Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
IMO if you deal Gaudreau you're signalling a rebuild. He's your best player, he makes lesser players around him better, so by dealing him you're really committing to being a worse team.
I don't think there is the organizational imperative to compete like that. For what it's worth, I think it's an inevitability, but I don't think Flames ownership does a very good job of forecasting these sorts of things.
Honestly, it would be tough to deal gaudreau and get better in the following couple of years, and I just don't think this organization has the appetite for that.
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Define rebuild.
Are the Flames going scorched Earth? Probably not.
Even if Gaudreau is gone, all of Monahan, Tkachuk, Hanifin, Lindholm, Valimaki, Andersson, Bennett, etc... are all likely sticking around.
Realistically we are trading Gaudreau and maybe Giordano and/or Backlund? Other than that the roster is staying largely the same. The idea would be to move Gaudreau for a forward that can take over on the #1 line in 1-2 years. Even without Gaudreau the Flames have enough young pieces that they can retool and build around the remaining core.
A true rebuild take 5-6 years. That would be a massive mistake with so many young players on the team.