Quote:
Originally Posted by pylon
With this Hamilton deal, what we have up front the next three seasons, and the emergence of Brodie/Russell, it looks like the Flames just became a very serious contender. I think they still throw a pile of money at Gio, and deal with the consequences later. This Hamilton trade just made the Flames a serious contender if we retain Gio, and they might as well chase it while they have the young 3 superstars up front on the cheap.
What better combo could you ask for. A young, skill based, talented, hungry forward core, with a veteran, ultra reliable, puck moving blue-line. There will be no cinderella story next year. This trade totally changes the perception of what the Flames are now, and there will be much higher expectations.
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I couldn't agree more. The Flames landed a potential franchise defenceman who is 22 for straight picks. Picks that are vaulable but not a sure thing as we were a playoff team. I was all for wait and see what happens approach but now I think the Flames can contend for a cup right away. Our biggest weaknesses last year were 2nd line scoring and 5/6 dmen. We now have an elite defence core and didn't have to give up our potential 2nd line scoring in Bennett/Porier/Colborne/Klimchuk
I also think we can get Giordano below a 9 cap hit for sure. Even 9 million for 3 years add 4 years scaling the contract down each year and see if we can get him wrapped up for less than 8 would be great
I also think we should consider bridge contracts for Gaudreau, Monahan and Bennett is the same league as Stone/Johnasen. If we can do that we have more than enough space to keep Giordano
We also have decent prospects dmen that if Russell can't be kept we should be able to replace him through the system
No reason we aren't contenders over the next 4-6 years