Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Menace
Flames could use him; he improves the roster without doubt....this seems like a no brainer. In a fight for our playoff lives we need all the help we can get.
This is an elite prospect; there should be no worry about rushing him too fast or anything....pretty sure he is one of our best 12 forwards today....
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I think it's the last line of your post that everyone seems to taking as a given, but I'd wager is not being seen as such a slam dunk by the a Flames right now and is complicating the decision, especially if the expectations are for him to hit that level right away.
Also, he's not going to play on our 4th line, so he needs to be in the top 9 right away. I know it's easy to say he'll be better than Raymond or Colborne, which I hope would be the case in fairly short order, but in 4 games maybe not. This is really complicated for the Flames I'm sure, there is no guarantee he'll be better right now, so slotting him in unproven at this point and taking out a player who's been through this teams battles all year is not something you take lightly at this point if your are the a Flames. Getting in has to to be priority number 1, but if it's debatable if it's going to be an upgrade over the next 4 games you have to be careful of the cultural implications for the team and Bennett long term when you preach always earned and this group has already exceed expectations so much.