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Calgary Flames 2024-25 NHL Season Preview | The Hockey Writers Roundtable
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Sep 13, 2024
Host Matthew Zator welcomes Calgary Flames writer Derek Olsen to The Hockey Writers Roundtable to preview the upcoming 2024-25 NHL season. 0:00 Intro 1:12 Forwards - Storylines/Burning Questions 6:40 Flames' Defence 12:06 Goaltending - Dustin Wolf & Dan Vladar 15:50 How do the Flames stack up in the Pacific Division? Quick Fire 18:20 Biggest Storyline/Question Mark Going Into 2024-25 19:00 Breakout Stars 19:52 One Player That Needs to Bounce Back 21:16 Potential X-Factors 22:06 Rookie/Prospect That Could Surprise & Make the Team 23:23 Prospects to Watch 24:58 Who will lead the team in scoring (forwards & defence)? 26:24 Could Rasmus Andersson get traded this season? 28:06 Bold Prediction/Hot Take
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello, everybody, and welcome into another season preview show here at the Hockey Writers
0:05
I'm your host, Matthew Zattor, and we are up to the Calgary Flames here on the previews
0:11
And as we count down the days to the regular season, got Derek Olson here, who covers the flames
0:16
How's it going? It's going pretty great. All right. Well, like I say, hockey's just around the corner, and it's been a long offseason
0:24
I've been, the offseason's been pretty much quiet until August. and then all of a sudden some GMs kind of woke up with the Oilers doing stuff
0:32
net predators doing stuff. But the flames didn't do anything really since free agency started in the draft
0:38
They did all their trades during the season and then early on in the off season
0:44
So of course, didn't make the playoffs. I traded a ton of guys away
0:49
They are in effectively a rebuild now. I mean, I don't know if you want to call it a retool
0:54
Like, it's more a rebuild, I think, after trading with their starting goaltender. and Markstrom, now going to the season with Dustin Wolf as the pretty much starter
1:04
So lots of changes, lots of uncertainty, I guess, going into this season
1:10
It's kind of unknown what's going to happen. So let's just, let's just dive right in and talk about the forwards going in
1:17
And, you know, not a lot of changes, really, in the offseason
1:23
You know, they did add a few free agents in Anthony Mantha
1:26
that's probably the biggest one that they added up front. They did add Ryan Longberger in the bottom six
1:34
So Derek, what do you think about the new additions? The four group as a whole
1:38
Are they going to struggle? I mean, they do have, they still got Jonathan Hubertoe, I guess, as their big money guy
1:46
But what do you think about the forward group going into this season? Yeah, no, as you mentioned, largely unchanged, no huge additions, which is good
1:55
we're not in a position to be spending a lot of money or, you know
2:00
signing onto these long-term contracts. It's just not fitting our time. And like you said, we're in rebuild mode
2:06
So we don't need veteran big name free agents right now. We just need to focus on our youth and provide them opportunity to play at the NHL level
2:15
which is what I think will be our biggest issue. Adding Anthony Manta and the other free agent forward we signed was Ryan Lomburg
2:25
Um, both great players, both good contracts. Mantha was signed to one year, three and a half million dollar sort of prove it contract, if you will
2:34
Um, he's a prime candidate to be dealt at the trade deadline. Um, he's a three time 20 plus goal score
2:40
It's kind of fallen on hard times with injuries and inconsistent play. Um, and basically both the team and player are just hoping he can kind of get back
2:48
and rediscover his scoring touch on the flame. So we can recoup assets for him
2:52
And he can get a chance, uh, winning a state. Stanley Cup and or signing a long-term contract somewhere else
3:00
And then Lomburg obviously got his start with the flames back in 2017, and he's back after winning a Stanley Cup of his own with the Florida Panthers
3:08
But not really a needle mover. He's a bottom six energy forward
3:12
whose focus is really punishing the opposition, you know, big hits, winning battles along the corners and along the boards
3:19
and not really generating offense. That's not his job. But he'll compliment the forward core nicely as another
3:25
agitator sort of alongside Martin Pospisal and he adds another winning mentality to the locker room
