Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
IMO, this is a problem with discussing team building on this board. We all acknowledge Monahan has room for improvement, that offensively he's a top line centre but defensively is severely lacking. Then you're qualifying Backlund as a 2/3, so we both understand what you're saying is he's not a legit 2nd line centre for a contending team. So right away, the flames top 2 centres aren't good enough, but we kind of gloss over that to move onto the next part of the conversation. That's a problem in my opinion.
I agree legit top 6 centres are tough to acquire which is why I think the Flames will end up acquiring a winger and why they were attached to a Kessel rumour for the second time in 4 years. I think if you have a strong enough contingent of wingers you can turn middling centres into top end centres. Backlund is probably a 60 point player if he's playing between Tkachuk and Kessel for example.
Personally, I think Getzlaf is the solution but he'd have to want to leave Anaheim which I don't think will happen.
There's also some guys missing from your list because they didn't score 75 last year because they didn't play enough games, and for some reason O'Reilly isn't on your list either after scoring 77 points, who happened to available last offseason.
It's the capacity to score 75+ points, not necessarily whether they did it in the last calendar year. Krejci, Couture, Larkin, Hertl, Pavelski, Zabinejad, Kopitar etc. Max Domi surprised us all with 72 points.
Those players are out there and they are relatively numerous. The acquisition cost is high, but it's not like the Flames haven't been wheeling out picks for years.
A top 6 of:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - O'Reilly - whoever
is a ####load better than:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - whoever
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Thing is I actually agree with your point - a better center is required and preferably an improvement on Monahan but I'm just not sure it's a realistic opportunity this off season.
O'Reilly looks great now but going into last offseason there were question marks. He had never had over 64 points, he was a strong 200ft player but for whatever reason his teams always underperformed. Based on the cost of acquisition though the Flames probably should have been more involved in that one. And salary is fine because trading for O'Reilly likely means you don't sign Ryan/Neal - Janko is your 4th line C.
And even on your point on Max Domi - the Habs didn't trade for a 75 point player they traded for a younger guy with potential and he turned into a 72 point player for them.
Outside of improving 3C with a guy that I listed above, going the "Domi" route might actually be the best course of action for the Flames - target a guy similar to Lindholm/Domi that has great pedigree but maybe has underachieved in his current situation.
Somebody like Dylan Strome would have been a good example and that seems to have worked out for Chicago.
Other examples would be:
Pavel Zacha - maybe Devils move on with Hughes on the way in, Hischer already there, and Zajac as their veteran presence.
Robby Fabbri - This one interests me a lot. Looked like a sure star prior to concussion issues, seems to have been surpassed in the Blues organization.
Tyson Jost - Hasn't really lived up to pre-draft billing in Colorado...could be an interesting target with Avs coveting d-men.
Alexander Wennberg - really fell out of favour in Columbus...we all know how much the Flames seem to love 2013 draft picks.