Trade Frolik, buyout Stone and re-sign Hanifin longterm

How do you know your team hasn't been managed well? You miss the playoffs and will be in a big cap crunch in the near future. The flames have issues coming up, they are kind of young but have a lot of older guys on bigger contracts, (Neal, Giordano, Smith) and also lack secondary depth. I see some hard times ahead for this squad.

I still don't get the Derek Ryan signing. It wasn't a need for the flames, and yet they signed him to a deal anyway. It was an overpayment by Treviling and really created this cap crunch for the team. Why would you do it?

Frolik has an NTC. He would have to waive.

To Florida where he played for McGinn as a cup dump (he has 1yr left) and Petrovic who would be paired with Valimaki on 3rd pairing. Kulak 7th

A cup dump. That must be when a contending team has lots of cap space, so they trade for a rental that's overpaid, like Jason Spezza for example, so that they don't have to trade away as much to get the piece that could get them over the hump.
Yes, I know you meant cap dump. Good idea, but would that trade dump salary or take on just as much?

Alone in Brouwer, Frolik, Stone, Brodie, Hamonic, Smith there is 25 million dollars off the books in the next 2 years, plus the cap potentially increasing, there is a problem for 1 year and all that requires is a buyout or trade of either Brouwer or Stone. If we keep any of those guys none of them are due substantial raises unless Brodie returns to for, in which case he won't be any higher than 5.5...

That leaves 13 million (without buyouts or trades) next year to re sign Bennett (not a substantial raise) Lazar (won't be back) Kulak (disposable) Tkachuk (6 million range) and a veteran goalie if need be. You start moving money out then there is absolutely zero problem. Guys in the AHL are ready for NHL jobs so there is no need to go out and spend to fill those positions and in 2020-21 when the big numbers coming off then we have 40.55 million to re sign Tkachuck Bennett possible Vet Goalie (previous year) one of Brodie or Hamonic, Jankowski and Czarnik.

The only long term deals on this team are Gio, Johnny, Monahan, Neal, Lindholm Backlund, possibly Hanifin only 3 of those guys are over the age of 25 and all of them are key to the core of the Flames. It is absurd to think that there are dark times coming because of cap issues. And secondary depth was addressed appropriately this off season.

Edit: I just saw whose post I quoted and replied to, now I'm sad I wasted my time trying to have a hockey conversation. Queue the examples that have zero relevance to the situation

I think that our simplest option would be to just move Stone for a late pick, it's not much but Andersson is ready for the NHL and Frolik is a good defensive guy to have on a line to insulate younger guys like Jankowski.

The dark times I am referring to are this. The team hasn't been good enough to win yet and they are in a cap bind. Any team that is in a cap bind and isn't good enough to win anything is in trouble. The Flames are weak down the middle and I don't see that improving anytime soon. They just seem to me like a team that jumped the gun on a rebuild, which isn't surprising since Burke was involved with the making of this squad. They have talent and should be better and really their division isn't very strong so they could easily make the playoffs but I just don't see anything here that says cup contender.

Thats why I say dark days are coming. This is a lot like the Burke era Leafs, they look good on paper but really not that great and they'll spin their tires and waste the prime of their young stars. Like Montreal has done to Carey Price et al

No, no, and to what contract? If Hanifin is what he is, that contract is a lot different than any further development. That's why a bridge deal looks likely.

Smith has one year left, Giordano is playing great, Neal will be fine. Once Brouwer, Stone and Frolik (who is still effective, but is moving down the lineup) are off the cap, that frees up 12 million, and the Flames are fine. Half that goes to a Tkachuk extension, and the rest goes to filling those spots with cheaper players.

Its a move that gives the team a few things - depth, right hand shot, versatility. All things that sunk the Flames last year. There are two ways to make a team stronger. Raise the ceiling or raise the floor. The Lindholm/Hanifin trade was about raising the floor- Hanifan isn't Hamilton, and Ferland and Lindholm score similar amounts, but Lindholm adds so much more than Ferland, and so the team got stronger (hopefully, although I disagree). The Neal add is about raising the ceiling, and the Ryan add is about raising the floor. By adding a versatile third line center, it bumps Janko down to fourth, and now the third and fourth line are better than they were last year. Neal and Lindholm means Frolik is bumped down, and now the first, second and third line right wing are all stronger. Now, 1RW, 2RW, 3RW, 3C, 4C are all stronger.

Well you can thank Vancouver for setting a ridiculous market for 4th liners, but you're saying you'll have 6 million for 3 roster spots? Do the Flames have some depth guys ready to make the jump to the bigs?

Yeah, three defenseman (Andersson, Valimaki, Kylington) and three forwards (Mangiapane, Dube, Klimchuk) all look NHL ready, and guys like Hathaway are tweeners, and could fit in the lineup or not. The Flames cupboard is stocked, now its about finding room.