[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Right, but if the team is no worse off on the ice for it, then it also doesn't really hurt them.

Except the team is worse off. You're laying the breadcrumbs to follow.

I completely disagree. The team is at worst not quite as good as the one that placed second in the League last year, but that has more to do with regression of some players to the mean after career seasons.

Example one. The team needed additional supporting cast to protect from this. I think Treliving knew this and was trying, but ultimately failed to find a body to make a difference.

The loss of Garnett Hathaway is a MUCH bigger loss for the Flames than James Neal.

Example two, and this is wholeheartedly agree with. Hathaway was a very good role player and was a big contributor for his limited role. This is a loss that will be felt more than most people think. I don't think he was worth the contract he received in Washington, but he's a quality player.

The exchange of Neal for Lucic DOES NOT have anywhere near so significant an on-ice impact. In a player-for-player swap between this year's Lucic and last year's Neal, the net result is pretty negligible.

Example three. Lucic will struggle to even meet Neal's meager output last season. But that is irrelevant as the player Lucic is replacing is a guy that was scratched in the post season. Neal wasn't going to be here, so the issue is not what replaced him in trade, but is what salary could be recouped from the awful free agent signing. Any possible benefit we could have received from moving Neal and his albatross contract was greatly exceeded by the terrible contract that Treliving agreed to take on in return. Gone is the potential to have cap space to supplement the team in any realistic way. This is the potential that should have been front and center for Treliving, not trying to be square on the contract. Instead of having $1.9M in dead cap space, the Flames are now stuck with an immovable $4.5M and a roster spot being consumed. That isn't negligible.

So when you add it all up, we're likely not going to be seeing the repeat of the career years. We got worse in the role player department. Any possible cap space we could have possibly had to play with as a result of Neal's departure has already been consumed by a player that would struggle to make most rosters. Any possible hopes of finding some help without carving an additional salary out of the mix has been dashed. Deals now can't be just cap neutral, we have to start looking for buying some cap space in players we deal because of the worst contract in hockey. The results won't be negligible. Treliving has handcuffed himself and dropped the keys.