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Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle
I'm failing to understand the issue with the clutter of forwards though? Who cares, other than the owners and the impact to their pocket books? This organisation has proven it will move the vets out when the prospects prove they've earned the spots, so not sure why anyone other than the Flames accountant has any concerns about this.
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Because you risk letting guys go by not qualifying them or to waivers. Guy that can legitimately help the team.
Assuming our top 6 wingers (Bouma/Gaudreau/Hudler/JOnes) stay pat, and Stajan stays pace and Bennett/Backlund/Monahan/Stajan is our center situation, that means we've got 4 spots avaialable and another 2 bodies for the press box.
Let's assume we send down Granlund and Poirier because we can, and likewise Bill Arnold stays down because we can.
We have to choose six of the following:
Raymond
Bollig
Byron
Colborne
Ferland
Jooris
Shore
Wolf
Long term, two
have to be let go or be put on waivers. You can talk all you want about Wolf being unproven or Byron being small but at the end of the day I'm not convinced they've shown less than Raymond has, or even Bollig despite his recent stretch of games thanks in strong part to the effectiveness of Stajan and the Schlemko/Diaz pairings.
Is keeping these guys around the
prudent move based on their potential to contribute? To me it seems like one dictated by contract situation - Hartley doesn't want to keep pushing buttons with veteran guys who are locked up for two years and knows he can get away with sitting rookies, but that doesn't mean Hartley has no confidence in the younger options.
You can let Wolf or Byron go, but they're both more versatile players that can seriously contribute. I don't think either has been a dud for us. Or do you give up on Colborne and Shore? Ferland and Jooris?
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Don't get me wrong, I'd be shocked if based on what he saw this year he feels as much need as he did last year to bring in warm bodies to fill in the line up, but all of the players you put above in brackets have not been bucked from their spots this year so why worry about it until it happens.
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Because it might cost the team wins.