Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
Fun thread strangely.
My frustrations are:
- Terrible asset management. Focus on building an asset base that allows you to compete for an extended period of time. This team has been asset weak for 30+ years. So it's constantly chasing its tail.
- Related but not willing to re-build. Even the initial re-build was prematurely ended leading to bad deals to open the window sooner. Have the discipline to see it through. I like prospects so a re-build to me is still entertaining
- I would also focus the draft entirely on skill and upside. Sign depth. Draft for skill. Skill gets you franchise changing players like Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov. You may draft less NHLers but the ones you do will matter. Home run swings every time. I would ask my scouts if they could imagine a player at the top of the lineup and what skills they have that are elite. If there are no answers to either you don't draft them. That's how you get a guy like Jason Robertson who had elite hands, but awful skating which caused him to drop. Draft for the elite ability.
There are still market inefficiencies that can be taken advantage of in the NHL. The Flames rarely do that. But what is aggravating is when they have - it's worked!
Also get rid of fighting. Its stupid.
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There is value in having a bunch of NHL ready prospects that have a ceiling of 2nd-4th line/3rd pairing ceiling. If you go with this draft strategy though you need to manage your roster to align with this strategy.
The Flames have a ton of NHL ready prospects options in the AHL or on the team right now. But only Ruzicka has got a regular stretch of playing (4th line now though). I see tons of value with all these players that could be an option but if you manage your roster to always be having the Rooneys, Ritchies, Lewis, Lucic types getting the playing time then drafting for home runs is by far the better strategy.
But if we cleaned house and filled the roster with 4 to 6 AHL players right now we could create a ton of cap space and have plenty of room for growth. But IMO you need to roll with that type of team in years where it's not looking good, and selling is the best option. If you sell when you should sell you get 20-25 games to see what you got in the AHL, you improve your draft pick (unless the kids play very well), and you set yourself up for a good summer with extra cap space.