[EldrickOnIce]

Good read on Flames nation about the state of the team moving forward.
This perspective suggests, to me, that the GM has done a pretty good job.

The thing that piques my interest the most though, is how hilariously split this roster is in terms of talent. One portion of the team is, for the most part, good. They’re not all super stars, but they fit in their roles well and would be good pieces moving forward. The 3M line (duh), Gaudreau, Monahan, Versteeg, the top three defenceman, Ferland and I would even suggest Stajan in his bottom six role. The fact that some are GROSSLY overpaid for such roles is a different discussion altogether.

Then, you have the bottom side of the roster which, on most nights, is very bad and sometimes even costs the team points. Your Boumas, Engellands, Widemans and Jokkipakkas, who are not good.

I yielded from putting Chiasson in a category because I’m of the opinion he would make a very nice fourth line winger, he’s simply being misused due to circumstance right now, and Bennett because he’s still finding his way and hasn’t really been good or bad. Troy Brouwer is a guy who, by the eye test, seems fine in a third line role (to me, at least), but his underlying numbers suggest he is not fine in that role, or any role in the National Hockey League. He’ll always be overpaid, but I’m willing to give him a little more of a chance to prove he’s a competent bottom-sixer. Maybe I’m just a nice guy.

The great thing about this split is that, minus Versteeg, the good half is locked up (or RFA), and the bottom half already has a foot out the door, with all but Bouma set to be free agents on July 1. It’s the latter fact that gets me more excited about the Calgary Flames than I have been in a very long time.

http://flamesnation.ca/2017/1/25/fla...-be-contenders