The Flames are a team that is fundamentally flawed in its construction.
BT committed to a core of players that simply are not good enough to compete in this league. Gaudreau is a wonderfully gifted player, and would be a tremendous supplemental piece on a contending team. As a cornerstone piece he simply does not have the make up to grind a team to a W. He's too small and too averse to initiating contact. Monahan I am not even sure would even be a 2nd line centre on a contending team right now. The goals are coming less and less often now, and that simply isn't good enough for a guy who is being relied on to be a 25-30 goal guy (82 game season). He just isn't getting better.
I guess we can all put that whole "Ward was stifling Bennett's potential" argument to rest as well. That's now 6 games in a row, the last 3 with getting close to 15 minutes a night, with zero points. 2 in his last 11. Now obviously the whole team is struggling. But this was supposed to be a reset for 93. Looks to be the same player as before.
Some great pieces out there. Tanev, Hanifin, Lindholm, Mangiapane. But otherwise this team is a complete mess.
|