Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Vent your frustration (as a Flames fan) here

Jason14h · 01-12-2023, 02:55 PM

The issue isn't just the start of this season in a vacuum. It's what this team has shown vs where they are in their competitive cycle.

They really don't have much of a chance to get better over the next few years, aside from hoping one of their non elite prospects really steps up and becomes a driving force (And we dont even give those guys a chance)

We don't have any cap flexibility going forward, so we can't really improve the team going forward in free agency or trades

Everyone knows Kadri, Markstrum, Coleman, Hubby, Backlund, Tanev are going to, on average, decline over the next few years and into the tail end of their contract.

And yet here we are, struggling to try and hold onto the last wildcard spot. And not looking anywhere like a dangerous team.

Sure, if we had better goaltending we would be better. But we still don't look dangerous. If I was an opponent I would love to play the Flames in the playoffs. We don't have a single player who can take over a game.

So were an older, inflexible cap, average to poor farm system team thats struggling to hold a playoff spot

Honestly - If there was a league wide draft for entire teams rosters for a franchise going forward (not one season, this is your new team to build a winner), how many teams would you really take the Flames over given their entire player and cap situation.

Now I suppose the Flames could quickly restock their youth and start completely over if they traded everyone tomorrow and took back horrible contracts, but that isnt going to happen.

So we're kind of stuck in purgatory again, until we slowly decline into a bottom 6-8 team, and start the same cycle for another 10 years.

01-12-2023, 02:55 PM	#75
Jason14h Franchise Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Exp:	The issue isn't just the start of this season in a vacuum. It's what this team has shown vs where they are in their competitive cycle. They really don't have much of a chance to get better over the next few years, aside from hoping one of their non elite prospects really steps up and becomes a driving force (And we dont even give those guys a chance) We don't have any cap flexibility going forward, so we can't really improve the team going forward in free agency or trades Everyone knows Kadri, Markstrum, Coleman, Hubby, Backlund, Tanev are going to, on average, decline over the next few years and into the tail end of their contract. And yet here we are, struggling to try and hold onto the last wildcard spot. And not looking anywhere like a dangerous team. Sure, if we had better goaltending we would be better. But we still don't look dangerous. If I was an opponent I would love to play the Flames in the playoffs. We don't have a single player who can take over a game. So were an older, inflexible cap, average to poor farm system team thats struggling to hold a playoff spot Honestly - If there was a league wide draft for entire teams rosters for a franchise going forward (not one season, this is your new team to build a winner), how many teams would you really take the Flames over given their entire player and cap situation. Now I suppose the Flames could quickly restock their youth and start completely over if they traded everyone tomorrow and took back horrible contracts, but that isnt going to happen. So we're kind of stuck in purgatory again, until we slowly decline into a bottom 6-8 team, and start the same cycle for another 10 years.