Quote:
Originally Posted by bigrangy
^I disagree. I thought going into this season that the window would be most open this year.
Smith and Gio are not getting younger. Smith will need to be replaced and none of the kids are ready yet. Giordano will still be great for a while but in 3 years it could be very risky. There should be a replacement ready to go but there are no guarantees.
Backlund is still cheap and starting to go past his peak, Monahan, Gaudreau, Hamilton are all in their prime.
The only impact players that will (probably) be better in the future are Bennett/Janko/Tkachuk and they're playing at high levels already. Everyone else is in their prime or on the decline. The time to win is now.
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I think you are overstating things here. I agree that the window is open, but I don't agree that it's
most open.
The only key guys that are on the back side of their careers are Giordano and Smith. And the Flames' best prospects are all defensemen and goalies. Yes, there are no guarantees, but our prospect lists for those two positions are as solid as one could hope for.
Bennett, Jankowski, Tkachuk, Monahan, Gaudreau, Hamilton, and even to an extent Brodie and Hamonic, are all still improving, and can all be reasonably expected to be better,two or three or four years down the line than they are now.
The window is open, and they should be doing better this year than they are, but IMO, the window is likely to get much more open in the years ahead.