3:32
You know, we have another Stanley Cup winner now like we also have Nazim Khadry, Blake Coleman
3:37
and now Longberg. And that helps player development for sure. But the big forward storyline will be who plays where
3:45
Our center ice position is very sparse right now. And we have an abundance of NHL wingers, especially after adding those aforementioned two guys
3:55
It'll be really hard for Ryan Huska to get each man enough playing time
4:00
But double-edged sword, it also means each player will have to earn it by playing to the best of their abilities
4:06
As it sits, you know, there's daily face-off and different websites and stuff have our lineups, projected lineups
4:14
We basically have, we don't have a top line. We don't have a line that we can put out to score goals, even though, you know, we have talented players
4:21
We have Nazim Kodry who had 76 points to lead the team. and we have Huberto who has the touch and he's you know at times he can be he can be good but obviously
4:29
he's not the same player that he was and um like coleman scored 30 goals for the first time ever but
4:34
you know none of the guys that we have are really game breaking talents um and so that's a that's a
4:40
struggle but that's something that'll come with our drafted players with after they develop
4:44
um that's something you can't really grab in free agency um and not many teams are willing to trade those
4:49
players either so that'll come with time but um but as it sits i mean we have
4:54
have Nazim Kadri, Michael Backlain, Captain. And then we have a fourth liner Kevin Rooney
5:03
And we could put Cole Schwint in the mix there. And Connor Zari can play a bit of center
5:10
But otherwise, majority of our forwards are our natural wingers. And that's going to really hurt us, I think, down the stretch
5:18
And there's just not going to be enough playing time for, and especially players like Matt Coronado, players like that
5:24
are going to struggle Jacob Peltier is another one that's going to, it's going to be hard to find him time when you're also kind of trying to juggle
5:30
like the Andrei Kuzmankos and Igor Sharon Govich's and such like that
5:35
So it'll be tough. It'll be interesting to see the line combinations come training camp and come the opening of
5:42
the regular season. But yeah, just a tough time finding the opportunities to play for those younger players
5:48
that need the development. Mind you, a lot of our players will probably be traded like the mantas
5:54
Kuzmanko will be gone to create some room. But, yeah, Ryan Huska has a tough job ahead of him, for sure
6:01
Yeah, I think everyone's just speculating, guessing what the lines will be
6:05
Just throwing them in there. Yeah, that may happen. Who knows? I don't think Backlands the top line center
6:12
I think Cadre is. I mean, David Faisalph got Cadre's the third line center right now
6:16
I don't know. Shangovic, second line center, I don't see. He's a winger, right
6:23
So it's like, I agree. Yeah. I don't know. It is an interesting group looking at them
6:30
It's going to be interesting. That's for sure. See where all guys kind of slip in there and who wins roster spots and all that, right
6:39
All right. Let's move to the defense, which is, again, this is an interesting group too
6:44
They're McKenzie Weger, who's probably your best, Rasmus Anderson, McKenzie Weger, your two best defensemen
6:49
They did get Kevin Ball from the New Jersey Devils, getting him in the Jacob Marksum trade
6:55
Jake Bean added in there as well. You know, there is two legitimate top pairing guys
7:03
if we want to look at Weger and Anderson. What do you think about this group
7:06
We'll start with Kevin Ball because he's the new addition. And he's relatively young too
7:11
So he's not a guy that you're going to be trading. He's hopefully going to be part of this rebuild
7:17
Yeah, no, there was plenty of insider information and accounts that came regarding the kind of background conversations between the New Jersey Devils and Flames Brass when they were trying to trade Jacob Arstrom And it was my understanding that the flames wouldn budge on not having Kevin Ball come as part of the return package They really wanted him which was interesting
7:40
He's a coveted piece. And they obviously love what he brings to the table
7:45
He's tenacious, gritty. He's just a general, hard-nosed defender. And yeah, like he said, he's young
7:51
He's 24. He hasn't played very many games. But he's huge. He's 6'6
7:57
