The Calgary Flames are not the Tampa Bay Lightning. We aren't going to beat teams with out star power. If we are going to contend its because we can roll three five man units.
That was the issue last season. Our top guys are all paid under 7 million allowing us to invest in our depth. But we squandered that on players like Stajan and Brouwer. That was what this summer was about. Balancing our D to run 3 functional pairs, and investing in our forward depth.
Which is why I don't like the idea of stacking our top 6. Rather then throwing all the top names on the top two lines, let's balance the line up.
Gaudreau-Monahan-Bennett
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Neal
Frolik-Backlund-Ryan
This gives you three capable and purposeful lines making the Flames very difficult to defend against. It also gives us two strong defensive zone options so we aren't relying exclusively on the Backlund line.
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