Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Honestly? I'm fine with that. Iginla means more to this team and to this city than practically any individual player to any team in the past two decades. If the Flames can't hit a home run by trading him, then I can't see how simply moving him for ANYTHING is justifiable given everything that he has meant for the Flames. The only reason the team is considering this is as a way to kick-start a rebuild, and if they can't get the pieces to do it, then what would be the point?
Yes, he may leave as a free agent, and that is unfortunate. Yes, the team is heading into uncharted lottery-pick territory, and could be terrible for a long time. If the return is indeed lower than what is being reported, then trading Iginla does not really make much difference one way or the other. But is all of this really worth the anger and consternation? Get a grip people. It's a game.
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I understand this logic but I don't agree with it at all. If Iginla had told Feaster that he isn't going to re-sign with the Flames next season (unless the Flames miraculously makes a deep playoff run or wins the Cup or something) and the team has little chance of making the playoffs (the reason why an Iginla trade is discussed in the first place), then YOU GET WHAT YOU CAN FOR IGINLA! It's like an owner refusing to sell a piece in the last day of a going out of business sale even though the price offered is better than what he can get from a liquidator or on ebay because the piece has symbolic value. NO! You get what you can. Every little bit helps.
Do you really think that losing Iginla for "less than a home-run" is more "justifiable" than losing Iginla for nothing? There's going to be anger and consternation if Iginla is traded for "less than a home-run" and there's going to be anger and consternation if Iginla leaves and the Flames get nothing in return. But the anger will be directed at Flames management and ownership not because they failed to "trade Iginla for a home-run" but for not having traded Iginla sooner and or putting the team in this position in the first place. I think most of us have long realized that Iginla's value might not be as great as most of us want it to be.
Take the Kovalchuk trade. It was a poor deal for the Thrashers from the start and its only justification was that Kovalchuk wasn't going to re-sign. But anger wasn't directed at the deal itself, but at management for putting together crappy Thrasher teams in the first place. Today the Jets have Byfuglien (Chicago's 1st round pick), Cormier, and Chicago's 2nd and 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft to show for the trade. Ya maybe the Flames won't get anything back that will by itself "kick-start a rebuild", but certainly pieces of value can be gained if Iginla is to be traded by the deadline.