Are you ready? it's time for another Fireside Chat, the official podcast of Flames fans. It's go time. Thank you Beasley as always for that introduction and I'm Dan back alongside Matt. We are in the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals. This is the day between games five and six as we look ahead to talk Flames hockey. Matt, seems like everybody here in Calgary is cheering for the Oilers. I have to assume you are like me and you just can't do it.
I do not understand people that can turn coat and cheer for their most hated rival. They're literally 32nd on my list of teams I would like to win. And frankly, I think I could, I... They're 33rd for me. The Phoenix Coyotes come before them. Yeah, I honestly, I think there are some AHL teams I would rather get promoted to the NHL and win before Redmonton. So, yeah. And Vancouver's farm team is in the AHL Finals right now. Yeah, that's... There was a weird goal a couple days ago with...
In overtime where the puck was dropped with the goalie not paying attention and... Oh, yeah. Well, that's, I guess, minor hockey for you. But let's not talk about the Oilers any more than we have to. Let's get into talking about the Flames. We'll recap some summer news and then we'll get into talking about the entry draft. So, I figured let's start off by talking about some contract signings here. Flames have signed two of their free agents that are coming up.
Adam Klapka signed a two-year deal with a $1.25 million average per year. And Matt Coronado signed seven years $6.5 million per year. Any comments on those two, Matt? I think the Klapka signing is perfectly valid for what he brought this year. Looking forward to seeing him grow as a player. You know that he's going to be on the NHL roster come next year unless he loses that spot.
For sure. And Coronado, I think we nailed that estimation with both the term and the money value with his contract in our last episode. Because I think we said... Considering how terribly we did in our season predictions, it's good to know we're doing well on this one. Yep. Well, when it comes to dollars and cents, that's what matters. So, we got that one right. That's right. So, Matt Coronado is 22 right now. This makes him a Flame until he's 29 years old, pretty much. I think it's a good deal.
I think the Flames might be... Depending on how you look at it, might be slightly overpaying for him next year. But I think this is going to be a good... This reminds me of the team-friendly deals that we have Anderson on, that we had Giordano on, that sort of thing. I think this is going to be a deal that we're going to look at when he's 20, 29, and especially with the cap going up, and say, wow, that's a great value deal.
Yeah. Realistically, if they signed him to a one -year deal, he probably would have got a four, four and a half, maybe. So, yes, in terms of that, for the first year or two, he's overpaid, in air quotes. But with the cap going up, that $6 .5 million, if he continues to develop as he has, will be one of the best contracts in the world. For sure. Yeah. And I think it's also symbolic.
I mean, there's been a lot of talk here with the Flames recently over the past couple of years about Americans not want to be here. And here's an American that just committed seven more years here. So I think there's a bit of symbology to that too, that, hey, here's a young American guy who really could have probably signed a bridge deal and made his way to free agency and left here, but he's committing himself to Flames. And that's awesome to see.
Well, and that's the thing that with the whole Goodrill-Kachuk situation, that the Flames are actually learning their lessons after the fact that not to play around with the players that are important to your team. And bridging Kachuk just to have enough money for a leak was a really stupid idea. And it bit the team in the butt and basically imploded the entire team. So learning from that, at least Kachuk is helping stave off the Oilers from winning a cup last year and hopefully again this year.
So best case scenario for that, but not the best. We basically burned down our own house. So learning from those mistakes and perhaps locking Dustin Wolfe up long-term wouldn't be a bad idea either after this coming season. I think it'll happen for sure. We've talked about this a little bit, Matt, just want to get your take on it again now that we've seen the numbers. Adam Klapka signed two years, 1.25 million. Postol has one more year, 1 million.
Do you think that for the roles they play on the lineup, Klapka pretty much could at this point replace Postol? Like I'm starting to think we may not see Marty Postol in the Flames jersey come the start of the season. Well, basically in my mind, Postol is a player where his value in terms of what he does on the ice is worth more than what he's getting paid.
And it's one of those where if the Flames were to make a trade involving him and got another player or prospect that was better or a good draft pick, like a first or second round draft pick for him, I think if you're moving them, you're doing it to clear a spot for somebody else. Yes. And with his injury history and his style of play, even if he is just an adder, say the Flames trade Anderson and he's added to extract additional value in that trade, that's a perfectly valid thing to do.
