Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Not in the sense they can carry a top line. I have always been of the view that most teams have a top 4 set of forwards (a centre and winger) and the other winger can be plugged in. I don't believe Clark Gillies was a top line winger in the NHL - but he played on a great top line. Of course, the HOF disagrees with me on that example.
Point being, you'd have a rough time pointing to any team where all 6 forwards are what you'd think of as "top 6". Andrew Cogliano plays top 6 minutes in Anaheim, a semifinalist last year. He's not a top 6 forward IMO.
|
The thing is Calgary has 3 very legit top 6 forwards (the top line) Frolik is a top 6 and we think/hope/assume Bennett will be. It can be argued the flames only have 3-4 top 6. I think Frolik given a bigger role can be a 25-25 guy. Bennett has elite potential but that's where it ends.
Flames got by last year with Bouma scoring 17 and 34pts but that is not happening again this year. The team has 5 top 4 D and should be bolstering their forward group with that excess (especially considering that the 6/7 D make a combined $6.4M)
This forward-defense mix reminds me of 2010 where the Flames couldn't score the problem this year is we do not have elite goaltending like we did back then