Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Absolutely because most of us hate having to wait for un-tradeable contracts like Wideman's to end. Flames fans would have been furious if Treliving gave Lucic that deal Edmonton did and for good reason. We all love Gio but his play has dropped off this year. Maybe like Brodie it's due to the new style of play but we have to accept he's probably going to start sliding slowly and he's only in the first year of a six year deal. It's pretty scary to think of how much of an albatross that could be if he loses a step in the next couple of years.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a Treliving supporter but sooner or later the owners will want to see some progress and right now I don't know if the team is getting better as it seem they have tapered off some from 2014. I just don't know how much patience the ownership has ultimately as this isn't Winnipeg where they are on a budget as the owners have given management all the financial resources they could ask for to pursue players they see fit to get this team into a contender. I don't think a GM in Calgary is going to get the time like they are giving Chevy in Winnipeg to not make that next step.
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But that's the thing - in order to make progress year-over-year you have three roster options:
A) Hope your young players get better
B) Make trades for impact players
C) Sign free agents
Most of the Flames improvement has come from A. These days, B isn't really much of an option in this league, especially when you're as asset-poor as the Flames are.
That leaves C. And to get an above-average UFA signed, you have to pay through the nose. That's just the way it is. Don't want to give out generous contracts to ageing players? Then I guess you're not signing free agents. Better hope you have an outstanding drafting and development system to bring in multiple difference-makers onto your roster every season.