(Rumour-Eklund ) Calgary amongst other teams kicking tires on Skinner

[Jiggs50]

Yes smaller, which includes what they have now. Those four are bottom-half of the roster and Hunter Smith is a non-menacing twig -- his centreman Cassels is tougher. Dry out your panties.

Bias galore.

Bottom half or not, Calgary is going to be a physical team to play against. But hey keep cryin

[SamJamIam]

Yes smaller, which includes what they have now. Those four are bottom-half of the roster and Hunter Smith is a non-menacing twig -- his centreman Cassels is tougher. Dry out your panties.

Amen. Not to mention most of those players don't even play particularly tough or big. Prust, Dorsett and Kenins all play bigger and have considerably more speed than Calgary's larger players.

[-AJ-]

not

They are close. They made it to the second round based on youth that's only getting better like Gaudreau, Bennett (who has a high ceiling), and Monahan. Throw in an improving 6'5" Joe Colborne, a 26-year old Backlund who is clearly an able 2nd-liner, a young Micheal Ferland who could become a solid checking forward, and a 22-year old Markus Granlund who just broke out into the NHL and you have a very promising group of forwards.

Their defense is what really puts them over the top. We all know that Giordano is among the best d-men in the league, but they also have Brodie, who broke out with 41 points lats year, the ever underrated Wideman, who had an insane 56 points, Kris Russell, an incredible defensive d-man who can also put up points, and now Dougie Hamilton, who has an extremely high ceiling. Frankly, they have the potential to have five top three defensemen.

Their goaltending is a bit suspect and will need to be looked at, I can grant that. Still, the Flames have a lot of good things in place to become a dominant team very soon.

[Erik Karlsson]

I'm surprised how many people on here underestimate Calgary.

You guys are going to look pretty dumb this season.

Don't forget they beat us without their best defenseman Gio and some other key players.

They also added Hamilton who is better than any defender we have and all their young guys will be a year older and be even better.

[Canuck Surfer]

not

I could see it, easily. Calgary beat us. But could not handle Anaheim. At all!

- But Monahan, Backlund and Bennett at pivot will absolutely get better at controlling the puck. Their puck control, the biggest warning signal, imo will improve with their maturing players. Gaudreau on the wing? They have the skills.

- Their second ''biggest'' problem, they had throuble with their small D handling the size of Anaheim up front.However... They just traded for 6'5'' Hamilton. Giordano will be back. He's not big, but is very competitive. They'll be ok, and can also make another move or two!

The last component might be great tending? Their guys were ok. But watch out if they can land something serious. They still have same maeuvering to do. But they have most of the key stud parts!

Lol, love how much of an effect Ferland had on this fan base.

He is a useless player when he can't charge.

EDIT: Actually, "useless" is a little much, but he is definitely not something we need an "answer" to. You know who we need an answer to? Sam Bennett and Dougie Hamilton

Yes Ferland got under some peoples skin needlessly.

Look we controlled the puck and play the higher % of the time. That gave us an honesty chance to win. But;

- We did not have the snipers to convert when we carried play. We have some on the way (Baertschi, Virtanen, Boeser, me thinks Horvat as well). But they were not here then, so moot point.

- We were mistake prone. To be fair that had something to do with pressure, including by Ferland. But we lacked composure with the puck. Particularly our D, but as a whole. Calgary on the other hand has a range of speedy snipers who did bury the puck. And while they did not command the puck as often > they were well set up to break in outnumbered scenarios and take advantage of turnovers. Gaudreau, Backlund, Jones, Hudler all streaked up ice. They may have had less chances. But they created high quality ones in outnumbered situations, particularly as wear and tear took place in the 3rd period where they stole at least 2 games.

What do I take from it?

- Improve the composure and puck skills of our D. Perhaps also its size, so it does not get knocked off the puck by pressure either.

- Wait for those snipers.

Score more when we control play. Give it away less. Simple (?)!!!

[Dekey Pete]

Calgary beat us, and we played a few terrible games, so that's not exactly saying much. If we played the way we should have through the entire series Calgary would have been destroyed, and it would have been us getting eliminated by the Ducks lol.

Am I the only one that sees right through that team? They had no business even making the playoffs last year, and they sure didn't have any business beating the Canucks, but they did anyways. To make the statement that they are "poised to explode into the elite teams of the NHL" is VERY premature.

Maybe they will have a good season, they did add some good pieces over the last month. But elite? really?

[LeanBeef]

Amen. Not to mention most of those players don't even play particularly tough or big. Prust, Dorsett and Kenins all play bigger and have considerably more speed than Calgary's larger players.

Engelland, Ferland, Bollig, Smith dont play tough? Lol

[Jaku]

It's Eklund, wouldn't put much stock into this.

But anyways, wish Flames get him. Would mess up their cap situation.

I would never believe anything Eklund says. I'm pretty sure the guy makes up stuff just because he's bored.

[oldnews]

I'm kicking tires on one of Jay Leno's collection.

[Mathew Barzal]

If Skinner manages to stay relatively healthy for the rest of his career, some team is going to get an absolute steal.

That's a big 'if', but for a team lacking young top end talent (like us) I think it's a risk worth taking.

If Calgary gets him ... good on them.

[Bo Bo 53]

If is available we should get him hes just what we need and can only get better as long as he continues to stay healthy

[SamJamIam]

Engelland, Ferland, Bollig, Smith dont play tough? Lol

You included Hunter Smith on that list and kept a straight face? ​

[Cowgary]

I'm surprised how many people on here underestimate Calgary.

You guys are going to look pretty dumb this season.

Don't forget they beat us without their best defenseman Gio and some other key players.

What key players besides Giordano?

[arowind]

Im putting it down in writing Calgary is in for a big flop next year. If you look at last year they were never projected to be good it was only through overperforming defensemen and rookies that they did well. Im putting money on that trend not continuing as it often doesn't for rookies.

[Cowgary]

Calgary is poised to explode into the elite teams of the NHL next year.

Adding Hamilton and Frolik? And now they will be elite?

They were dominated by the Ducks clearly, and I don't think they dominated the Canucks at all. I do think their younger players stepped up, and as we all know, we don't have as many younger players due to previous GM's sending this team into a bad direction, specifically contracts.

Ducks and Hawks are elite. Tampa Bay. Maybe a couple more teams, but Calgary needs to show me deep playoff runs for at the very least 2 consecutive years before the "elite" comes into play.

[erkayloomeh]

I thought we played weak as opposed to calgary played well. We lost lost it through our weak effort. We looked like a bunch of tired old men.

[mpt]

Would be good for Calgary, Treliving is a beast of a GM

[Mike27]

Would be good for Calgary, Treliving is a beast of a GM

He spoke at our Chamber of Commerce luncheon today, and to quote him "we won a lot of games we could have lost last year, so we have to work hard to move ahead next year"

[nergish]

Adding Hamilton and Frolik? And now they will be elite?

They were dominated by the Ducks clearly, and I don't think they dominated the Canucks at all. I do think their younger players stepped up, and as we all know, we don't have as many younger players due to previous GM's sending this team into a bad direction, specifically contracts.

Ducks and Hawks are elite. Tampa Bay. Maybe a couple more teams, but Calgary needs to show me deep playoff runs for at the very least 2 consecutive years before the "elite" comes into play.

If Gaudreau improves on his fantastic rookie season and Bennett plays the way he did against the Canucks, they're offense is looking very stealthy. They played that sneaky, catch you off guard style of play all season long last year, they'll be underdogs again, but this time they'll take things even further.

[Cowgary]

If

Exactly