Honestly, I'm not too angry because I fully expected this... and why wouldn't I? Born in 1988 so I've been able to enjoy roughly 2 seasons overall as a Flames fan, 1 being last year that still ended in complete embarrassment.
Super disappointed. I think we just watched the last of Gaudreau and Monahan with the Flames, and rightly so frankly. This core obviously cannot get it done. Despite Tkachuk not putting up the numbers in the playoffs yet either, at least he and Bennett have a pulse when the games matter.
Sell whatever you can and build around Tkachuk, Bennett, Dube, Mangiapane (I guess?), Andersson, and Valimaki. I'm sure the next rebuild will be less painful... right?!
Maybe we'll somehow fluke our way into a couple top players that raise their games when it matters. Wouldn't that be nice? Sadly it likely means ANOTHER 5-10 years before we look like we have a chance to compete again. Yet we'll likely never bottom out to get a top pick, so we'll probably be a middling team perpetually.
Being a Flames fan sure is fun, fun, fun.