Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
This is Brad Treliving's team. He's had three coaches and half a decade to shape the roster. You can make a very good case he should be fired but I don't think that happens because he has multiple years left on his deal. I don't see a scenario where he gets to perform another rebuild so I imagine the plan is to retool via trades and free agency. The team will look different next year and maybe even worse on paper but it's all going to come down to the next head coach they hire. If Brad hires another dud you can stick a fork in the this team as things will snowball into a scorched earth rebuild. If he hires a proven head coach that's won a lot of games then it is possible to at least move the needle forward a bit. Plenty of question marks;
-No head coach. Ward did well filling in but he's not the solution. This is pretty scary because Treliving doesn't seem to have a grip on what to look for in head coaches.
-No starting goaltender whatsoever. Rittich at this point is an average backup goaltender and Talbot isn't the solution.
-No elite defenseman on the roster. Gio's no longer that guy and will likely regress more next season.
-No 1st line center. I don't care what anyone says Monahan is not a 1st line center on a cup contending team. We have ample evidence that shows that this Flames team is that absolute ceiling for a team that's top center is Sean Monahan.
-No blue chip prospects in the organization. Not a drafting issue and more that it's the price paid for too many picks traded.
While it may look like a mess there's talent on the roster to work with but it's going to require some shrewd decision making for a retool to work. Need to nail the head coach hire. Gaudreau should fetch a solid return of player/prospect/draft pick and they will have some cap space to replace at least Brodie but I don't know what to do with the goaltender and center position. You can't trade Monahan because there's no succession plan within the organization and no team is going to trade their 1st line center to the Flames. They will have to stick with him and go after a guy like Hall that can hopefully carry him like Gaudreau did. Do they go after Lehner or trade for a Matt Murray type of reclamation project? Lots of questions and lots of options out there. I think a GM could successfully retool but there won't be much margin for error.
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4 coaches. (probably 5) But who's counting?