Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden
@GranteedEV
I disagree. The Flames primary issues have less to do with their first line, or individual players than you assert.
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We'lll have to agree to disagree. A #1C like the ones I named earlier would be centering the Tkachuk line as the driving force, not being the second option on Gaudreau's line. Gaudreau's line is a very good line, but it's Gaudreau's line. A winger's line. And wingers have limitations on a team's play that even the best wingers - guys like Ovechkin and Iginla - haven't been able to solve. Patrick Kane benefited from a first line ahead of him that featured Hossa, Toews, and guys like Sharp or Saad. Phil Kessel benefitted from a first line ahead of hi featuring Sidney Crosby. Your best winger is an important player, but he can't be your most important forward. Just my opinion. Kucherov right now is not playing on Stamkos' line. Bergeron and Marchand do play together, but their line takes on tough two-way matchups because they're two of the best two-way players in the NHL, something Gaudreau nor Monahan will ever be. So long as Monahan and Gaudreau are our clear cut "first line" and we're playing a system that emphasizes forward play over 5-man units then that is the ceiling on this team.
Re: Nashville, their blue line is far ahead of ours in terms of actual (not hypothetical) contribution. Maybe the talent divide isn't deep but the results are obvious, Nashville's a team built around utilizing its defensemen whereas we are a team built around strong forward play, except we don't get strong forward play on aggregate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
You see it in the fans as well, it's like we've been conditioned to believe that a rebuild is very formulaic and that you believe in every player and see everything through and changing the course at all is indicative of panic.
I mean how many Flames fans were laughing at Steve Yzerman years ago basically saying he was an impatient goof for making so many moves, and playing hardball with guys. It was a lot of fans, I remember it.
But he was always very dynamic and didn't subscribe to a linear rebuild where you draft guys, see every guy through to an NHL spot or failure and then fill any additional needs with free agents. That's Calgary almost to a tee, and it's proving to come with very mediocre results thus far.
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There are places where you need to stay patient. That is not the issue with this team. You can compare us to Tampa, but they stuck with Hedman and Stamkos through lean years because those are extremely valuable pieces. We have never had pieces with that kind of value. And they struck gold in the amateur scouting department with guys like Kucherov, Johnson, Point, Palat, and Killorn Likewise Boston, they may have shuffled pieces around on the wings, but they're still a team built around that same core group of Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Rask, and yes, Chara. Again they struck gold in the draft with guys like Pastrnak and McAvoy.
It still comes down to having those elite gamebreaking pieces down the middle, the Bergerons and Stamkos, that you can build around. Toronto finally has that in a deadly 1-2 punch of Matthews and Kadri after unsuccessfully trying to build around wingers (Kessel / JVR).
Calgary is mediocre because we don't have those types of pieces. We missed out on MacKinnon, Barkov, McDavid, Eichel, Matthews, and Hischier who are the kind of guys you can shuffle supporting pices around. Monahan is a good player and we have to hope he or Bennett pan out into something more than they are now, because you can't build around wingers. We don't have the kind of luxury you allude to. Treliving knows that for all his struggles, Bennett is a piece that could become better than Monahan or Backlund. There's no luxury to treat a guy like him or even Jankowski as expendable because we're not in a position to do so.
Tampa got Stamkos, and Boston got Bergeron. It's easy to shuffle secondary pieces like a Lucic or Hamilton knowing you have primary pieces like those two.