Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
The core has been identified:
It is the guys on the team that have contracts out to 2017-18
Gio
Brodie
Hamilton
Frolik
Backlund
Stajan
Bouma
and after this summer Monahan and Gaudreau
That is it.... there will be some internal improvement from the guys under 25 Hamilton, Monahan and Gaudreau and Bennett if he qualifies for the core on his performance next season.
That is the core, it is in place and is what it is.
|
Oh my god. That's ludicrous. That year sees Backlund, Stajan, and Bouma coming off the books, and you are seriously suggesting that all three of them are core pieces? Come on. Even you can't be that myopic.
In 2018–19 the Flames have presently committed $21.45 to FOUR players. After this summer, that number will probably be in the range of $34 m for six players. This figure does not include Bennett and this year's first round pick, who also WILL factor into the team's core moving forward almost immediately. It is practically unbelievable that you would fail to include a potential top-three draft pick in your assessment.
Quote:
|
There is no salary cap room to add replacements for Hudler and Russell and no chance to add Lucic /okopos or Hamonic
|
Wrong. There will be close to $10 m available to sign players this summer AFTER contracts are tendered to Gaudreau and Monahan, and this doesn't account for the 10% overage allowance during the summer months in which the Flames will almost be certainly looking to move one or two of Wideman, Smid, and Engelland, and one of Raymond or Stajan. That's not to say I expect the Flames to be overly active on the UFA market this summer, but it certainly is not accurate to characterise their situation as "no chance."
Quote:
|
the glaring thing is no NHL calibre goalie. Trevling knew that last summer but was unable to win a bidding war.
|
This has been clearly identified by management as a major problem, and I expect that it will be addressed. But really, the point here is that the decisions made today do not need to have such a long term impact. I would not be surprised to see the Flames plugging the gap in goal for another year or two while one of their own develops into a starter, or they are able to identify and trade for/sign for a starter from another team. Kind of like...
Quote:
|
...the Wild before Dubynk.
|
The most maddening thing about your evaluations—and this holds for practically all of them—is that you have this bizarre outlook that allows for no flexibility whatsoever. The real world never quite works that way. In this case there are still plenty of unforeseeable things that allow for the Flames to navigate any of their potential cap issues successfully.