This is the least I have been excited for a season since I became a hardcore die hard fan of this team after the 04 run. I was a fairly blind optimist through the Iginla years so even when that team was far worse off than this current group is today in 2010-2013 I held out hope they would be able to string together a run.
While I do not think this group is hopeless I do think they need a tremendous amount of puckluck this year to be anything more than a bubble team. There are reasons for optimism that starts with the coaching and extends to the goaltending as both are the best they have been since Treliving took over. Markstrom will be one of many players looking to bounce back after subpar seasons. Markstrom, Tkachuk, Monahan lead this list and Tkachuk also joins Gaudreau and Mangiapane as key players trying to earn a huge payday.
To me the seismic change we all seek is still in play with Eichel having more links to the team than ever before (insiders Friedman and Lebrun have commented as Calgary being a team that has been really trying to make it happen and Friedman stating Eichel is not opposed to coming here either). To me this is still the move this team MUST make or I just do not see anything further than bouncing around the bubble for the next couple of years before bottoming out and missing the playoffs for 5+ years in a row.
The group we have today can possibly change some of our minds but if they go out and get Eichel then I think it makes a lot more sense to be all in now and for the next 5 years
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