[BACKCHECK!!!]

Brouwer has had one bad season. Flames fans here acting like he didn't average 20 goals and 38 points over 7 consecutive seasons prior to that.

Matbe if he had a severe injury, or was in the sunset of his career, you could make a convincing argument that his NHL days are done. But he was just coming off of a dominant playoff performance at the end of yet-another 39 point season.

Maybe it was a coaching issue last year, maybe he got a bit fat and complacent on his new contract, I dont claim to know why he had a bad season.

But it's highly uncommon for someone to inexplicably go from being a key top-6 player on a contending team, to waiver-wire fodder with no future in the NHL, in the course of one summer.

He was terrible last season, no question. But I think it's foolish just to say "this is who he is now", and flush him without giving him a solid chance to put last season behind him and find his game again. Not just for his sake, but from an asset management standpoint.

Also, something something Lazar. The kid's been decent, but not somebody you go making roster moves for.