[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

But would you bet on this crop of kids leading the team to dominance over the other giants in the brutal west? I wouldn't. Not yet.

Of course not, and that is because—as you have pointed out—the Flames are an unfinished product.

Originally Posted by djsFlames

It's getting there, but what we really need to push us to have a real chance is another special player like Gaudreau that has that skill and the size to battle the big players. Bennett is good, very good. But he's not head and shoulders above the rest of the crop like Gaudreau has shown to be at every level he's played at. We need a player of McDavid/Eichel's elite skill to help bolster our forward lineup for a decade or more of contention.

Here is where I disagree. If the reports are true, then "a player of McDavis/Eichel's elite skill" is essentially limited to one or the other, and with the likely chance that there will not be another player as good in the draft in the near future. The Flames DO NOT need one of them. The LA Kings drafted Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Tyler Toffoli. They traded for and added forwards like Richards, Carter, and Williams, but NOT ONE of these players was touted to be a generational level talent in the same way that Eichel and McDavid are talked about. The Blackhawks drafted Toews and Kane, and added Hossa and Sharp to their forward core, and again, NOT ONE of these players was considered "elite" in the same sense as McDavid and Eichel in their draft years.

The point is that the Flames need to draft well. They need high skill players, and they need to be able to distribute them through their lineup, and to on occasion use them as assets in trades for smartly adding pieces to the core. The team's success does not depend on one player.

Originally Posted by djsFlames

We shouldn't build to be like Anaheim or LA, but to be one better. What you want is a Crosby/Malkin like tandem down the middle with responsible, 200 foot players surrounding them...

Sure, but the Flames can still be successful with a Bergeron/Krejci or a Kopitar/Carter down the middle.

*EDIT* I re-read your last comment, and felt that it deserved a more complete response. Yes, it would be amazing to be able to build a team like LA or Anaheim and also with a Crosby/Malkin tandem, but like you pointed out yourself, this is a pipe dream. That sort of depth is just not sustainable in the cap-era NHL, and is a big reason why Pittsburgh has struggled to have much playoff success in the past two or three years. So, given the choice between Pittsburg depth at centre OR a more complete team like in Boston, LA, Chicago or St.Louis, I will happily go in the direction of the latter. Yes, it would be amazing for the Flames to draft a player like McDavid, but even if they do not, the future is still very bright, and by building smart they can still be successful without him.