Not sure if this is considered a hot take or not, but I don’t see Gio or Tkachuk moving this offseason. I don’t think people know Darryl if think he’s going to be ok giving up his #1 defenseman right now. Darryl has actually stated that Gio is the team’s best defenseman too. So I don’t think there’s a chance Gio moves. Darryl is all about winning, he doesn’t give a squat about age. So I could very well see his 4th favorite defenseman Noah Hanifin being moved instead.
I think in the end, Matthew Tkachuk stays as well because his line has a ton of chemistry right now and I’m not sure breaking up one good line to maybe build 2 lines is a good idea. What happens if no one can effectively replace Tkachuk and the Flames end up with 2 inconsistent top lines?
I love the idea of adding Jack Eichel, but not at the expense of breaking up an already functionally elite line because isn’t that point of adding Jack Eichel? The hope that he can help create an elite line? To break up an already elite line just to create another type of elite line seems counterproductive. I’d honestly rather take a lesser center and try to build a strong second line while keeping Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk together.
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