Yeah. Even if the Flames were to flip him for a mid-round pick. And that's where having redundancies gives the management some flexibility. It's sort of like how the Flames now have a Coleman replacement in Joel Farabee, where they're basically playing the same role. Postol and Klapka are also playing the same role, and it's necessarily doesn't make the most sense to have both of the guys playing the exact same position. You know, you can actually switch it up.
Yeah. And if we look at it, I mean, I think if you look at that fourth line, it's going to be Lombard, of course. I think Klapka on the wing, Postol I didn't like as a center when they tried him last year. So I think that probably goes to Justin Kirkland. So Postol could, I guess, stay as your 13th forward. But I think at this point, if there's value there, I would not hesitate to move Postol at this point. No. And realistically, the Flames need to acquire another center.
As good as the Kirkland story was this past year, frankly, we need to walk up that fourth line center spot with an actual NHL player that you can actually count on. And that's not to slight Kirkland, but he did kind of come out of nowhere, then got hurt immediately. And, you know, like there was no opportunity for him to regress, which was a potential outcome had he not been hurt.
Like, you know, we could have got to the halfway point of the season and Kirkland could have been back in the minors. But, you know, he got hurt right when he was still hot. So, you know, and the Flames like having to, you know, cobble together, insert random player here as a fourth line center is not a formula for success long term. No, but I think there's also a couple guys from the NHL currently that you could bring up there. Like, that's why they might just want to be able to make some room.
We'll see what happens there. Not only do we have some changes, I guess, changes in personnel, not really players because those guys are here, but changes to the coaching staff. We saw last year, a weird coaching mix. We had Brad Lam, Brad Larson leave the team for personal reasons and Trent call. I don't think we've ever seen a player, quote unquote, called up from the HL, which is the way the Flames said this.
And he got called up from being the head coach of the HL to an assistant coach in the NHL. And then after that, the HL team went through two head coaches. They had they had another guy who took over from down there. He had to go get surgery. So Brent, so Sutter's kid, Darryl Sutter's kid took over and it was his first year. So there was kind of a coaching mess down there. But with all this happening, Trent Cull has officially been promoted to assistant coach for the Calgary Flames for next year.
Brad Larson will return. And because of this, Dan Lambert, who's been an assistant coach for two seasons now, 2023 -24 and 24-25, will be leaving the team. So he's been the guy that's managed the defense. Any thoughts on the coaching change, Matt? Not really. I thought the coaching staff did an excellent job, both before Larson left and afterwards. So I have no real problems with that.
I like bringing Cull up because he's a good developmental coach and there's still a team, as much fans may not want to admit it, that is rebuilding and building young players. And Trent Cull's good at that. So I'm glad to see him on the NHL staff. And hopefully that'll mean that, I mean, I think the Flames have been doing a really good job of bringing in good development coaches, him, Mitch Love before him. So it'd be interesting to see who ends up in the head coaching job for the Wranglers.
I agree. I don't think it'll be an internal promotion. I'm hoping that they're bringing in somebody from outside who has some head coaching pedigree, maybe at the WHL level or the ECHL level, but I don't want them just, not that our assistant coaches aren't there, but like, you know, Sutter was in his first year. He probably shouldn't be a head coach yet. So I think you need some stability and maybe even some more depth on that bench.
If, you know, if you're that short that you're putting your first year coach as head coach, when you hit tough times. Yeah. Well, um, there's not really much you can do though. And it was a bit of an odd season for everybody involved in the Flames organization. You know, and I mean, we see guys like Matt Stajan still kicking around the Flames and the, you know, the organization of various roles.
I would not be surprised if a guy like him becomes an assistant coach, um, just to strengthen some of that, that young bench there. I agree. And then some other news for the Flames, Dustin Wolf unanimously voted to the NHL's all rookie team. I don't think there's any surprises there. Unfortunately doesn't win the rookie of the year award, but, uh, was I think he was third in voting.
Uh, second, um, second, only Elaine Hudson, uh, finished ahead of him and Wolf was the only, uh, player to get votes for the other awards. He actually received a vote for, uh, fourth place vote for the Hart and a third place vote for the Vesna. So he was the only other only rookie to get votes for other awards besides the Calder. Yeah. The heck of a year. Uh, so he was on the all rookie team. Marty Pospisil, we talked about earlier named to Slovakia's national team for the 2026 Olympics.
