Post by Calgary Flames on Mar 19, 2023 22:33:53 GMT -6
Hello it's Calgary media legend here, Eric Francis, sitting down with GM Sean McAndrews to discuss his dealings leading up to the PFHL trade deadline. Let's get started.
Eric: We are going to go back sometime and look at a deal that changed the Flames team dramatically and turned out to turn the team's fortunes as they have gone on quite a terror since. Can you comment on the deal to bring Alex Debrincat to Calgary?
McAndrews: Sure, that deal came together quick. Kane had been very good for us up to that point but you don't get an opportunity to acquire a player like Debrincat, just coming into his prime, often. We also liked getting Bear over Lindgren. The downside? A massive amount of retained cap that, in the short term could have ramped our style for this year.
Eric: Thanks for that. Debrincat has been incredible for you since coming into the fold. After that trade you made some under the radar moves shipping out Lehner, Fabbri, and Ruhwedel for a bunch of picks and young players. Any comment on these moves?
McAndrews: Yeah, while those players had been good contributors but we got a lot of good assets for, what we considered, good players but not critical to our long-term success. In Fabbri we had a good player on a good contract but he just wasn't performing. Lehner was good but his contract ask was more than we would play for a 1B goalie. Ruhwedel had a nice contract but with our young D in the farm he could have been a 7 or even an 8 for us next year. We recouped a lot of draft capital and a young player we are very excited about in Texier.
Eric: Then came the shock. You reacquired Evander Kane for Tatar and promising prospect Jordan Kyrou. How di that happen?
McAndrews: Again this deal with Florida came together very quickly. Kane was good for us. He was not for Florida. From Florida's perspective I get why they wanted to try Tatar....he could not do worse than Kane for them and Tatar has been very steady for us. Kyrou was looking like a draft steal exploding into a top defensive offensive prospect. But Tatar was not going to be a long term part of our core. Kane is going to get a bit of a raise next year but we obviously like what he brings to the table with his offensive ability and his physical presence.
Eric: So those deals look like in totality as Tatar, Lindgren, and Kyrou for Debrincat, Bear, and Kane (and a whole lot of retained salary!). How do you feel about that?
McAndrews: I am very happy. Debrincat is a core piece, Kane is a very good piece. And we like Bear as a really good bottom pairing guy that can contribute in a lot of ways. Losing Kyrou was a price we had to pay but he is not a PFHL player yet and who knows what the future holds. Further, with taking on all the cap this year we vastly improved our finances for next year and did not severely restrict our cap flexibility this year due to some other moves.
Eric: After that stunner of a deal it was a pretty quiet day for the Flames with one deal for Will Butcher for a 2025 4th right prior to the deadline. What was the though on that deal?
McAndrews: We knew Butcher was out there and he gives us a bit of depth. He's similar to Bear in that we like alot of things he does even if he is not flashy. He gives us a bit of depth with TVR who has been pretty solid with us and the ability for us to go seven D which has been pretty good for us at times this year. Ultimately we thought we could recover a 4th in a couple years pretty easily through other deals so this was a player for free except, of course what we have to pay him, which gives our bottom paring a decent amount of cap but we like them.
Eric: Any deals that almost happened?
McAndrews: Yeah there was a lot of interest in Kane at $3.5M cap hit this year. We traded him this year once so the thought is we coud do it again. There was one deal that we thought was close but the team decided to go in a completely different direction. We had a second deal lined up that we likely would have accepted if that one had gone through but it didn't so we held off. Unfortunately that happens. The moves would have improved us now and into the future but they didn't happen and that is just the way it goes sometimes.
Eric: So looking forward that leaves you with large amount of cap space, even with your resignings due to the large amount of retained cap space coming off the books. It looks like you will mostly have a few bottom 6 spots to fill with veterans like Stepan, Ryan and Blackwell. Your 6 defenders look pretty well set and you have two goalies signed in Kuemper and Bobrovsky. How do you see filling those holes and what do you plan on doing with your cap?
McAndrews: We feel like we are in a good spot. We could bring in someone back like Ryan on a cheap contract as he fills a role as a veteran who is good on faceoffs and the PK but we will look at all options. We do have some good young players pushing for a spot. Zadina will challenge for a 2nd line spot but we also have Brannstrom and maybe Juolevi challenging for a D spot which would provide flexibility for us in the trade market. We don't feel pressured to use our cap immediately in free agency but if we can land a top player, or even a middle six player upfront we would definitely explore that. You could also see something in goal. Bobrovsky has been good since his recall but we might need more to support kuemper or even push him as a starter. Competition can be a good thing and we will have that on D and in goal.
Eric: Well that's it from me. Any last words?
McAndrews: Nope that about covers it. Thanks not being your normal D-Bag self.
Francis: I will take that. Here is my projected lineup for next year based on what you currently have. Any thoughts?
Line1: Debrincat / Lindholm / Nylander
Line 2: Kane / Monahan / Zadina
Line 3: Left Wing ? /Center ? / Maltsev
Line 4: Dzingel / Clifford / Hathaway
D1: Dahlin / Heiskenan
D2: Sergachev / Timmins
D3: Brannstrom / Bear
Extra D: Butcher
Goalie: Kuemper and Bobrovsky
McAndrews: Well you returned to D-Bag zone. Yeah that lineup is probably accurate based on what we have but a lot can happen between now and free agency. It isn't as simple as plugging those 3rd liners and maybe improving in goal. Who knows, maybe we make a big splash and improve our top 6 forwards? We might move D depth to improve elsewhere. We might just look to fill our 3rd line. I'm not sure there is a reason to speculate on a line-up right now Eric.
