Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
That's fair, but it does not change the fact that 35 points in a season would be relatively commensurate with Brouwer's contract.
In his first season in Calgary Frolik scored 32-points—albeit in 64 games. The fact that he was much better than that this year helps to illustrate my point about what should be expected from Brouwer for next year, but moreover, I would say that the Flames are getting excellent value from Frolik. I don't expect they will get the same kind of value from Brouwer, but that is the difference between adequate value and excellent value.
The Pittsburgh Penguins won two Stanley Cups with Carl Hagelin earning $4.0 m a year. He scored 22 points last year. EVERY NHL TEAM has players on their rosters who are significantly overpaid for their role on the team. I am quite sure that the Flames will manage with Brouwer.
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Brouwer does nothing else for the team aside from amassing his defacto points per minute. Frolik, Hagelin etc are useful players in other facets of the game and are actually capable of creating offence with foot-speed and offensive acumen alone.
Brouwer is so woefully equipped to play the system the Flames have evolved to under Gulutzen that it makes him a complete detriment to any of the scoring lines as he treats the puck on his stick like a hand grenade.
The Flames might "manage" with Brouwer but it is going to seriously hamper their ability to re-sign upcoming free agents while having the flexibility to put themselves over the top by acquiring actual impact players. This franchise cannot afford to have players simply existing if they actually expect to challenge the heavyweights of the conference.