he's 230 pounds and thus he has immense length on the ice right he's he's able to clog up those passing lanes
8:04
and his size allows him to block a ton of shots he's just your prototypical defensive defenseman his job is to score goals
8:11
but he's a he's a punisher he has big hits um like I said block shots
8:17
gets in the way and just wins those puck battles and can move a puck up pretty well
8:21
he has a good first pass out of the zone um and as well he's his uh I would say his
8:26
his best strength is clearing the front of the net, which is going to be pretty valuable given our young kind of unproven goalie
8:33
tandem that we have this year. So getting in the way of some of those kind of high danger chances would help the dust
8:40
and wolves of the flames. But yeah, I mean, I just think it was interesting that they wanted him
8:47
You know, he was the guy. And yeah, I mean, we need a replacement, especially after Chris Tannav's gone
8:54
He was kind of our go-to shutdown guy. obviously have the offense from the back end with the Uyghurs and Anders of the world
9:01
So that's kind of covered. So we really need somebody to step up and be the kind of shut down guy that you can put out on the penalty kill and play big minutes against the other team's best forwards
9:10
And I think the Flames Brass think that Kevin Ball is going to be the guy. Yeah, I mean, he was pretty good in New Jersey last season
9:18
And I know before that, and Christy used to write for the hockey writers that she always loved him as a prospect
9:26
So yeah, he is a lot of potential in the NHL. Like you say, not much offense to his game
9:32
but he will bring that defensive mind and that size and length to what you need
9:38
especially with guys that you don't have right now on the team
9:43
And he's going to be, I think, a big part of this group going forward
9:47
I got Danil Miramano, who was in, of course, came over in the Hanifin trade with the Golden Knights
9:54
So, I mean, he was okay. I think it's pretty good towards the end of the season
9:59
I don't know where he's going to fit in, but it's going to be a probably not going to be a very good defense
10:05
I mean, you'd hope that it's better than it looks, but you do got some legitimate NHELers in there
10:11
So it may be better than you think. Yeah, no, the other ad, obviously, was Jake Bean
10:17
Yeah. Which, again, isn't a huge needle mover. That's not going to make you a contender overnight
10:22
but just another kind of solid younger. He's 26. player, but more of a two-way defenseman, he can jump up and get into the offense and contribute
10:31
in that end of the ice. And the other thing that he has going for him is he is a Calgary
10:35
and through and through. He was born and raised in Cowtown and played his junior career with
10:41
the WHL's Calgary Hitman. And he's the son of the one of the teams chairman, I believe. I can't
10:47
remember off the top of my head. So he's invested that way. But yeah, he's a bottom six defender in
10:55
my opinion. And yeah, like he said, Daniel Merrimanah, we still don't really know what we have with him
11:00
And then after that, we have Braden Pahal and Joel Hanley and just a kind of whole handful of
11:05
kind of six, seventh defenders. So a lot of question marks after that top two. But to our credit
11:13
now with all of our trades and such, there's a handful of bright young defenders that are kind of
11:17
knocking on the door. Like a lot of fans think Zane Perrek is going to make the team out of training
11:22
You know, I'll power to him, but we'll see. But Hunter Brustavich also has a good chance
11:29
He's very, very good and very ready to turn pro at least, whether that's with the flames or the Wranglers
11:35
But you also have Jeremy Poyer, Ilya Solov, Yan Kuznetsov. There's lots of young defensemen that'll be wanting to earn some minutes as well
11:45
Yeah, it's going to be, again, this is the same with the forwards. You're going to have a battle in training camp to see who takes the spots
11:51
and that's going to be a fun thing. But that's the one good thing about rebuilding teams
11:56
It's fun to watch training camp where all these guys kind of, there's a lot of spots available
12:00
And you see who kind of beats out the competition. So it would be interesting to see
12:05
All right. We mentioned the goaltending. I mentioned Dustin Wolf a couple times there
12:10
He is coming in as the starting goalie on a lot of depth charts
12:14
