I had much higher expectations last season.. added Hamilton, Frolik, Bennett and Gio to a playoff team without losing anyone (Schlemko, Diaz and Byron).
This year replaced Hiller with Elliot who was a very good goalie on a Hitchcock coached team. However looking at Goalies records 2014-15
Hiller 26-19-4 2.36 GA .918 sv %
Elliot 26-14-3 2.26 GA .917 sv%
If the Flames made a trade Hiller for Elliot in July 2015 the Flames expectations of a successful 2015-16 season would not have changed at all.
The rebuild is over . A rebuilding team has Cap space waiting to take on a cap problem, like the Flames did last year with Hamilton.
The Flames will have as much long term salary (4+ years) tied up as any team in the league. What we see is what we get. Counting on development, hoping for no regression and better coaching.
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