Quote:
Originally Posted by dammage79
You're looking internally at the Flames and really need to look externally to other teams in the league. I guarantee two or three teams will pull the plug early and fire sale hard. That's at least how I see it, thus hampering the Flames' chances at McDavid/Eichel.
And Cammy was the leading scorer last year sure. But he;s just one part of a team. someone or by comity, the Flames will make up those goals. One player in particular stands out to me in that regard. Granlund. Cammy grade shot and knack for finding the open ice.
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We too have several pieces that could hypothetically move as well if we decide to pull the plug, including Ramo and Glencross, potentially more depending on if they want to go full Buffalo (Hudler/Wideman/Smid and/or others). On paper, the only team that I would peg as legitimately worse is Buffalo, along with phoenix but that's a different situation because of Tippett. They've been worse than the Flames on paper pretty much every season since they hired Tippett and they have been better in the standings most if not all the years he's been there. Awesome coach, him and Quenneville are my two favourites. Nashville has quite a few good young guys coming through, so I don't think they'll be that bad. Carolina might if they trade Staals.
It's not a bad thing to be bad in the standings during a rebuild as long as you're instilling good habits in the players you bring in, like what we saw last year. It's bad to be bad when you're trying to get out of rebuilding though like Edmonton/NYI/CBJ/FLA. The Flames are really only 1 1/2 years into a full on rebuild. Usually those take 3-4 years if you're doing them right.
If you expect the worst, and hope for the best, then you won't be disappointed. I'm expecting a 29th/30th finish like I was last year, and hoping that they'll continue to show some gumption again this season like they did this past season. If they finish 20th, I'll be thrilled because they are getting some stellar performances from people. If they finish 30th, welcome to Calgary McDavid/Eichel. Win win in my books.