My growing concern is that the mix of players is not right. In the salary cap era NHL it is increasingly becoming about if you have the right combination of players.
The Flames aren't particularly fast
The Flames aren't particularly big
The Flames don't play a heavy game
So what are they?
I think they have some high end skill for sure.
But when you think about "how they are going to win" the answer isn't clear.
I think too many of their top line players are too passive. You can have some of those but I would suggest overall Tkachuk, Backlund, and Gio are the only ones in the core that really have a lot of sandpiper. Ferland does but still isn't consistent enough with it (though I have zero complaints about him overall)
If Sam can continue to find his game, he is another who certainly has grit.
And for those saying the team is timid because of the coach, I don't agree. Some of these guys (Monny, Hamilton, etc) just don't have that in them.
I would be in favor of moving out a piece like Brodie or even Hamilton to bring in a core player with more grit.
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