Those wanting to keep the bulk of the core together and/or clamoring to an easier playoff entry next year are likely just realizing (or not realizing) that there are no scenarios where this team is good in the next 3-5 years.
The level of retool necessary to competed with Tampa or Colorado or Carolina or Las Vegas is not possible with this roster. With top end coaching you can try to scratch and claw to get through a round or two (like NYI), but there is no chance of winning a cup. This is not Washington after winning the presidents trophy or close for many years. This is not even the 8th place Kings team that loaded up on fir power with Quick, Doughty, Kopitar as the center pieces. This is not even the 04 Flames with Kipper, Regehr, Iginla. This team has neither the top end to outscore, nor the grit to grind out a team in the playoffs.
It's either 5 years of misery starting now...or 5 years of misery starting whenever we decide to take on 5 years of misery. Either way...I don't see a scenario where a team trades us a good enough set of players to make a tangible difference and there is nothing in the pipeline that could make the necessary impact in the near term time horizon. This team peaked in the regular season of 2019 and burned (misdeveloped, traded etc.) too many assets along the way to build on that.
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Go Flames Go
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