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Originally Posted by 868904

I'm certainly not a fan of Treliving's coach choices, but I can understand the lack of a big splash up front. The only guy who the Flames had a realistic shot at was Hall and Toffoli. Hall would have been a gigantic albatross of a contract, with a lot of risk involved.

Toffoli wouldn't have been as big a risk but Tre clearly prioritized goalie and top 4 defenseman. Can't say I disagree with him here.

Flames didn't have a better option in goal than Markstrom, he was the best period and you have to go for that. As for Tanev, Flames needed another top 4, no question about it as there wasn't any player ready to step in, and no Valimaki was not ready to be a top 4, he wasn't ready in the offseason and he isn't ready now.

Up front, the Flames definitely needed help, but there was and still is the chance that Dube, Mangiapane or Bennett (coming off another big playoff) take that next step and if they do, then there is no need to commit big dollars and term to a guy like Toffoli.

Toffoli is off to a hot start, but there is no way he keeps this up. He's averaged 47 points a year throughout his career, he's not all of a sudden a 60 goal scorer. I don't think its a stretch to suggest that Dube and Mangiapane could average 47 points over the term of Toffoli's contract, especially if Toffoli is not on this roster blocking them from opportunities to put up points. I think Tre just believes that Toffoli isn't a huge upgrade on Dube and Mangiapane over the term that would have been required to sign him.

So it was a combination of getting the best goalie, shoring up the top 4 defense and having young players who could produce at a similar rate to a second tier UFA forward signing.

Excellent and very observant post.

Prioritizing , filling needs and evaluating progress of young players are imperative in evaluating the quality of a GM.