I don't think Dan Bladar is ahead of him. But you'd hope that they may be doing a 1A1B type thing
12:21
because I don't think you want Wolf playing a ton in his first full season as the starter
12:27
What do you think about this tandem? Do you think it's a good enough
12:31
especially with Wolf being the starter? Is Lidar the right backup for him
12:36
Or do you think they'd need to do something there? Yeah, I mean, developmentally wise
12:42
you'd really like to have more of a veteran and HLer to back him up to kind of learn from the ropes
12:48
and who can actually play. The two of them combined, Vladar and Wolf have 93D NHL games under their belts
12:58
So really questionable. Wolves, obviously, the franchise is sort of golden goose
13:03
and has long been considered the best goalie outside of the NHL. Obviously, multiple junior goalies of the year awards
13:11
AHL goalie of the year twice, and the HL MVP two years ago
13:16
And he played 18 games last year. Didn't really look like a world beater
13:21
unfortunately. Excuse me. He went 7.7 and 1. He had 3.16 goals against Savage
13:28
and an 893 safe percentage. Mind you, you know, a poor team in front of him
13:34
and this year will be the same. But he just didn't look dominant or he looked like he needed more time
13:40
before being thrusted to the league like he kind of is now. And Vladar has never played more than 27 games
13:47
in the NHL in a season. And I look back at his career stats
13:51
never played 45 professional games or more than 45 professional games in a season in general
13:56
in his career. So very questionable that they're going with him. And he's also coming off of a hip
14:01
surgery, which ended his last season early. So a tough one for a lot of goalies to come back from
14:07
They need that kind of movement, that's swiveling and pivoting. Yeah. So I don't know. I don't
14:13
know who will be the starter, who will be the backup, how they'll start the season, how it'll finish if it'll be a 1A1B but with two Bs
14:20
Yeah. Right. The organization also just has no backup, pun intended. They signed undrafted 27-year-old journeyman Devin Cooley
14:32
who has six NHL games under his belt. And then they have overseas signing Walterrey Ignatju
14:39
I'm not familiar with him, but he's making his North American debut this season
14:43
and that's it. That's the four guys. Validar and Wolf will be getting shelled this year
14:48
behind that previously discussed sort of shoddy defense and neither goalie will be winning 40 games
14:54
behind this roster but that's okay we're in that rebuild we don't want wins
14:59
we just want growth and development so the hope is that Wolf doesn lose confidence or get injured or anything like that and instead kind of learns the keys to NHL success despite the team he playing behind
15:14
Yeah, unfortunately they don't, Wolf doesn't have, they, like the Buffalo Sabres have got the luxury to go definitely by going down to the minors
15:24
and they still got two guys that could still play in the NHL. They don't have that
15:28
So it's going to be interesting to see how they kind of manage. him because you don't want to screw up his confidence
15:34
especially so early in his career, which you can do to a goaltender mentally. It is tough getting shelled every night and still developing into a really good goalie
15:45
So, yeah, that's going to be interesting to watch for sure. All right, let's talk about the division
15:51
and this is pretty easy to kind of look at how they stack up
15:55
It's not good. Looking at the top, you've got the Oilers, Canucks, Gold Knights
16:01
those are the and the kings basically your big four there and then you've got the
16:06
Cracken who's probably going to be a better team this year I the flames are there
16:11
then with then of course you got the sharks and the ducks I'm going to be the
16:15
bottom feeders below the flames you'd think but what do you think where do they stack up
16:21
here are they in the bottom are they fighting for the bottom or are they in that kind
16:25
middle range as they were last season yeah they don't stack up very well
16:31
Everybody else Trying to be nice. Yeah, I know. Everybody else in the Pacific got better, basically
16:39
The Canucks and Oilers will again, or again, pardon me, be amongst the best in the league
16:44
and they'll feast on their fellow Western Canadian counterpart. As well, Las Vegas, Los Angeles
16:51
and the Seattle Cracken, who I think added some solid pieces of their own and they will be better this year
