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Originally Posted by blankall
1) Baertschi definitely looks like more of a first line talent. You've also short changed Backlund. He developed very well this year.
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I put my roster list as if it was a team that was more of a contender than just where they line up. On a contending team, a player like Backlund should be more of a 3rd line guy that can put up 35-50 points while being rather good defensively. I don't see how we would be a contending team if he is playing regularly on the 2nd line. We need 7 or 8 forwards of Backlund's calibre or better. I do like Backlund a lot and he can be a very useful player moving forward, but we won't be winning anything if he's one of the key name players on this team.
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2) Judging defencemen is difficult. Any of those guys you listed could become #2-4 guys.
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Definitely. Pegging how good a defenseman will be is about as easy as it is determining how a Goalie will be at the same age. Duncan Keith wasn't very well thought of at Wotherspoon's age (thought to be a 4/5 guy maybe) but he developed into one of the best D-men in league. It really is a crap shoot.
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3) Even the guys you listed are all unlikely to reach their potential. But we are bound to luck out with other prospects like Hankowski, Cundari, etc.. That's the benefit to having prospect depth.
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We agree fully. The more darts you throw at the board, the more likely you'll hit the mark. That's why I hope the Flames somehow get 8-10 picks or more in each of the next couple drafts. More competition will allow the cream to rise to the top, and allow for opportunities to trade off some players for other areas of need depending on what it is.
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4) You don't need a top line consisted of 3 bonafide #1 line players. Very few rosters do. Look at Vancouver...it's Sedin-Sedin-whoever. Look at Boston, arguably the best team in the NHL right now: They essentially have a top line full of second liners that step up when needed.
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Usually a contending team needs 7 or 8 players that are equivalent or better than what Baertschi (potential) and Brodie are. Chicago has Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Bolland, Keith, Seabrook and several others that are quality like Bickell, Crawford, Shaw, Hjalmarsson, Leddy Etc. Boston has Bergeron, Lucic, Krejic, Horton, Marchand, Chara, Rask, with a lot of quality secondary players like Jagr, Seidenberg, Ference, Boychuk, Kelly, Peverly and Seguin.
Position doesn't really matter, quality, and quality depth does.
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5) We can acquire players through free agency. Especially second line wingers, second pairing d-men etc...
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The problem is that as an organization the Flames are basically starting from scratch, so we need to get a stable full of good prospects and young players before we can add in earnest elsewhere. If you look at what LA did was stockpile players that were quality and then trade a couple of the lesser guys in Simmonds and Schenn for Richards, and Johnson for Carter. We are at the point LA was in 2005-2006 though in terms of what we have. It'll take a while before we're at the point to really make moves to put the final touches on being a contender. Until then, everyone over 25 is just a placeholder basically.