Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Gelinas "It's going to be a struggle this year"

BACKCHECK!!! · 08-24-2013, 02:33 PM

The roster the Flames have is not a bunch of kids finally getting their chance in the NHL.

This roster is mostly guys between 28 and 30 years old, who collectively just aren't as good as most NHL teams.

I think the ideal situation is to see one prospect at each of the 5 skater positions, and the rest of the roster consisting of veterans who can shelter, mentor, and spoon-feed the prospects as needed.

That's pretty close to what the Flames are doing this year.

The only thing I'd like to see the Flames do differently at this point would be to overpay some higher-end players on short-term 2-3 year deals, so that the vets on the team are of a higher calibre. For example young wingers like Baertschi will be able to play at a higher level on Grabovski's wing than on Stajan's wing, because Grabovski is better in every way. He is faster, he can pull the trigger on their set-ups better, and can feed them better passes. I think this applies to every position, and I think that surrounding our rookies and prospects with a higher calibre of player is worth the possibility of finishing maybe a couple draft spots higher. And a Mikhail Grabovski or Michael Ryder (just for examples) is not going to stop this team from drafting very, very high.

If think Karri Ramo is the only thing that can stop this team from drafting top 5.

08-24-2013, 02:33 PM	#56
BACKCHECK!!! First Line Centre Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: TEXAS!! Exp:	The roster the Flames have is not a bunch of kids finally getting their chance in the NHL. This roster is mostly guys between 28 and 30 years old, who collectively just aren't as good as most NHL teams. I think the ideal situation is to see one prospect at each of the 5 skater positions, and the rest of the roster consisting of veterans who can shelter, mentor, and spoon-feed the prospects as needed. That's pretty close to what the Flames are doing this year. The only thing I'd like to see the Flames do differently at this point would be to overpay some higher-end players on short-term 2-3 year deals, so that the vets on the team are of a higher calibre. For example young wingers like Baertschi will be able to play at a higher level on Grabovski's wing than on Stajan's wing, because Grabovski is better in every way. He is faster, he can pull the trigger on their set-ups better, and can feed them better passes. I think this applies to every position, and I think that surrounding our rookies and prospects with a higher calibre of player is worth the possibility of finishing maybe a couple draft spots higher. And a Mikhail Grabovski or Michael Ryder (just for examples) is not going to stop this team from drafting very, very high. If think Karri Ramo is the only thing that can stop this team from drafting top 5. __________________ I am a lunatic whose world revolves around hockey and Oilers hate.