Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
I would consider moving bennett for a top flight young puck moving defender.
I'm not sure that's necessarily where Calgary needs to be, but if the plan is to shuffle some of the defensive deck chairs and maybe move a defender out for offensive help, it might make sense to capitalise on Bennett's free agent status and value around the league.
The Flames are in the unenviable position of needing a lot of help, but without the necessary trade assets to get deals done. Bennett is a prime trade asset.
Move bennett, sign backlund... profit?
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While those things may be true, we need to consider where the Flames would be
after that trade.
Do we need another puck-moving defenseman? Definitely.
But what is the hardest asset to acquire? Top Cs. Bennett has the potential to not only be a top 6 C but a top line C. They are extremely difficult to acquire, other than with a top 5 pick. And the fact is that our time in the lottery world is probably over. The Flames are going to be playoff contenders for the foreseeable future.
The other side of that coin is that, while we need another defender, we have 3 excellent ones, and the improvement to the team would be marginal. Or to be more precise, adding a defender like Vatanen would be less impactful to the team than adding a top line C (Bennett's potential).
Trading Bennett puts a huge hole in the middle of the lineup that the Flames have absolutely no way of filling.
Filling the problem of a puck moving defenseman? Many more options. Maybe we even get lucky and have Andersson or Kylington step into that role.
Regardless of what people think with respect to who is better, Vatanen or Bennett, it simply doesn't make sense for the flames to make that trade. It creates a much bigger and more difficult to fill hole than the one it solves.
Oh, and to Pinder saying that the Flames would have to add? That's laughable. They are at risk of losing Vatanen for nothing. Also, his stock has dropped a fair bit in the last year (even
before the pending surgery), there is a reason why he is the one that the Ducks won't protect.
I shake my head at some of Pinder's valuations, but this one is ridiculous.