Kind of weird the way that the Olympic committee is doing this. I don't ever remember this before as we record this it's June 16th. And this morning, all the teams that are competing had to release their first six, six names of guys that they know will be going. And Marty Pospisil on there for Slovakia. It doesn't surprise me at all. I mean, I think they're going to struggle to put together a roster of all NHLers. So of course, Pospisil will be on there.
And another note and name the fans may not know Peter Hanlon, who's the VP of communications and has been since, geez, I think the early to mid nineties has been promoted in the organization to an assistant general manager. So he'll be involved in all areas of hockey operations, including player evaluation, player recruitment and strategic planning. He'll join Dave Nones and Brad Pascal as assistant GMs under Craig Conroy. Jerome McGinless still remains at this point as special assistant.
So I know you and I have had some dealings with Peter. I think this will be a really cool opportunity for him. Yeah, very happy for him. Really nice guy. Looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the table. Yeah, it's kind of interesting. You know, now we've got what, three assistant GMs, one special assistant that that head office is getting busy. Well, it's good. The more opinions we can have never hurts, frankly.
And yeah, and Peter knows a lot of these guys and I think that's going to be useful for him too. So congratulations, Peter, on the on the promotion there. That's awesome. Matt, it's time for the main event. You ready to get into drafting? Yep. So well, yeah, this year there really is one target and only one target for the Flames centers, centers and more centers. We're a couple weeks away from the NHL entry draft and yeah, the Flames have two picks in the first.
Let me go through all the picks here and then we'll talk about the guys they might take. The Flames have two picks in the first. They will pick 18th, which is the New Jersey pick and either 31st or 32nd depends on how the finals end up here. Doesn't really matter either way. The Flames have a second round pick. It's Colorado's second round pick, number 54 that was acquired in the Mangiapane trade. The Flames own second rounder for pick 48 was traded to Philly in the Frost Fairby trade.
The Flames have their own third. They don't have a fourth that was traded to Florida as part of the crazy deal that we did with Kachuk and all the picks that might have gone back and forth. And then the Flames have their own fifth, sixth and seventh pick. So we're going to look at those late round first picks today and some players that Matt particular has been scouting that we might look at for those. Now, before we get into that, what did you think about where the Flames were in the lottery?
Like we saw some teams jump quite high. I was quite glad that they didn't move considering they weren't going to get that pick. Yeah. Like honestly, this year's draft is kind of mediocre. So like if there was a year where the Flames were going to lose their first round draft pick, even though it's 16th overall, like this is pretty much the year to do it. The guy that would be available at number 16 is going to be at roughly like what the players were 25 to 30 last year.
So like the quality of the draft is just not as good. Still some players that should be interesting, just not the higher end talent that we were used to seeing in the draft. Yeah, I'm okay with where the Flames are at in this draft. I don't think that they would do much better unless they were inside the top 10, whether they're 16, 15, 18. The way I've kind of looked at it is there's a group of guys there that you'll be happy to get any one of them.
Yeah. And realistically there is a group of centers that are available from like up to about pick 12. There are plenty of centers and then it seems to be mostly wingers and defensemen for a while. And then like once you get to like 20 to 30, there's another pocket of centers.
So depending on how the actual draft goes, if none of the upper group falls, the Flames might also benefit from potentially trading back a couple of picks, depending on like if they have like three or four guys that they're interested in, that it might make sense to get an additional late second round pick or a third round pick just to move back four or five spots. I'm very curious as you're being in, the draft is not going to take place in the same building. Like it always has.
Everyone will be in their own buildings. How much the GMs feel like they have a sense of who's going to take who? Like we often see when we watch it on TV or if you were at the 2000 draft here in Calgary, GMs kind of stand around talking to each other a lot with, you know, Calgary's team here at the cell dome and everybody in their own rink. I wonder how much there's going to be that back chatter of knowing who you're going to take next, who you're going to take after that.
I wonder if teams would be comfortable enough to move back a couple without being assured. Yeah. Well, and I think this is actually going to be the only year that they're doing it this way, because everybody's like, this is a really stupid idea and are going to be going back. And I think Matt, some of your indication of that too, is if you listen to Commissioner Gary Bettman at some recent media discussions, he said, if the teams don't like it, we'll change back.