16:56
The flames will likely be better than the Anheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks
17:01
but I mean, even the sharks, I know, they have a whole new look roster essentially
17:04
and they have, you know, Macklin Celebrity and Will Smith and former Flame Tyler Topholi
17:09
amongst other people. They could, you know, catch fire and give them a run for their money
17:15
And any time, you know, all it takes is that rookie core to develop quickly
17:19
And then they're a hot team. And so in that case, I would hesitantly put the flames at sixth in the division
17:27
but very easily could go to seventh. The Ducks could be an interesting team too
17:33
You don't know. I mean, I'm waiting for them just to have all their young guys and they've just figured it all out
17:38
And then you've got a really good team there too. So this division is going to be really tough
17:44
Once all these teams develop, because you're looking at the flames who've got some good guys now in the pipeline
17:50
they could potentially be a really good team soon too and bounce back from this
17:55
So it's going to be interesting this division watching it in the next step, five years
17:59
because all these young teams that have all these young players, they're going to turn it around
18:04
and you may have an interesting dynamic moving forward. So very interesting
18:10
All right, let's move to our quick fire round. And these can be one, two sentence answers
18:16
But what do you got for this? First one, what's the biggest storyline going into this season, question mark
18:22
I mean, there's a lot to choose from, especially from a rebuilding team here. Yeah, I would go back to the goaltending
18:29
just how will it fare? You know, we'll take this opportunity and run with it
18:35
or will he sink? You know, obviously we don't want to jinx anything, but yeah
18:39
yeah, it'll be something to keep your eye on every game, just watching, you know
18:43
how he carries himself if he's slumping on the bench, et cetera
18:49
You hope that there's no double-digit blowouts like the sharks that gave their goaltenders last season
18:56
I think they have a better defense in the sharks, that's for sure, I think. All right, one or two breakout stars for this season
19:03
Yeah, I would say Martin Pospasal. He looked amazing at the 2024
19:09
AAHF World Championships. He played for Slovakia and starred for the team
19:13
He scored a point per game before he got injured. And I think with an increased role this year
19:19
he could become more than just your kind of pest. I think he could actually contribute offensively on a nightly basis
19:25
And he had some great chemistry with, with Khadri and Kuzmenko down the street
19:29
stretch and I think could be more. As well as we talked about previously
19:35
I think Kevin Ball has the potential to become the team's go-to shutdown defensemen this year taking over for Chris Tanev
19:42
and just leading the penalty kill. Hopefully those numbers get back higher up
19:47
Yeah, I think those two. Yeah, those are two good choices. I mean, there's obvious answers for this next one
19:54
One player needs to bounce back, and I think one needed to bounce back last season
19:59
but who needs to do it. Yeah, the easy and now seemingly annual answer is Jonathan Bredo
20:08
But you know what? To his credit, he had a really good second half to 2023
20:12
2024. I think he started the year with 25 points in his first 41 games
20:18
and he ended with like 34 points in the next 40 games. So not to say that that won't carry into this season
20:25
but, you know, if he can pick that up, that's a 60-something point pace over a year
20:29
year. So, you know, obviously not worth $10.5 million, but we'll take that
20:33
But my actual answer is Walker Dewar. He had a fantastic rookie showing in 22, 23
20:41
but he looked really bad this last season. And especially, as we talked, with so many
20:47
you know, better, younger players in the forward mix that are coming into the full
20:50
He's going to lose his NHL playing opportunities if he continues to play poorly
20:54
So he's somebody that I think needs to really pick it up. yeah i i think he was really good and is uh was it that that would have been the previous season
21:04
and yeah i couldn't kind of move it over to this season or this past season so yeah that's a
21:10
definitely a good answer there uh all right uh next we've got uh talking about x factors now it doesn't
21:17