Eric: We are going to go back sometime and look at a deal that changed the Flames team dramatically and turned out to turn the team's fortunes as they have gone on quite a terror since. Can you comment on the deal to bring Alex Debrincat to Calgary?
McAndrews: Sure, that deal came together quick. Kane had been very good for us up to that point but you don't get an opportunity to acquire a player like Debrincat, just coming into his prime, often. We also liked getting Bear over Lindgren. The downside? A massive amount of retained cap that, in the short term could have ramped our style for this year.
Eric: Thanks for that. Debrincat has been incredible for you since coming into the fold. After that trade you made some under the radar moves shipping out Lehner, Fabbri, and Ruhwedel for a bunch of picks and young players. Any comment on these moves?
McAndrews: Yeah, while those players had been good contributors but we got a lot of good assets for, what we considered, good players but not critical to our long-term success. In Fabbri we had a good player on a good contract but he just wasn't performing. Lehner was good but his contract ask was more than we would play for a 1B goalie. Ruhwedel had a nice contract but with our young D in the farm he could have been a 7 or even an 8 for us next year. We recouped a lot of draft capital and a young player we are very excited about in Texier.
Eric: Then came the shock. You reacquired Evander Kane for Tatar and promising prospect Jordan Kyrou. How di that happen?
McAndrews: Again this deal with Florida came together very quickly. Kane was good for us. He was not for Florida. From Florida's perspective I get why they wanted to try Tatar....he could not do worse than Kane for them and Tatar has been very steady for us. Kyrou was looking like a draft steal exploding into a top defensive offensive prospect. But Tatar was not going to be a long term part of our core. Kane is going to get a bit of a raise next year but we obviously like what he brings to the table with his offensive ability and his physical presence.
Eric: So those deals look like in totality as Tatar, Lindgren, and Kyrou for Debrincat, Bear, and Kane (and a whole lot of retained salary!). How do you feel about that?
McAndrews: I am very happy. Debrincat is a core piece, Kane is a very good piece. And we like Bear as a really good bottom pairing guy that can contribute in a lot of ways. Losing Kyrou was a price we had to pay but he is not a PFHL player yet and who knows what the future holds. Further, with taking on all the cap this year we vastly improved our finances for next year and did not severely restrict our cap flexibility this year due to some other moves.
Eric: After that stunner of a deal it was a pretty quiet day for the Flames with one deal for Will Butcher for a 2025 4th right prior to the deadline. What was the though on that deal?
McAndrews: We knew Butcher was out there and he gives us a bit of depth. He's similar to Bear in that we like alot of things he does even if he is not flashy. He gives us a bit of depth with TVR who has been pretty solid with us and the ability for us to go seven D which has been pretty good for us at times this year. Ultimately we thought we could recover a 4th in a couple years pretty easily through other deals so this was a player for free except, of course what we have to pay him, which gives our bottom paring a decent amount of cap but we like them.
Eric: Any deals that almost happened?
McAndrews: Yeah there was a lot of interest in Kane at $3.5M cap hit this year. We traded him this year once so the thought is we coud do it again. There was one deal that we thought was close but the team decided to go in a completely different direction. We had a second deal lined up that we likely would have accepted if that one had gone through but it didn't so we held off. Unfortunately that happens. The moves would have improved us now and into the future but they didn't happen and that is just the way it goes sometimes.
Eric: So looking forward that leaves you with large amount of cap space, even with your resignings due to the large amount of retained cap space coming off the books. It looks like you will mostly have a few bottom 6 spots to fill with veterans like Stepan, Ryan and Blackwell. Your 6 defenders look pretty well set and you have two goalies signed in Kuemper and Bobrovsky. How do you see filling those holes and what do you plan on doing with your cap?
McAndrews: We feel like we are in a good spot. We could bring in someone back like Ryan on a cheap contract as he fills a role as a veteran who is good on faceoffs and the PK but we will look at all options. We do have some good young players pushing for a spot. Zadina will challenge for a 2nd line spot but we also have Brannstrom and maybe Juolevi challenging for a D spot which would provide flexibility for us in the trade market. We don't feel pressured to use our cap immediately in free agency but if we can land a top player, or even a middle six player upfront we would definitely explore that. You could also see something in goal. Bobrovsky has been good since his recall but we might need more to support kuemper or even push him as a starter. Competition can be a good thing and we will have that on D and in goal.
Eric: Well that's it from me. Any last words?
McAndrews: Nope that about covers it. Thanks not being your normal D-Bag self.
Francis: I will take that. Here is my projected lineup for next year based on what you currently have. Any thoughts?
Line1: Debrincat / Lindholm / Nylander
Line 2: Kane / Monahan / Zadina
Line 3: Left Wing ? /Center ? / Maltsev
Line 4: Dzingel / Clifford / Hathaway
D1: Dahlin / Heiskenan
D2: Sergachev / Timmins
D3: Brannstrom / Bear
Extra D: Butcher
Goalie: Kuemper and Bobrovsky
McAndrews: Well you returned to D-Bag zone. Yeah that lineup is probably accurate based on what we have but a lot can happen between now and free agency. It isn't as simple as plugging those 3rd liners and maybe improving in goal. Who knows, maybe we make a big splash and improve our top 6 forwards? We might move D depth to improve elsewhere. We might just look to fill our 3rd line. I'm not sure there is a reason to speculate on a line-up right now Eric.
