In fairness to the Flames Martin St Louis was let to walk during the clutch-and-grab era, and management at the time was up against big strong teams like Anaheim, LA, the Sharks, it was still a big man's league. Now, was it a mistake? Hell yes. Even then I remember thinking it was dumb, and I was glad he went and had a great career. I was worried like hell that they'd do the same with Johnny Gaudreau. They didn't.
If Sam goes on to be a line driving tenacious goal scorer, then wow, the Flames really blew it with him in terms of development, just a horrible black mark against the team. If he goes on to be a useful but inconsitent player, then that's what they traded away and got fair value on. If he falls off a cliff and winds up with "journeyman" status and moves from team to team, then I think that's what a lot of us came to expect of him, watching him here. Time will tell.
But I don't see this as being in the same vein as the Martin St Louis thing at all. That was like, here's a good player we don't want. Just baffling.
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