If I'm the Flames, the selling point on winning is this:
Gaudreau - Tavares - ________
Tkachuk - Monahan - ________
_______ - Backlund - ________
Deep at center, 4 out of top 6 is high end, and all locked up for a MINIMUM of 4 years, or at least under team control in Tkachuk's case. Plus, 3 of 5 under 25, and all under 30 right now. Decent wingers are easy to find to fill out the rest of the roster when your core is built like that.
Then on the back end:
Giordano - Hamilton
TJ Brodie - Hamonic
Br. Kulak - Stone
Valimaki - Andersson
Kylington - Fox
Solid current Dcore, all locked up 2 years minimum, with a lot of very high end D prospects waiting in the wings to replace when needed.
Goaltending is the weak point and huge question mark going forward, at least in regards to winning though. That's a problem for sure, especially with what JT has dealt with in New York for almost a decade. But Smith's good for next year at least, you'd just have to sell him on the trio of Rittich/Gillies/Parsons being able to step up, or maybe snag Holtby or someone at the draft before free agency hits.
A big wild card also, is Hamonic. If they are really close then he could be a big influence on JT's decision.
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