Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
I really wish this team would manage themselves with more attention and focus on building an asset base to allow the team to be a contender for an extended window. That takes hard decisions, harder than this franchise has seemingly been capable of making. You can go back and look at all the core players that should have been traded earlier: Iginla, Regehr, Kipper, Langkow, Johnny, etc.
But I have a hard time placing the fault at the feet of the different GMs since this seems to be a longstanding issue that suggests it's more at the ownership level.
But I would love them to become brutal about asset management.
In my bubble I would have traded Johnny 3-4 years ago.
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So you are seeking the forever rebuild? Are you suggesting Johnny should have been traded after his 99pt season? It is insane to trade your best player who was 25 and signed for 3 more years to get assets.
It is easy to see they failed to trade a 30+ Iginla or Kipper but our players were still not even in their prime 3-4 years ago.
The Hamonic and Elliott trades were the big blunders as that cost the team a 12th overall pick, 34th overall pick and 2 other 2nds.
The team was trending up 4 years ago the team took a huge leap due to a great blockbuster deal with the Hurricanes. I do think Johnny was shopped in the years after but always for underwhelming returns. I think they have come close to dealing Monahan and missed the boat there on a solid return.
Cutting bait with players early is how you never get out of the cycle of building. Don’t wait until they are 35 like they did with Iggy but patience is not a bad thing. By all accounts the negotiations with Gaudreau last summer lead the Flames to believe there was a deal there so less risk walking him to free agency considering they were willing to move heaven and earth to keep him however the dynamic changed with a baby on the way.
I can’t think of a franchise that has done what you are suggesting.