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CliffFletcher · 02-10-2013, 01:52 PM

People like to compare Iginla with Yzerman and Sakic, and want him to retire a Flames, but that's a sentimental way to look at the issue. At this point in its history, the Flames need to demonstrate shrewd, hard-headed asset management, not sentimentality.

A much better comparable for Iginla at this state in his career is the a 35-year-old Brendan Shanahan. How many goals did Shanahan have left in his from age 35 to 38 (when he retired)? His last four seasons saw goal totals of 40, 29, 23, 6. When the wheels fall off for goal-scorers, they fall off fast. And yes, Iginla is fit. But fit players don't shoot the puck any quicker or hit one-timers with more velocity.

So any team trading for the 36-year-old Iginla will be betting maybe a couple 25 goal seasons out of him. Any trade will of necessity be a short-term proposition for the team acquiring Iginla, and a long-term proposition for the Flames.

Long-term, the Flames should be happy with any deal where we get a player contributing 20-25 goals in 3-5 seasons, because that's almost certainly more than Iginla would be potting in that time-frame if he stayed. And since Iginla's game is one-dimensional at this point in his career, if we get a better two-way player in a deal, he wouldn't even have to score 25 goals for it to be a win for Calgary.

That's why so many trade proposals involving Iginla are absurd. The Flames aren't going to get a player who is close to on-par with Iginla now and a top prospect or pick. Why would another team do that? They're not trading for the Iginla of 2008, and they don't care about the stature Iginla has in Calgary; they are going to appraise him solely by his likely goal-scoring output at ages 35-37.

I hope our ownership has the discipline and foresight not to be handicapped by sentiment when it comes to dealing Iginla. I hope they ignore the inflated expectations of fans, and make a courageous deal with the long-term health of the roster in mind. But I doubt they will. Discipline and long-term aren't in the vocabulary of Flames brass.

02-10-2013, 01:52 PM	#51
CliffFletcher Franchise Player Join Date: May 2006 Exp:	People like to compare Iginla with Yzerman and Sakic, and want him to retire a Flames, but that's a sentimental way to look at the issue. At this point in its history, the Flames need to demonstrate shrewd, hard-headed asset management, not sentimentality. A much better comparable for Iginla at this state in his career is the a 35-year-old Brendan Shanahan. How many goals did Shanahan have left in his from age 35 to 38 (when he retired)? His last four seasons saw goal totals of 40, 29, 23, 6. When the wheels fall off for goal-scorers, they fall off fast. And yes, Iginla is fit. But fit players don't shoot the puck any quicker or hit one-timers with more velocity. So any team trading for the 36-year-old Iginla will be betting maybe a couple 25 goal seasons out of him. Any trade will of necessity be a short-term proposition for the team acquiring Iginla, and a long-term proposition for the Flames. Long-term, the Flames should be happy with any deal where we get a player contributing 20-25 goals in 3-5 seasons, because that's almost certainly more than Iginla would be potting in that time-frame if he stayed. And since Iginla's game is one-dimensional at this point in his career, if we get a better two-way player in a deal, he wouldn't even have to score 25 goals for it to be a win for Calgary. That's why so many trade proposals involving Iginla are absurd. The Flames aren't going to get a player who is close to on-par with Iginla now and a top prospect or pick. Why would another team do that? They're not trading for the Iginla of 2008, and they don't care about the stature Iginla has in Calgary; they are going to appraise him solely by his likely goal-scoring output at ages 35-37. I hope our ownership has the discipline and foresight not to be handicapped by sentiment when it comes to dealing Iginla. I hope they ignore the inflated expectations of fans, and make a courageous deal with the long-term health of the roster in mind. But I doubt they will. Discipline and long-term aren't in the vocabulary of Flames brass.