Originally Posted by Savvy27
I disagree. Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk is a first line. Eichel would be an upgrade on Lindholm, but let's give that man some respect.
Lindholm - 47 points - 18th ranked C
Gaudreau - 49 points - 12th ranked LW
Tkachuk - 43 points - 19th ranked among LW and would have been 12th among RW
Literally none of those players are league wide second liners and this was after an awful season where the lines were a mess. I'll accept that they aren't elite first line players which is why I would be in favor of an Eichel acquisition, but they are firmly first line talent.
I'd also say that Mangiapane, Monahan, and Backlund are league wide top 6 players too. After that you have some slots open but they are bottom six and probably 4th line.
In a scenario where the Flames get Eichel for futures you have a top 9 of: Eichel, Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Mangiapane, Monahan, Backlund, Dube, and Pitlick/Lucic. That's a very strong group of forwards.
@lanny - You have to do mental gymnastics to catastrophize things. If you don't like Dube at C put him on RW where he usually plays and either move Pitlick to 4C or leave that spot open for a free agent or rookie. No issue at all. No back up? No problem, there are about 20 NHL quality free agent goalies floating around. Many teams haven't signed a back up yet.
As for the farm system, the Flames have two draft picks in Wolf and Parsons that will battle it out for starting minutes in the AHL. Not ready, but the players are there.
The top forwards on the Heat are Phillips, Ruzicka, Gawdin, and Pettersen. Pelletier and Zary start this year too. Not a bunch of AHL vets in their late 20s.
The defense took a big hit losing Gio. After Tanev, Hanifin, and Andersson things get pretty grim. They were good at cutting down chances last year, so hopefully Sutter can make do, but the lack of offence from the back end is going to be an issue.
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