Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
I think if you accept that the Flames were a lower level team when he took over 8 years ago (despite the fluke 14-15 season), then you have to be willing to criticize the fact that they have been a cap ceiling team since the 15-16 season, when the team still needed to acquire foundational pieces to compete for a Stanley Cup. Since that season when the Flames became a cap ceiling team the following teams have reached the Cup Semi-final from the Flames' path:
Anaheim
St. Louis
Nashville
San Jose
Las Vegas
Winnipeg
Colorado
Edmonton
Dallas
Montreal(when the Flames were in the Canadian Division)
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To me that just shows that playoff success is random and generally your best bet is building a team that's a good regular season team over a long period of time.
Flames could have easily been part of that group this season if they didn't lose their head and Markstrom shows up against Edmonton. Or even in the bubble if they go up 3-1 against Dallas if Ward doesn't play the same players for a 90 second shift. Up until this season Colorado wasn't even part of that group - but had clearly been on the right path to success - they could have lost against St.Louis if Binnington didn't get hurt too. Margins are that thin in the playoffs.
Also I'm not firing a GM based on what happened in his first 3-4 years here with the team, that would be foolish. Especially for a young GM, who was a first time GM. You need to look at more recent history.
Let's look holistically at this team from 18-19 to 21-22 which really should have been their "contention window".
Regular Season:
Point Percentage: .607 (4th in the West, 11th Overall)
Regulation Wins: 136 (2nd in the West, 6th Overall)
Goals For: 939 (3rd in the West, 8th Overall)
Goals Against: 803 (3rd in the West, 7th Overall)
2 Division Titles
Really this team has been a top 4 regular season team in the West the past 4 seasons, which is what you are looking for in your contention window. Colorado is the class of the west, but Flames are in the second grouping with Vegas, and St Louis over the last 4 seasons. Nothing about those results screams "Fire the GM" to me, unless we are overreacting to something.
The playoff success hasn't been there (part of that is shooting 6.3% at 5v5 in the playoffs since 18-19) but only 4 Western Conference teams have won more than the 11 playoff games the Flames have won the past 4 seasons. Colorado, Vegas, St.Louis, and Dallas.
It really is unfortunate that Gaudreau and Tkachuk decided to take the easy way out because this team really was on the right track. But I actually think with Huberdeau and Weegar in the mix they still have a shot...especially if they can find a way to add another forward.