Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
There was also the fact that the Flames were operating on a budget of half nothing when Button joined them. Not only did they skimp on scouting, they also skimped on player salaries. I remember people in the organization telling the media that they wanted to target WHL players in the draft because they would be more likely to sign here for a price the Flames could afford.
Basically, they restricted their draft pool mostly to players who might give the team a hometown discount. This was a bush-league plan, and worked out about as well as you'd expect.
|
Frankly, that's one thing I forgive Sutter for. People in Calgary don't want to admit that this isn't exactly a AAA destination for NHL players. We'll have to overpay to bring (or keep) free agents here. Not as bad as Edmonton. But we're not far behind. So drafting and signings guys who would find Calgary attractive for reasons other than $$$ makes sense.