Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus
The Flames waiving the player and basically mothballing him last season has nothing to do with development or some sort of master plan by the franchise and GM - even at the start of this season Tre was needlessly critical of his game after a very solid pre-season when just about everyone else was gushing.
The arrival of this player is most certainly a case of the player forcing his way into the top 6 with sheer determination and will. There is no reason to think he couldn't be doing what he's doing now last season if he had at least played even semi-regularly. Finally encountering a coach that would give him an honest shake at playing ahead of other less deserving players doesn't hurt either.
It was very apparent the team was willing to cut ties. Let's not give credit to the franchise on this one when this is all on the player for doing everything he could to get here. About all you can say is this could serve to be a very solid draft pick and lucky for all that nobody else claimed him just a few months ago.
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I would add that Chris Tanev wasn't some untouchable piece you "had" to protect. If Kylington had forced his way into a protection conversation a year ago, you expose Tanev and you live with the outcome, whether it's Gio or Tanev on the outs. Tanev's an awesome player, but his skillset is far easier to acquire. This idea pushed by Textcritic et al that it was in the team's best interest to:
i) Diminish Kylington's trade value
ii) Hold Kylington back from over 50 potential games of legitimate development towards his ceiling (artifically inflating the experience gap between him and guys like Hanifin and Andersson)
iii) Put a more plodding product on the ice last year, in a year they failed to make the playoffs
is... laughable at best.