
McAndrews: I was actually surprised I couldn't lock that down as well. I looked at nearly every roster and found a few really good targets but teams some teams weren't even willing to engage in talks as they had the same thought as us....save your stars minutes by having a depth guy kill penalties. Other teams weren't willing to trade a bottom six guy for futures. Moving a roster player didn't make sense for us as any move would be lateral or worse. It became evident to me that we weren't going to close a deal for one of these guys but I don't think it is going to really hurt us going forward.
Question 3 Rumors were that you were also in the market for more scoring?
McAndrews: Yes we kind of switched gears there when a couple players hit the market. Confidentially we were close to landing Matt Duchene but with the Canucks heating up I don't think they were really motivated to pull the trigger. He would have been a nice add but would have been more of a luxury that we weren't willing to overpay for. The cap would have been an issue next year as well. We are quite happy with our scoring depth. We don't have a point per game player but we do have scoring spread around our top 6 forwards.
Question 4 We heard you were evening looking at defensemen which is a surprise. Can you give us some perspective on that?
McAndrews: A GM needs to look at all opportunities to improve your team. We are extremely happy with all 6 of our defenders but depth on the backend is always helpful going into the playoffs. We were only going to add a higher end player that fits in with our core stars (Dahlin and Heiskanen) but again we were looking mostly at providing prospects / picks and teams weren't really willing to enter into meaningful deals.
Question 5 You've mentioned a few times that you weren't able to entice teams with future assets. Why do you think that is?
McAndrews: I don't know really. I thought some of the teams out of the playoff chase would move off some of their older players but that wasn't really the case. The teams that were down and out seem to be hopeful they can turn things around next season so weren't willing to part with much. Also, not everyone views your prospects in the same way you do so it can be tough to find value. Lastly, I'm always really hesitant to move 1sts as you really need a pipeline of younger players coming through and we already moved some youth out to acquire nearer term guys like Juolevi. We need to restock those cupboards.
Question 6 Anything else you want to leave us with?
McAndrews: Even though we didn't pull the trigger on any deals I want to thank the other GMs for being responsive and engaging in good chats. I think you are going to see more from us in the offseason when players like Juolevi, Timmins, Nylander and Zadina start pushing for minutes. Really we are going to be adding from within but you could also see some deals made to help make this team a force. No disrepect to the older guys but Smith and Kreijci aren't going to play for ever and there was a lot of interest in players that we were not shopping but could move in the offseason. Stay tuned!
Ok well thats enough from us. Have a great day Mr. McAndrews
We're going to have a quick interview with GM Sean McAndrews:
Question 1 Can you comment on your lack of trades in general?
McAndrews: Yeah sure, we find deadline can be really busy but it can be tough to close a deal when time gets short. We did kick a lot of tires heading into the day but those talks didn't really progress to the point where we were really close to finalizing something on deadline day.
Question 2 Why weren't you able to land that defensive forward?
McAndrews: I was actually surprised I couldn't lock that down as well. I looked at nearly every roster and found a few really good targets but teams some teams weren't even willing to engage in talks as they had the same thought as us....save your stars minutes by having a depth guy kill penalties. Other teams weren't willing to trade a bottom six guy for futures. Moving a roster player didn't make sense for us as any move would be lateral or worse. It became evident to me that we weren't going to close a deal for one of these guys but I don't think it is going to really hurt us going forward.
Question 3 Rumors were that you were also in the market for more scoring?
McAndrews: Yes we kind of switched gears there when a couple players hit the market. Confidentially we were close to landing Matt Duchene but with the Canucks heating up I don't think they were really motivated to pull the trigger. He would have been a nice add but would have been more of a luxury that we weren't willing to overpay for. The cap would have been an issue next year as well. We are quite happy with our scoring depth. We don't have a point per game player but we do have scoring spread around our top 6 forwards.
Question 4 We heard you were evening looking at defensemen which is a surprise. Can you give us some perspective on that?
McAndrews: A GM needs to look at all opportunities to improve your team. We are extremely happy with all 6 of our defenders but depth on the backend is always helpful going into the playoffs. We were only going to add a higher end player that fits in with our core stars (Dahlin and Heiskanen) but again we were looking mostly at providing prospects / picks and teams weren't really willing to enter into meaningful deals.
Question 5 You've mentioned a few times that you weren't able to entice teams with future assets. Why do you think that is?
McAndrews: I don't know really. I thought some of the teams out of the playoff chase would move off some of their older players but that wasn't really the case. The teams that were down and out seem to be hopeful they can turn things around next season so weren't willing to part with much. Also, not everyone views your prospects in the same way you do so it can be tough to find value. Lastly, I'm always really hesitant to move 1sts as you really need a pipeline of younger players coming through and we already moved some youth out to acquire nearer term guys like Juolevi. We need to restock those cupboards.
Question 6 Anything else you want to leave us with?
McAndrews: Even though we didn't pull the trigger on any deals I want to thank the other GMs for being responsive and engaging in good chats. I think you are going to see more from us in the offseason when players like Juolevi, Timmins, Nylander and Zadina start pushing for minutes. Really we are going to be adding from within but you could also see some deals made to help make this team a force. No disrepect to the older guys but Smith and Kreijci aren't going to play for ever and there was a lot of interest in players that we were not shopping but could move in the offseason. Stay tuned!
Ok well thats enough from us. Have a great day Mr. McAndrews
