The Flames are in a rebuilding stage, however, they have some tough decisions to make with some of their players.
Yegor Sharangovich took the team by storm and became one of the team’s best goal scorers. Andrei Kuzmenko, who was included as return in the Elias Lindholm trade as a cap dump, became one of the best point producing forwards on the Flames roster. Andrew Mangiapane had a down year offensively, however provided steady defensive results as he always has. And lastly, Jacob Markstrom was putting up great goaltending numbers until two of the top 4 defencemen on the roster were traded away.
The Flames need to decide what to do with these players, and it’s likely that one or multiple of these 4 will be traded. However, if the team were to keep one of these players, who would readers want that player to be? We asked, you answered.
Want to take part in Sunday Census polls? We send them out every week on our Twitter at @wincolumnCGY. Follow along or send in ideas for the next poll!
Reader results
We presented the below poll to our readers.
Andrew Mangiapane
Mangiapane has been a very reliable Flame for quite some time. The reason being for him being included as a potential trade option is the fact that he is 28 years old, is coming off a down year, and has a cap hit of $5.8M for one more year.
At the end of the day, management needs to decide if Mangiapane fits the timeline for this Flames roster as it goes through a rebuild. Based off the responses of the poll, it seems like many readers don’t believe that Mangiapane fits the franchise’s timeline, however Mangiapane will be a pretty tough player to replace if the team does decide to part ways with him.
Andrei Kuzmenko
What an incredible surprise Kuzmenko has been with the Flames. The Flames traded their number-one center for Kuzmenko and much more, but Kuzmenko became the best offensive producer for the team once he arrived. He piled up a great number of points and was always a reliable player offensively.
Like Mangiapane, Kuzmenko is 28 years old, but he also has one more year on his deal. The Flames can’t let him walk away for free as a UFA, and extending him to a long-term contract probably does not serve the Flames well for their long-term future. It is an interesting position that the Flames are now in with Kuzmenko and it’s something they will need to figure out this summer.
Yegor Sharangovich
An overwhelming number of readers would pick Yegor Sharangovich to remain a Flame. After fans saw his incredible shot, it’s easy to see why fans would like him to stick around. He will be entering next season at 27 years old, and it seems like he only gets better as the days go on.
On the side of asset management, it seems wrong not to capitalize on his trade value after his monster season, but trading a player of his calibre seems wrong after the Flames have waited so long to have a pure goal scorer on their roster. Out of all the options, it seems like readers most want Sharangovich to stay.
Jacob Markstrom
Unsurprisngly, Markstrom received the least number of votes. Firstly, there is all the drama from this season where he was supposed to become a New Jersey Devil, but the deal got nixed at the last minute. But the other factor is that he is still able to play a really strong level of hockey at 34 years old.
It’s clear that Markstrom does not fit the Flames’ timeline as he is 34 years old, but with 2 years left on his deal, the Flames have to get some sort of value back for Markstrom. I would be shocked if he isn’t traded this offseason. If he is traded, I hope Markstrom gets sent to a team that is able to win a Stanley Cup. He deserves it.
Decisions to be made
The Flames are hoping to stay competitive but still rebuild or retool their roster. They are hoping to adapt the Dallas Stars model, which involves making homerun picks in the draft, along with properly developing their younger players while expensive contracts still sit on their books.
In order to get enough opportunities to make these picks, draft picks need to be accumulated, and decisions need to be made as to who will be given up in a trade to accumulate these picks.
Keep a close eye on this team as we approach the summer, as these decisions will shape the future of the franchise.
You must be logged in to post a comment.