Folks, we&#8217;re less than a month away from rookies reporting for the 2024 Young Stars Classic tournament (and Calgary Flames prospect training camp), and a little over a month away from main camp and pre-season kicking off.
Enjoy the remainder of your summers while you can. Hockey is around the corner.
Let&#8217;s delve into the mailbag!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Do you actually think the Flames will make any meaningful moves from now until the start of training camp? My money is on a hard No!
&mdash; Ed Helinski 🇺🇸🇵🇱 (@MrEd315) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrEd315/status/1825240611705737409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I&#8217;m of the mindset that the Flames are going to take it easy on big transactions for awhile. On this past week&#8217;s 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet&#8217;s Elliotte Freidman noted that Flames brass has told its players that nothing&#8217;s coming this summer. If you think back on the last few off-seasons, there&#8217;s been a lot of change and tumult around the club since the 2022 off-season and now that the things that the Flames need to do to move forward have been handled, they&#8217;re probably more than happy to just get a sense of how their current group hangs together.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Do you think this regime has what it takes to stick to a full rebuild, done properly, or do you think they might try and accelerate the process in a year or two with trades, FA&#39;s, etc, similar to 2013/2014 ?
&mdash; Andy Spiteri (@Spiteri316) <a href="https://twitter.com/Spiteri316/status/1825261279046762627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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This is a cop-out answer, so let me explain: my answer is &#8220;Yes, But&#8230;&#8221;
The yes is pretty simple: I think Craig Conroy&#8217;s smart and he&#8217;s potentially learned from some of the things that undid Brad Treliving&#8217;s good work. Treliving did a great job building a young team, and then made the wrong bets at making acquisitions to try to progress the group through its rebuild. I think Conroy understands where things went wrong.
That said, I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;ve entered a position yet where Conroy would be tempted to veer from his prescribed plan the way Treliving seemed to. In short: Conroy has done a really positive job so far&#8230; but we&#8217;re just entering the challenging period and it has yet to be seen how he&#8217;ll resist temptation at key moments.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Why is Jakob Pelletier still unsigned? Is he no longer in the Flames plans moving forward?
&mdash; Jeremy Boucher (@Jeremy_Boucher) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jeremy_Boucher/status/1825260070596161536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The Flames really like Jakob Pelletier for a lot of the reasons a lot of people in hockey like Jakob Pelletier: he&#8217;s got a great attitude, he works hard, and he&#8217;s got a lot of versatility to his game, as shown during his times in the AHL, QMJHL and World Juniors. That said, at the NHL level, his circumstances have been really weird and his on-ice results have been pretty mixed.
Especially in an environment where there are a lot of talented young forwards entering the Flames system, it&#8217;s likely that both sides are trying to hammer out a deal that compensates Pelletier fairly but doesn&#8217;t make it challenging for him to fit into an NHL club&#8217;s cap structure. This will be the first year that Pelletier requires waivers to go to the AHL: if I&#8217;m his camp and I believe in him being an NHL talent, I want him to get a deal that&#8217;s tempting for other clubs to claim on waivers.
In short: they&#8217;re working on it, but Pelletier&#8217;s a unique player in a unique situation and so things take time to hash out.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Who, if any, do you think will be traded this time next year: Andersson, Kadri, Coleman and Kuzmenko. Is it wise to get rid of any of them before next season, in order to ensure our best chance at landing Mckenna.
&mdash; kino (@jjkino0) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjkino0/status/1825270216173260967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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It would surprise me if Andrei Kuzmenko is not traded before this year&#8217;s trade deadline. I can be talked into Rasmus Andersson being traded at some point but I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s a pressing time pressure to do it right away. I would be fairly surprised if Nazem Kadri or Blake Coleman are traded sometime in the next 12 months.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Do any of the recently acquired or drafted kids have a legit chance to stay with the big club after camp? Zayne, Hunter etc
&mdash; v5 Calgary Flames (@v5FlamesGM) <a href="https://twitter.com/v5FlamesGM/status/1825300791286255725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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No. And by that I mean: I don&#8217;t know what the point would be in throwing promising young players into a challenging competitive environment – the betting markets seem to be suggesting the Flames will be 6th-worst in the NHL next season – where they will have a lot of challenging nights and potentially one-sided games. The Flames have enough quality NHL bodies at most positions where they can shelter their most promising kids a bit right now, and I think they&#8217;ll take advantage of this depth to protect their kids this season.
<blockquote>From John (via e-mail): Hi Ryan. With the two Oiler RFA signings potentially opening the door to more signings, do you think there are any other interesting potential situations for offer sheet usage this offseason?</blockquote>
If the Flames were further along in their progression and they were one piece away from contention – and had cap space to burn – I&#8217;d be targeting Seth Jarvis. He&#8217;s a 22-year-old right shot centre who&#8217;s coming off a breakout season where he scored 33 goals and received votes for the Selke Trophy (for top defensive forward) and the Lady Byng (for most gentlemanly conduct). The kid&#8217;s fantastic, and if the Flames were a Seth Jarvis away from being a powerhouse, I would be all for it.
&#8230;but they&#8217;re not, yet. But it&#8217;s fun to dream, right?
Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/X at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan [at] TheNationNetwork.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)
<h2>The FlamesNation Monday Mailbag is presented to you by Village Honda</h2>
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Folks, we're less than a month away from rookies reporting for the 2024 Young Stars Classic tournament (and Calgary Flames prospect training camp), and a little over a month away from main camp and pre-season kicking off.

