Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan
You're saying we need 4-5 more forwards and 2 more defensemen. Are you really saying you would drop any of Brodie, Russell, or Wideman down to the bottom pairing after what we just saw from them the last few months? I would argue that MAAAYYYBEEE 1 of either Russell or Wideman would be more suited to the bottom pairing, but I don't see any options out there other than Ehrhoff that would be better than either of those two.
Where are you putting all these forwards? Who are you willing to drop out of the lineup other than Mason Raymond and Brandon Bollig? Colborne? Bouma? Jones?
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The problem is 2-fold. The first is injuries, you will always have injuries. The second is age, time marches steadily on.
In terms of injuries, you needed to be deeper than the Flames are if you want to have success in the playoffs. Obviously an injury to the team's best player is catastrophic, but, you can't play your top 3 defenders 30 minutes each per night unless they are Pronger, Niedermayer and who is playing with Pronger and Niedermayer. Brodie was fan-freakin-tastic in the playoffs, but in 3 years when he's 25/26 and entering his prime, he is going to need some help that 36 year old Giordano can't supply from the second pairing. Wideman's role is going to have to be replaced, as will Engeland and eventuallly so will Giordano's.
Monahan is just 20 years old. By the time he is 23, Dennis Wideman and Jiri Hudler will likely be gone or in diminished roles. In that case, they are going to have to be replaced, and for the team to have more success than finishing in the second round, they are goign to have to be replaced by players that are better than they are or who are as good but with a different skillset.
Same for the bottom 6. Stajan, Bollig, David Jones, all guys whos roles have to be replaced.
So, in that capacity, you know at some point they need to be replaced, it's a question of timing. You aren't going to successfully augment your team by plugging 6 - 8 lineup holes in free agency. Thankfully it looks like there are guys in the system who may already be the ones to plug those holes (Ferland, Bennett, Bouma), but Calgary is still going to need to draft well in the immediate term to have as best a shot as possible to augment the really nice core they've developed this season, especially when it comes to defenders.
If the rumours about Tyler Myers are accurate, it's likely the Flames have already identified how much further developed their forward core is compared to their defense and strongly considered dealing from their your forward group to balance out the positional strength of the organization.