[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by OptimalTates

And those usually overpaid but decent UFAs end up making the team too good to suck so they never rebuild.

Like Wideman's rights for a fifth round pick and signing Hudler during the 2012 season instead of recognizing the writing on the wall with Iginla meant the Flames don't get MacKinnon because even when they traded Iginla and Bouwmeester they still were good enough to finish 6th that year. They had 42 points compared to Colorado's 39 and Florida's 36. If they would have just traded Iginla and Bouwmeester in the off-season instead of the deadline and not signed Hudler and Wideman, they are easily finishing below Florida and drafting Barkov or MacKinnon depending on how the lottery goes.

But then the very next season having already anticipated losing Iginla and Bouwmeester, they have Hudler and Wideman as downgraded replacements already ready to go. So Hudler leads the Flames the next season and instead of finishing in the basement and having the chance to get Ekblad or Draisaitl, they get Bennett.

And then the season after that Hudler and Wideman combine for 130+ points (76 and 56, respectively) and now they are bringing in more UFA vets to fill the rolls that they can't fill internally because they refuse to rebuild. So Hiller, Raymond, Engelland, Frolik, Brouwer, Neal, Smith, Versteeg, Jagr, Coleman brigade of UFAs, most quickly becoming albatrosses of contracts to deal with while trading 1st round picks for Hamilton (fine trade regardless), Hamonic and Toffoli and are extremely lucky that the Canucks decided to waste a pick with Juolevi or else they would have nearly nothing to show from the 2013-2018 drafts.

I hope the Flames don't do the same mistake if Gaudreau leaves and they try to replace him with downgraded UFAs. Forsberg would be about the only other UFA that is worth a risk to try and continue building a winning team around. If they can't sign Gaudreau or Forsberg, recognize that this is the year to tear down and rebuild. Especially with a good draft and a team that's only a year away from getting out of the biggest UFA mistakes (Neal->Lucic).

Hudler/Wideman were also a huge part of the 2015 run that lead Burke/Tre to stomp on the gas pedal. Pretty much everything is their fault!