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Calgary Off-Season Could Come Down To Gaudreau Or Mangiapane; Fri's Buzz

May 27, 2022, 11:06 AM ET [36 Comments]
Eklund
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The Battle of Alberta cruelly ended after only 5 games of fun and excitement. It might not have been the best hockey ever played, but it surely was hockey that you had to keep watching...

Unfortunately for Calgary, there is not much time here...

It should be noted that while the Flames were technically the favorite, these teams were really in different places... When you zoom out and big picture this season you see a narrative which may have been forgotten... This is an Oilers team in desperation mode, a team with Connor McDavid who had won only a single playoff series in the same amount of time that Crosby had lifted multiple Cups. Meanwhile, this is a Flames team that didn't even make the playoffs last season.

Remember, last season they played in those really weird leftover regular season games against Vancouver that were happening during the first round of the playoffs? They were a team in a retool who went out and signed a great goalie, hired Sutter, a coach who thinks in long-range increments, and were likely moving Johnny hockey at the deadline and DEFINITELY NOT bringing him back for what at the time was looking like 7M per year? Not 10 or 11 after an MVP type of year...





I picked the Flames to win this series based on the differences in goal. Love Mike Smith to death, but Markstrom was an absolute stud. I didn't count on McDavid finding higher level upon higher level and Markstrom struggling to transition from the quiet series he had versus Dallas to the category 5 whirlwind that was the Oilers...

I also forgot the fact that Edmonton simply needed this more. Barely surviving LA and losing to Calgary would have meant all sorts of things...

So., I fully believe the Flames went into this season ready to move on from #13...and given this is Sutter and a flat cap....and the amount of teams out there who want Gaudreau...I think that plan will happen and this season will be looked at like "we were a little ahead of schedule."

And then there is one of my favorite players, Andrew Mangiapane, who had 35 goals putting him as the 28th best goal scorer in the league. Of all the top 30 scorers, only Magiapane averaged less than 17;30 TOI. In fact, he wasn’t only the guy averaging under 17 minutes per game, he was the only one averaging under 16 minutes per game. His TOI…15:44.

Mangianpane is an RFA, but teams would love to grab him and top 30 goal scores, who could be top 10 if they played more, don’t come cheap.

If Calgary somehow decides to keep Gaudreau, they won’t be able to bring back Magiapane and given the amount of ice-time Sutter gave Mangiapane maybe Sutter will chose to move on and trade him while his value is at its greatest…

What do you think they should do?
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