So the fact he's sort of kind of prefacing that already tells me, yeah, this might not be the thing we do going forward. Yeah. Well, and how would you say it takes, it is one of the spectacles for the NHL in the off season and it gives all of the media people and all of the management people an opportunity to actually be in the same place and be able to work on things that can result in trades four, six, eight months later.
Like say we keep Anderson, you can actually go talk to insert general manager here, say, hey, at the deadline, if we're out, are you interested? Blah, blah, blah. And kind of get the groundwork laid unless you deal them right away. But, you know, if you're not in the actual same place, it's harder to get those kinds of conversations started unless you're just cold calling everybody, which Conrad probably does anyway.
Yeah. And I mean, also for some teams, you know, another chance to sell tickets, fill your building, that sort of thing. So, you know, I think, yeah, I was kind of looking forward to when we got a new building hosting a draft and an all-star game against, I'm hoping that we will get the, we will get another draft in person. Well, let's jump into looking at these prospects. We won't differentiate between 18 and 31.
I think unless there's someone you think specifically goes in there, but I think a lot of these guys could fall anywhere within that region. Do you think that's fair? Yeah. It's one of those, it's a bit of a weird draft. Honestly, there are a number of players that I could see dropping unexpectedly like Reapkin, I think could fall right out of the first round into the second round, potentially even the third round, even though talent wise, he's probably a top 10 pick.
So it'll be interesting to see. Well, the first guy we're going to profile here is Carter Bear. He's a centerman and left wing. He's 18 years old from Winnipeg. He's been playing with the Everett Silver Tips of the WHL for the last three seasons. He wore the A there this year, had 82 points in 56 games, 40 goals, 42 assists for 82 total points. He's six foot 81, or sorry, 179 pounds. I do the math on kilograms in my head.
I've seen him ranked anywhere from number eight all the way to about number 21. So a guy that, a guy that has some deferring ideas on where he might go. I'll just read you quickly here, the elite prospects draft guide on him, and then you can jump in with your thoughts. Bear leaves nothing to chance, no matter the size of the opponent, the score or the situation. He enters every battle with speed and never concedes an inch. His playoff every night mentality also powers his offensive game.
He powers through contact to get to the net, relentlessly battles in the slot for tips and rebounds and dominates play from the hash marks in. What's your read on Bear? The main concern I have with Bear himself is that he is not a fast player. He's okay. Slightly faster than Kachuk, but not by much.
And considering his game is about forechecking and getting in on guys and, you know, creating havoc in front of the net, if he's not fast enough to actually get there to do it, it's a little harder at the NHL level. That said, if he can improve his foot speed, he could be a fun and interesting type of player in much the same kind of mold as like a Sam Bennett type. It's kind of like crashes and bangs and is just the disturber generally.
ESPN has him listed as his projection being a second line versatile forward, his floor probably being a third line checker. The thing with speed is you can sometimes teach that and the flames do have power skating coach on staff. So, I mean, that's something that you might be able to work on with him. Yeah. And it's one of those things where like, if we're talking about speed being a, oh, this is an excuse not to take this player.
You're pretty much showing that like this guy's actually pretty good all the way around where, you know, oh, he might be just a little bit too slow to be as effective at the NHL level. But, you know, like I don't really see it being that much of a problem. Like it's not like he's quote unquote slow. It's just not quite as. So Matt, I mean, any of these guys that we're talking about at 18 to 31 or 32, these are not going to be your premier elite centermen, right? Those come in the top 10.
So we have to remember that each one of these guys are going to have some sort of a flaw or quirk in their game. And that's probably why they're mid to late round. So fans are expecting the flames are going to go in at 18 and get, you know, a Connor McDavid or, you know, a Bedard. That's not going to happen here. So we have to acknowledge that, you know, we are where we are and all of these guys are going to have something about them that's going to drag them down.
Yeah. And like, realistically, there are maybe three players in this draft as centers that could be top six, like scoring threats and they're going to be going in the top five. So, you know, like realistically the flames are not getting any of those people. So if you can get like an actual equivalent to a Sam Bennett or a Michael Backlund, like that's a home run for, especially with where the flames are drafting for sure. I agree. Next guy we're going to look at is Jack Nespeth.
