There were no shortage of Calgary Flames tidbits in Elliotte Friedman's latest edition of 30 Thoughts so I'm going to dive right in.
On the draft:
4. Early prediction: Toronto takes Auston Matthews. Patrik Laine to Winnipeg. Columbus selects Jesse Puljujarvi. Edmonton goes for Matthew Tkachuk. Pierre-Luc Dubois heads for Vancouver.I’m very curious about Calgary. For a long time, we assumed if anyone was going to move down, it would the Oilers. The Flames might be a good bet, too. Arizona, picking right behind them, is on-record saying it wants to add defencemen. So is Buffalo — particularly on the left side. Would the Sabres want to leapfrog the Coyotes? Or is there someone further wanting to climb? Sounds like Calgary is willing to consider it.
Should the top of the draft shake out the way Friedman predicted - besides maybe flipping the order of Tkachuk and PLD I think it will - the Flames will be in a good spot.
The Flames would essentially have the top pick in the perceived 2nd tier of the draft and have their pick of the litter between Alex Nylander, Clayton Keller (both of whom I am really high on), Logan Brown and the top three or four blue liners in the draft.
If the Flames want, say, Nylander and they know the next few teams after them want defensemen (Arizona/Buffalo) or a big center like Brown (Montreal) it'd probably be worth their while to move down a few spots, accumulate assets - whether draft picks, prospects or cheap roster players - and still get their guy.
Personally I think Nylander makes most sense for the Flames as he is a highly skilled player and also fills a need.
In saying that I think Calgary would prefer to get their hands on a power winger and, barring Tkachuk or PLD slipping, I wouldn't be surprised if they do trade down. It feels like the Flames aren't as high on Nylander as they should be.
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On the coaching search:
My suspicion is the finalists in Anaheim and Calgary include some unfamiliar names. For the Ducks, my guess is that list includes Randy Carlyle, Travis Green and Rick Bowness. Word is they are getting close to a decision. For the Flames, it includes Glen Gulutzan and Mike Yeo.
The Flames' coaching search has had more twists and turns than a day time drama.
Travis Green has long been considered a favorite and has interviewed twice. Randy Carlyle has interviewed twice. A few weeks ago Geoff Ward and Ralph Krueger were believed to be the front-runners.
Now it's Gulutzan and Yeo, both of whom seemed like long(ish) shots at the start, rumored to be leading the charge.
Of the two I think I prefer Yeo. In three of his last four seasons with the Wild they controlled better than 50% of the scoring chances at 5 v 5. The Flames never did that once under Bob Hartley.
The search for a new coach has been underway for more than a month now so it's going to end soon. Surely.
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