Enjoy the remainder of your summers while you can. Hockey is around the corner.

Let's delve into the mailbag!

https://twitter.com/MrEd315/status/1825240611705737409

I'm of the mindset that the Flames are going to take it easy on big transactions for awhile. On this past week's 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet's Elliotte Freidman noted that Flames brass has told its players that nothing's coming this summer. If you think back on the last few off-seasons, there's been a lot of change and tumult around the club since the 2022 off-season and now that the things that the Flames need to do to move forward have been handled, they're probably more than happy to just get a sense of how their current group hangs together.

https://twitter.com/Spiteri316/status/1825261279046762627

This is a cop-out answer, so let me explain: my answer is "Yes, But..."

The yes is pretty simple: I think Craig Conroy's smart and he's potentially learned from some of the things that undid Brad Treliving's good work. Treliving did a great job building a young team, and then made the wrong bets at making acquisitions to try to progress the group through its rebuild. I think Conroy understands where things went wrong.

That said, I don't think we've entered a position yet where Conroy would be tempted to veer from his prescribed plan the way Treliving seemed to. In short: Conroy has done a really positive job so far... but we're just entering the challenging period and it has yet to be seen how he'll resist temptation at key moments.

https://twitter.com/Jeremy_Boucher/status/1825260070596161536

The Flames really like Jakob Pelletier for a lot of the reasons a lot of people in hockey like Jakob Pelletier: he's got a great attitude, he works hard, and he's got a lot of versatility to his game, as shown during his times in the AHL, QMJHL and World Juniors. That said, at the NHL level, his circumstances have been really weird and his on-ice results have been pretty mixed.

Especially in an environment where there are a lot of talented young forwards entering the Flames system, it's likely that both sides are trying to hammer out a deal that compensates Pelletier fairly but doesn't make it challenging for him to fit into an NHL club's cap structure. This will be the first year that Pelletier requires waivers to go to the AHL: if I'm his camp and I believe in him being an NHL talent, I want him to get a deal that's tempting for other clubs to claim on waivers.

In short: they're working on it, but Pelletier's a unique player in a unique situation and so things take time to hash out.

https://twitter.com/jjkino0/status/1825270216173260967

It would surprise me if Andrei Kuzmenko is not traded before this year's trade deadline. I can be talked into Rasmus Andersson being traded at some point but I don't think there's a pressing time pressure to do it right away. I would be fairly surprised if Nazem Kadri or Blake Coleman are traded sometime in the next 12 months.

https://twitter.com/v5FlamesGM/status/1825300791286255725

No. And by that I mean: I don't know what the point would be in throwing promising young players into a challenging competitive environment – the betting markets seem to be suggesting the Flames will be 6th-worst in the NHL next season – where they will have a lot of challenging nights and potentially one-sided games. The Flames have enough quality NHL bodies at most positions where they can shelter their most promising kids a bit right now, and I think they'll take advantage of this depth to protect their kids this season.
<blockquote>From John (via e-mail): Hi Ryan. With the two Oiler RFA signings potentially opening the door to more signings, do you think there are any other interesting potential situations for offer sheet usage this offseason?</blockquote>
If the Flames were further along in their progression and they were one piece away from contention – and had cap space to burn – I'd be targeting Seth Jarvis. He's a 22-year-old right shot centre who's coming off a breakout season where he scored 33 goals and received votes for the Selke Trophy (for top defensive forward) and the Lady Byng (for most gentlemanly conduct). The kid's fantastic, and if the Flames were a Seth Jarvis away from being a powerhouse, I would be all for it.

...but they're not, yet. But it's fun to dream, right?

Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/X at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan [at] TheNationNetwork.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)
<h2>The FlamesNation Monday Mailbag is presented to you by Village Honda</h2>
Looking to sell your vehicle? Village Honda wants to buy it. We offer complimentary, no obligation appraisals, payment in 24 hours, top value trade in values and best of all, no stress. Skip selling your vehicle privately and stop in Village Honda today. No appointment necessary.

Village Honda is proud to be your dealership for life in Calgary since 1987. We are located in the Northwest Auto Mall under the giant Canadian flag or online at <a href="http://www.villagehonda.com/">www.villagehonda.com</a>.

<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116342" src="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Village-Honda-for-Monday-Mailbag.jpg" alt="" width="727" height="404" />

FlamesNation Mailbag: Talking trades and offer sheets as summer creeps along

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