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Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Yep and one of those players is UFA. One of the big issues facing the team is that there are too many slow players in Tkachuk, Toffoli, Monahan that are expected to be offensive difference makers. Throw in slugs like Lucic and this is an extremely plodding forward group. It was why the Stars could effectively box out Flames forwards in the first series and in the second series the Oilers exposed them with their speed. I question the pro scouting as after Brouwer and Neal I'm very surprised they are still actively acquiring forwards that are poor skaters.
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Definitely what's been exposed in this playoffs is that the Flames forwards are too slow. And with the amount of goals in the NHL this season, the league is getting faster, not slower.
It's why I have a hard time having Tkachuk as your main guy on the roster. As said, he's a good complementary piece, but he's not a gamebreaker who makes things happen every time the puck is on his stick. He's not the guy that will carry your roster. Not with his skating ability. He can be defended since the rest of his skill set is not enough to make up for his lack of speed.
Having two complementary players as your top two most expensive pieces for several plus years is hard to handle, because it keeps the ceiling pretty low. That's why I think you gotta keep the more dynamic one in Gaudreau, and get as much as you can from Tkachuk now to at least fill out your roster more, and get strong future pieces.
Flames focus this offseason should be about asset management, and bringing in speed to the forward group.