The hardest part about projecting the Flames cap situation right now is we have 2 guys signed going into the 17-18 season right now. That will change this summer. First thing the Flames have to do is figure out who they will be resigning long term. I expect that if we make a big trade this summer it will involve a RFA that is asking for a big raise. But I fully expect by the end of this summer we will have 6-7 guys signed into the 17-18. Next summer the Flames will be in a much better spot to plan on what big moves they can make. This year is 1 year too early
The 3 most important things when building into a cup contending team is drafting/player development, contracts/cap situation and timing. They all fit together but drafting and player development gives successful teams key contributors making less than 2 million which then gives teams depth and allows them to keep there top players for bigger deals. But alot of team get killed because they ignore timing and always think just this season alone. See teams like Chicago vs a team like Pittsburgh. Chicago is the most successful team in the last 6-7 years and the reason is they make tough decisions to get rid of guys even after they win a cup. They also have being doing a good job of drafting players and developing players even though they have been drafting late in the first round yearly. Pittsburgh is a constant buyer, especially at the deadline. Even though they have 2 players who are as good as they get it seems like they are always in need of fulling in the rest of their team with cheap UFAs who aren't key contributors due to constant trading of draft picks and lack of player development
The nice thing the Flames have is depth in prospects that should put then in a spot to have key contributors over the next 2-4 years that have low end cap hits. They also have control over a lot of their core players due to their age. But until they resign some players to give them more of an idea of what we have long term and when we can think agressively we should continue on the same path we have been of stock piling assets
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