Quote:
Originally Posted by gvitaly
That’s an interesting argument, but you don’t account for players taking a step back. What if 2-3 of Hanifin/Tanev/Backlund/Mangiapane/Lucic/Markstrom take a step back. I like the optimism, and there will be players taking a step, there will also be setbacks and injuries. I agree that as the team stands, it is clear that improvement has to come from within. That said it’s a huge gamble, and far from a sure thing.
As the team stands, I would not bet any money on the Flames winning the division, or winning more than 1 round in the playoffs. I see the same problems the Flames had, but magnified. The transition game snd offense from the D will be lacking. The Flames still lack scoring threats from distance, and the Flames are still likely to have a bottom 1/3 power play. Last year when we were trailing, I caught myself asking who is going to score/even the game. More often than not the answer was nobody. Our team was way too easy to shut down, and every mistake on the backend was magnified as a result. I hope Sutter can improve that, but that’s a huge ask.
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No reason to expect Markstrom to take a step back, he just had his worst season and isn't quite at that age yet when the decline should be part of a trend. Lucic is already contributing little as far as scoring is concerned, so a step back on his part would have little impact. Hanifin and Mangiapane are still on that part of their development in which they would in most cases take at least another small step forward. So the only one I'm worried about of the ones you listed would be Tanev, who had a better than expected season.
The Flames are in a weak division, but I agree with you that they likely don't win the division unless Tanev has another great season and all seven core players who had sub-par seasons have bounce-back seasons this year. I consider this scenario unlikely, but with a full season under a real head coach, you never know.