Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
I do understand context. If Gaudreau busts, that doesn't make the Raymond signing any better. Nor Engelland. Nor Stajan. Nor Bollig.
I am not trying to slam BT but your logic is fuzzy. You say the circumstances have changed drastically because the Flames were expected to suck. Well they are one of the worst teams in the league, which by my definition equates to sucking. And those signings still look horrible.
Evaluate the signings on their own merits. Guys like Engelland and Raymond were over paid with too much term for what they brought to the table. That is true whether the Flames were good or bad. If that is what it cost to sign Raymond, the Flames should have passed like every other team in the league.
That doesn't detract from the good moves BT has made but you need to be balanced IMO.
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The Raymond signing was a bad one. Clearly. I understand why we did it at the time because we didn't have a lot of options up front. You would have preferred we forced some kid into the lineup as a top 2 line scorer? Obviously the term was too long. Would have been fine if Raymond wasn't useless and actually scored 10-20 goals. Obviously Treliving and the scouts thought Raymond could contribute more. They were wrong. It isn't the end of the world though.
Engelland I have no problem with. Our problems with our defense salary structure are not strictly because of that signing. As an UFA d-man he was overpaid as they all are. I've liked him as a #6, he's been very solid last year and this year IMO.
Stajan at the time I thought the term and dollars were too long, I'll give you that. I think he still has some value though.
Bollig is kind of irrelevant move IMO. His salary and term isn't big enough to handicap us. Gave us another good vet and a guy who could help protect kids. I don't think anyone should get worked up about that signing because it just doesn't really impact us going forward negatively.
So yeah I don't agree with you on Engelland, he's been very solid. Raymond is worthless and a terrible signing but I think you and I both understand why he was signed. It didn't work out and it sucks that he's so useless and still under contract for another year but in the grand scheme of things it isn't going to handicap us much either.
I mean you'd think we're talking Brad Richards for 10 years or burying Andrew McDonald and his 5 million in the minors for years.
If these are Treliving's biggest mistakes in his tenure then we should be pretty happy IMO.