have to be a player it could be a situation or something but what do you got for an x factor this
21:21
season i do have a player i'm going to beat the dead horse uh it's it's dust and wolf
21:27
you know either again he's not going to win 42 games and he's not going to win the
21:32
Vesna trophy but it's either he provides some glimmers of hope for the future or he doesn't
21:38
and you know that's going to be the biggest storyline and the biggest X factor of the
21:44
2024-25 season yeah like I say you hope that he just is okay's good I mean that he doesn't
21:52
get to his confidence shot by by allowing goals because he will allow them it's just inevitable
21:57
but he's got to be able to keep his mental game still strong through it
22:02
And that's going to be a big one for sure. All right. Let's talk some prospects
22:07
Who do you? I mean, there's a lot of spots open. I don't know if there's to be surprises
22:12
There's probably a good one here. But rookie or prospect that could surprise make the roster here
22:18
Yeah, I mentioned him briefly, Cole Schwint. Sort of become the forgotten piece in the big Kachuk, Hubert O'e, or Trey
22:26
and really has yet to make any waves professionally as a hockey player
22:31
However his saving graces are that he plays center and he also right The flames are really thin down the middle like we discussed And interestingly enough they only have three forwards that aren left
22:44
So just, you know, to provide a bit of differentiation up front is always good
22:50
And he has a very solid NHLR. He knows his role. He knows that he's better suited for a defensive role
22:56
So personally, I'd rather see him occupy the fourth-line center instead of, you know
23:02
expensive veteran Kevin Rooney, who, again, isn't really a needle mover. So you'd rather see a young person getting some experience in that role
23:11
Yeah, especially on a rebuilding team. You want to maybe, maybe Schwint can actually potentially be more than a fourth line guy
23:18
but he needs to have the chance, right? So yeah, that big one. All right
23:23
Outside of guys that can make the team, what prospects should fans be watching this season
23:29
It doesn't have to be in the NHL, A HL. beyond that too
23:35
Yeah, I think a lot of Flames fans are going to be keeping their eyes on the Ontario
23:38
Hockey League. Obviously, we have Zane Perek, who, like I said, a lot of people think he's going to make
23:44
the Flames or the Wranglers. And I think he still should play one more year in the OHL just for conditioning
23:51
for development, as well as Hunter Bruce Stevech will start the year there, probably
23:55
but could work his way into the Wranglers. We also have our second rounder this year, Jacob Bataglia, who is very good
24:02
Third-rounder defenseman Henry Mews, who was very, very underrated. And I think a great pickup in the third round
24:09
I think the scouting department did really well. And then we also have Luke Mesa, who is brother of Michael Mesa
24:16
who's supposed to be a high draft pick coming up here. They'll all be lighting up the O on the nightly
24:22
But as well, you know, stay tuned to our minor league games, the Calgary Ranglers games
24:27
We're going to have guys like Samuel Hansick making his, you know
24:32
full transition to pro. We're going to still have our Jeremy Poye's
24:37
our Jacob Peltiers, Adam Klapka. William Stronggren is another guy who has kind of had a really good
24:42
second half in the HL. And, you know, all those players will continue to grow
24:47
and hopefully start dominating and working their way up. Yeah, so watch the AHA and the OHL this season
24:53
if you're a Flames fan watching prospects. So keep an eye on there
24:58
All right, this is probably not, this is not as easy as some teams
25:02
Who will lead the team in scoring forwards and defense here? Yeah, I think personally
25:11
Igor Sharon Govich continues his kind of upward trajectory, and I think he leads all the flames forwards and scoring this year
25:19
Obviously, Cadre had an other worldly season last year, but I'm hoping he'll be relied upon less this year, you know, being 34
25:28
He's got some miles on him and stuff, And like we said, you know, it's better to put those young players in those situations and lose or get scored on
25:37
So they learn instead of putting the veteran out there to win the game, right
25:42
So I think hopefully guys like Sharon Govich and the younger players up front will get more opportunity
25:50
