There are just as many example of tank and never recover teams as tank and then become contenders ... it's not a guaranteed recipe at all.
I like the Philly rebuild from a few years ago where they made some bold moves (Forsberg etc) and altered their future while picking in the top ten to 15.
The key is building depth and continuing to put the best team on the ice that you can. What does that mean? Good adds in the right age range and not stop gaping with vets that have seen their better days.
The Flames have more interesting players in the fold than they've had in any of the last three seasons. These players aren't in their mid 30's they are young, or mid to late 20's and that is promising. The puck moving aspect of the current team suggests they are closer to the style needed to win in to today's NHL compared to that "we can't make a mistake" team that we've seen for some time.
I think they are on the right path, but that path may not lead to the playoffs this season.
Fans will hate to hear this but I think you can almost chart Jankowski and Gaudreau as the pace the team is on. If they can supplant that with some moves this year (that is they fall out of the race and move some vets) then great, but like others when the puck drops I have to cheer for a win.
But like Jiri said it's nice to have a silver lining.
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