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Originally Posted by Macho0978
I think the Flames will be better this year partially due to under achieving last year. You can make a case that the core/long term pieces the Flames got younger this off season while improving the prospect pool by more than the average team did.
Gio out Zadorov in is a 38 year old for a 26 year old. Not saying it was an improvement but at some point Gio was going to fall off a cliff and retire. We at least got rid of that risk for a dman that is a huge physical presence and could be improving still
Ryan our Coleman in. Ryan was a 4th liner but was a regular for this team for the last 3 years. He is 34 and Coleman is 29 and IMO a much better player.
Sure guys like Pitlick is 29 and more likely a regular and Bennett was in that role so we are a bit older there.
Guys like Lewis are on short term cheap deals and easily could be out in the press box any given night so I don't really care about his age.
There also as of right now is spots to be had for some young players. Mackey or Kylington could get a bump in games this year
Ruzicka and Phillips could land a spot.
Valimaki could get more ice time.
Our top 3 lines depending on who plays with who only have 2 30+ forwards in Backlund and Lucic (could be a 4th liner this year)
Our top 4 d has a 31 year old and 3 Dmen 24-26 years old
Goalies are 31 and 23 years old.
This team hasn't done a ton of big moves and of course most of us don't want to be stuck in the middle year after year but for now this team is overall a younger team, improved prospect pool and up draft picks at least in the first 2 rounds of next draft.
We are also in a unique spot of being plus cap space.
This could all fall apart if we don't figure out Tkachuk and Gaudreau though. But on paper so far it isn't as bad as most make it out, it's just not as big of changes as most wanted
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The Flames, unlike several of their rivals, have not handicapped themselves long-term with awful contracts. Worse comes to worse, they can pull the plug and go full rebuild to stock up quickly.
I also think a lot of fans have become obsessed with the scorched Earth model, which unless you get lucky enough to draft Crosby, rarely works. Even if the Flames went that way, are they going to outsuck the Arizona's, Seattle's, Buffalos, etc.. of the league. Even if they do, with the new rules the odds of drafting #1 overall are far from a sure thing. The odds of the Flames coming out with a better duo than Gaudreau/Tkachuk, even from a full rebuild of 4 years or so are slim.
If you look at how scorched Earth teams are doing and who is winning the cup, it's pretty obvious that the scorched Earth rebuild isn't the way to win anymore. Tampa had Hedman and Stamkos on their roster, but Stamkos played one game in 2019/20 and is far from their key forward anymore.
St. Louis had a #4 pick from 2008 on their team. They tanked in 2006 and ended up with Erik Johnson, who did not work out for them.
Meanwhile the recent perennial tankers, Buffalo, Edmonton, New Jersey, etc... seem totally lost.
IMO if you are tanking, the Colorado model makes a lot more sense. You push a winning culture. If it doesn't work, reload for 1-2 years, then rinse and repeat.