He is another Canadian from Sarnia. He's 18 years old, 6'4", 183 pounds, so big and tall, but lanky guy. I've seen him ranked everywhere from 18th in mock drafts all the way down to about 48th. He currently plays for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL at 64 points in 65 games this year. He's also played for the U18 and U17 teams for Canada in the last couple of years. Again, the Elite Prospects draft guide says he brings a 6'4 frame defensive abilities and sense.
He generates chances by breaking plays on the forecheck with precise stick work and engages players with his body, bouncing them off the puck. When I think of tall and lanky, I'm thinking like a Joel Colborne type. Is that a fair comparison? Yeah, the same type generally as like Colborne or Jankowski, where tall, lanky. He's a little bit more intense and actually physical than either of those two players were.
He has really good hand-eye coordination, very good at tipping pucks, so if you stuck him in front of the net on a power play, he would be good in that role. But his overall skill set is okay. How would you say? He's rated as high as he is because he is a large individual, and if he can fill out and elevate his game over the next like three, four years, he could be a really good NHL player, but there's a lot of ifs between here and there.
Of the two centers we've talked about so far, this is the one that I think you definitely would, you would not use 18 on Nesbitt. I don't think you would save that for 31, if not even your second round pick. I agree. He's the guy that I think it's sort of like a Keegan Kanzig. I think he will go higher because of his size, but I think he has a lot to work on in his actual game.
Yeah, like this seems to be what the type of player that Toronto selects just in general, you know, in the first round, Canadian big-ish guy that doesn't really translate. It's kind of a Daryl Sutter-like pick too, and he was the GM. I agree. The next guy that you want to talk about is the guy I've seen most often in mock drafts leading up to this draft associated with the Flames at 18, and that's Brandon Coutts.
He's wearing number 86 for the Seattle Thunderbirds this year, an 18-year-old from Sherwood Park, so as long as he's okay to not wear an Oilers jersey and wear a Flames jersey. He's 6 foot 183 pounds. He's ranked everywhere from 13th all the way down to about 23rd, and elite prospects have said he's a one-man forecheck. His motor and energy are undeniably elite.
In a single shift, he can amass multiple retrievals, guiding opponents into a big hit, spinning off a check and passing, winning another race by winning inside position before the boards, and repeating over and over until the puck finds the twine. Primarily a playmaker, he escapes with quick passes inside and occasionally deceives opponents to find a backdoor option. After passing, he dashed to the net to create traffic and collects loose pucks.
He's the captain of Seattle Thunderbirds, 63 points in 60 games this past season. I think this is a guy that if the Flames get him, he's probably projecting as a second-line center. The Flames fans that aren't familiar with Coates, you've actually seen this player on the Flames. His name's Connor Zari. They're the exact same player. Well, hopefully not exact same. Hopefully he's more healthy than Zari.
But all of the things that we like about Zari, his forecheck, his playmaking skills, his slipperiness, basically to a T, describes Braden Coates. And if the Flames were to go that route, that would be an amazing pick at 18, if he's available. And if he's not, then oh well. But that would be a very good pick if the Flames selected him. I like this idea of him. I think he's a guy who's going to need a little bit of time to develop, whether in the WHL, the AHL, somewhere.
I don't think there's a guy that you're going to shoot right to your NHL roster. But I think he's a guy that, like you said, has Connor Zari upside. And I think if he can stay healthy, probably has more upside than Zari. I agree. I would like to see him on the team. Some of the notes I had here, I think he's probably your middle six, two-way center. I think he could develop into being a guy like Backlund, where you can do a lot of things, including the defensive side of the game.
I think he's got good confidence. I like his speed. And again, that forechecking, I think, is going to be important in the modern NHL game, the way that he can forecheck as also a playmaker. He reminds me a lot of a Guinland that way, where you can kind of go and play the dirty parts of the corners and stuff. Not a dirty game, but he can get mucking in the corners and then still find a way to make the play. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see.
Honestly, I would be a little bit surprised if he was available at 18, and I would be floored if he made it to 18, but the Flames didn't take him. Yeah, I think if he's there, he's the guy to take for sure. But I don't know. He'll probably... I want to say they'll be taken early, but I don't know. He won't be taken higher than, I don't think, like 12. And when you get into that area, there's always some team that surprises you and goes off the board.
So I'm hoping somebody does that and he's still available. Yeah, like we'll probably see a goaltender be selected around 12 to 15. And, you know, like last year, there was a number of defensemen that went randomly in that range. So who knows?