Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Why must it either be one or the other?
The thing I don't get in this constant argument is the notion that the Flames only have two choices: either to embark on a scorched earth rebuild, or to continue to attempt to ice competitive teams via free agency and trades each year in hopes of making the playoffs at the expense of the longer term future. I just don't see either currently at work in the Flames organisation. Rather, it seems to me that management is taking a more patient approach: gradual turnover in the roster and restocking through the draft, supplemented by the free agent market. This is my interpretation of the last couple of drafts and also the way in which Feaster has constructed the current roster.
I don't think there are many serious Flames fans who actually believe that the current group is now or at any point in the next couple of seasons a legitimate contender in the League. However, I also think that this is not otherwise some egregious oversight on the part of management that urgently must be corrected. Could another alternative simply be that the next couple of seasons are transition periods through which the team is rebuilt more gradually?
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Restocking the team gradually through the normal allotment of draft picks and access to free agents isn't a strategy - it's what most teams in the NHL to every season. At best, it's an approach that will return the Flames to mediocrity in a few season. It's not an approach that gives us a high likelihood of developing an elite core and contesting the top of the conference for several season.
Le'ts compare two teams: the Stars and the Blues.
The Stars hung onto their aging core of Modano, Turco, Lehtinen, and Zubov until they had pretty much no value. Then they had declined into being a bad team, drafted and developed some pretty good players, and now they look they'll be... mediocre.
When the Blues saw thing weren't working out, they moved Guerin, Weight, Tkachuk out for young players and picks. Yes, they drafted very well to get themselves much of their core, but they parlayed those vets into McDonald, Perron, Cole, and Halak (via Eller). They supercharged their acquisition of young talent.
The Flame need to do that. They have, at best, an average prospect base. More importantly, they have maybe the worst collection of 21-27-year-old talent in the NHL. Even if our prospects turn out as well as we hope, and management continue to draft well, the top of the cycle still looks like mediocrity. And free agency is a way to supplement a good team (or patch a bad one), not build a champion. We need more prospects, and more and higher picks.