Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongavey
No other team could make a call after 3 games, only the Flames have that type of insight. Other teams give those players a tonne of rope, even when they are struggling early in their careers. Draisaitl played with Eberle and Perron in his rookie year most of the time and he really sucked at hockey that year. Second year he played with Hall. Barkov played with Brad Boyes in his first year and Hubredeau and Jagr in year two. He was very average in both those years.
Sam played year one with Backlund and Frolik. He got 18 goals on that line that year. After that they buried him with garbage. There are a lot of top picks that are busts, very few are busts without the opportunity to play with the organizations top players for an extended period of time before making that determination.
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Well didn’t moving Tkachuk to the Backlund and Frolik line work out in the end? Like I’ve said already, that line was the MVP of the team and they were the only reason the Flames made the playoffs that season.
Look at it from the perspective of the coach. Say you were in GG’s position, you’re a young coach, barely established, might be your last shot. Do you just continue throwing Bennett out there with Tkachuk to maybe see if they can develop chemistry and probably miss the playoffs, or do you go with the 3M line which had instant chemistry which helps you win?
For me, I would’ve taken the latter because it’s a cut throat league and careers can be short. It’s not just about what’s best for one individual, it’s about what’s best for the team and what gets you the most wins. If a coach needs 20 games to figure out that something isn’t working or likely isn’t going to work, then heck, I don’t think that guy should be a coach at this level.