krsmith17

Mantha just needs to keep shooting and stay healthy and he will score 35+ this season guaranteed.

This is why I wouldn't do it. Mantha will out produce Drouin by 20 points this season...

This makes so much sense...

Of course he would... That would be a terrible trade for us... Luckily Yzerman isn't that dumb.

That's tough since their aren't five... Glendening Adams O'Reilly Phillips But hey, 4 out of 40 ain't bad...

I don't disagree. That line would be fun and horrifying to watch now, but that's why I said "not so distant future". Give them all another year or so training with pro's on and off the ice, and they could be a very strong 2nd line. No, apparently me and @The 91 of Ryans are way bigger Seider fans than @ChristopherReevesLegs...

I believe that's an old school mentality that unfortunately Blashill still tries to apply to each of his lines... Most top lines in the league don't have much "grit". They beat you with skill. That's not to say that would be a formidable 2nd line *yet*, but the potential is definitely there in my opinion. As long as you have players that can hold on to the puck and make plays when they have it, and retrieve pucks when they don't, you don't need "grit"

Just insert Athanasiou on the 2nd line and drop Hirose down to the 3rd line in Ehn's spot, and that would be a lethal top 9...

Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what we'll see next season... I'm hoping we will trade Nielsen soon (by next offseason). Veleno spends most / a full season in GR as the 1C, and comes up full time next season to fight Filppula for the 2C/3C slot.

This is the most likely (if Ericsson ends up on LTIR). I'd prefer to have Cholowski instead of Daley, but I'm also okay with him starting in GR to further develop his defensive game.

I'm assuming we'll see a much better lineup tonight... I'd like to see a glimpse into the not so distant future in one of the next three games... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha Athanasiou - Veleno - Zadina Hirose - Rasmussen - Svechnikov Erne - Pearson - Glendening Hronek - Seider DeKeyser - Bowey Cholowski - Kaski Larsson

How did that work out for you?

*topped 70 points*. 77 to be exact. Nearly a point per game player as a 20-21 year old... That's a great contract for the Flames, and should only look better over the next few seasons. There's a big difference in a 25 year old putting up that sort of production, especially after never topping 50(55) points in a season previously. I think if either of Mantha or Athanasiou score in the 70 point range, they'll get a contract in the $5.5-6.5M range...

Definitely wouldn't be opposed to this. I would never wish injury on any player, but the less Ericsson, Daley and Nielsen play, the better for this team in my opinion...

No! Ericsson is still a really good defenseman... It's amazing that Tkachuk is only the 2nd Flame to ever make $7M per season...

I agree it'll be low, but I'd take the over on this... I hope Nielsen is on the shelf a lot this season as well...

I'm not saying they won't get more than Larkin because no one should get more than Larkin. I just don't think they will get more than Larkin. Unless, like I mentioned, Mantha has a monster season, he might get around $6.5M. I don't see him (or any of our RFA's) getting any more than that though. DeKeyser is more of the steady, shut-down guy for one of those guys, but he's not terrible at getting the puck up ice. Bowey is a good puck mover. Maybe McIsaac will be the sixth guy in another couple years... I'd do it...

And that should change in the next couple seasons as we continue to get younger. Seider, Hronek and Cholowski should definitely help in that regard.

@Akakabuto One down... Going to be a rough one for the Wings...

I would think they'll be keeping most players up as long as possible. With 4 games in the next 4 nights, you want as many bodies around as possible, to prevent fatigue or injury before the season even starts... Wow... If there was ever a game I wouldn't mind missing, it's this one... I'll probably tune in anyway, just to see more of Hirose, Seider and Kaski...

I'm not saying it's unreasonable to project those sort of numbers. They absolutely could get there, but everything would need to go right for all three. I just wanted to know IF they did reach those point totals, what @LeftWinger would think is fair value. He seems to be way off on what market value is in the NHL today...

Those are some lofty expectations... So IF they (Mantha and Athanasiou) did put up that sort of production, what sort of contract do YOU think they'd be worth?

How is Tkachuk at all comparable to Mantha, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi? Tkachuk has exceeded what all three have done at this point in their careers, and is 4 years younger. A better comparable for Tkachuk, despite position, is Larkin. Even then, Tkachuk has had better production and is 2 years younger. Larkin was signed to a very good contract. Tkachuk is signed to a very good contract. And there's not a doubt in my mind that all three of Mantha, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi will be signed to very good contracts. If Mantha has a huge season like I expect him to (35+ goals, 65+ points), he might be in the ballpark of what Larkin's making, but he still won't get anything close to $7M, maybe not even Larkin's $6.1M. That goes for Athanasiou and Bertuzzi as well. Tkachuk had 77 points last season, but everything else I agree with. If I were to guess, based on the season I think the three will have... Mantha - 4-6 years, $5.5-6.5M Athanasiou - 3-5 years, $5-6M Bertuzzi - 3-5 years, $3.5-4.5M

I... I... I agree... Canes have one of the best D corps in the league, and have a ton of skill up front. A line of Svechnikov - Aho - Necas could be filthy in a year or two. Teravainen is unreal too. They also have a ton of high end prospects coming and just had one of, if not the strongest drafts this past June. They play an up tempo, hard forechecking style of game. I think they're going to be very good this season, and maybe even a legit contender in the next few seasons.