So, Codry, his numbers will go down, but I think he'll be happy. He won't be as beat up at the end of the season
25:56
And then defense is easy. I think that's our 20 goal 50 points scoring defenseman McKenzie Weger
26:04
All signs point to him leading the blue line and scoring again. Although Rasmus Anderson could make a strong push, he's still very solid offensively
26:11
And I think 39 points last year, which was a down year for him
26:16
So that's saying something. Yeah, I think those are my two picks
26:21
Right forward to last question. I want to ask you about Anderson, though
26:25
Is he a guy that you think could get traded? this season. He has been in the rumors off and on
26:32
Is that a guy that's on the move? I mean, he's not an obvious one
26:36
because he's got a contract beyond one year. But does that happen this season
26:43
Yeah, I think there's a lot of conversations that are happening in the background
26:47
that we don't know about. I couldn't tell you a team that probably wouldn't want to inquire
26:53
about his services. He's an outstanding right shot, two-way defenseman that has two years left at a very affordable four and a half million dollar
27:02
cap hit. I mean, who wouldn't want that? But there's been talks about Toronto
27:07
There's been talks about, you know, I think Seattle before they got Montour, there's been
27:10
a couple of teams that have been very interested. So, and I mean, he's just, unfortunately, we love him
27:16
Obviously, he's a Flames draft pick in 2015, and he's been with the team his whole career
27:20
an alternate captain working his way up, the all-time franchise lists and such
27:25
but, you know, his age and his contract, obviously, he'll be needing that resigning in a couple of years
27:32
It just doesn't really line up with our team trajectory. So maybe not this season
27:38
but I'm thinking either this during the year or the offseason. I don't think he will be a flame come 2025, 2025, 26
27:46
How's that? There you go. Yeah, I think he's a guy that he's not part of this long-term build
27:53
but he's just going to get more out. assets for this team moving forward, but probably not this season
27:59
But you never know with the trade deadline and stuff like that happening. All right
28:04
Last question. A bold prediction or a hot take for this coming season
28:11
Yeah, I think somebody unexpected is going to get traded. You know, obviously there's Jonathan Hoover is not going anywhere
28:20
He's stuck him and his $10 million dollar contract. But there's a lot of rumblings of
28:25
Nazm Kadri in trade talks, which I thought was crazy because that's another contract that I would view as immovable
28:32
But somebody like that or like a Blake Coleman or, I don't know, maybe a McKenzie Uygar
28:38
but just somebody that isn't Anderson that isn't, you know, somebody that you would think being traded
28:44
I think is going to be on the move this year. I mean, they do got some interesting names
28:49
I mean, like you say, Huberto is not. Unless he all of a sudden starts playing up to his contract and team
28:55
think he's worth that. I don't know with him. I'm not really sure what happened
29:00
I mean, it's not like he lost his talent. He had a hundred point season
29:04
Was it just because Barkoff? I mean, was he the reason? I mean
29:09
don't know with some of the players he played with. Maybe he just clicked with certain guys
29:13
and that's why he was so good. I don't know. It's just interesting
29:17
He's falling off so badly. And, I mean, you don't lose talent
29:22
I don't know. Who knows? Who knows what happened with him? But you'd hope for the flames sake that he does kind of figure it out sometime in this contract here because he's going to be here for a long time
29:35
All right. Well, thanks, Derek, for coming on the show and talking to Flames for this coming season
29:39
Make sure checking out everything at the Hockerreras.com for all the flames content from all the Flames writers
29:46
Lots of great stuff going on for preview stuff going into the season
29:50
And then check out the substack as well, which gives you all the best articles
29:55
Well, actually, all of them. Every week talking about it. And they're all great articles, not saying some of them are bad
30:02
But they're all great. So take a look at everything we got on the site and check out the YouTube channel for the rest of the previews
30:08
But until our next one, we'll see you next time
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