Quote:
Originally Posted by Kickazzflames
Man what a year. This stinker of a game will likely be the end of any hope. 9-2 is likely what's needed to make it and there has been no indication that this team can win when it matters.
This season is such a anomaly in the way that we have seen this team dominate periods with puck procession and play a high pressure Sutter style. And yet we don't see the results. Why is that? Why are we not as good as the media said we were when we made that trade? Why are we not top of the NHL like the Vegas odds said we would be?
The Sutter system keeps the games close and relies on the best players on your team to win the games. So what went wrong? Well we got some of the worst goaltending this year that we have seen in a long time. We lost two superstar players and replaced them with one (Huberdeau) and two strong supporting players (Kadri, Weegar). We no longer have the best 5 on 5 line in the league. We still desperately needed a scoring top 6 winger, no slight against Toffoli who has impressed me the most this season by far. But we needed someone who can bury the puck more often at 5 on 5.
15 OT / shootout losses is the biggest reason we are sitting outside. Slightly better goaltending and a little bit more from our best players and we would be comfortably in a playoff spot.
I literally cannot point my finger at Sutter and say this is all his fault. Sure he has made some strange line decisions, but you also have to work with players performing far below expectations. I am not one that is ready to go back to the revolving coach door that has plagued this team forever, unless we are ready to rebuild.
There is a terrifying realization creeping into many fans and it's that this off season likely was the worst turning point for this franchise. Losing two of your best draft picks you have ever made, then signing long term, high paid contracts for the replacement pieces. Tre pulled off a wizard move with the trade, but followed it with what could be the biggest mistake for the next 7-8 years. But can we fully blame Tre? We only had two choices... sign the guys long term to try to keep the cup/competitive window open, or to hold onto them as UFA's until the trade deadline and start a rebuild going into one of the strongest drafts.
We now are stuck going down the cup/competitive window and if our best players can't find their game or play to at least what's expected of them with their contracts we are in for a LONG 7-8 years of classic flames mediocrity, regardless of what we do with our front office or bench management.
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Good post. The context of the situation that Treliving faced is also paramount to the discussion.
Gaudreau- not signed long-term, pays lip service to the 11th hour, leaves the Flames without assets salvaged and is their best player leaving in free agency.
Treliving makes a great trade to land a prized 115 point player, and wasn't going to make that same mistake again. Yet, in doing so, he made an even bigger mistake.
What's worse, a) signing an 8 year deal where the guy is overpaid by 100% or b) letting a high profile UFA walk.
I think in the age of the salary cap, a) is worse and a bigger mistake than b), because with b), you can actually make moves as a GM and your hands aren't tied which leads me to my next point:
Part of the issue at hand is Calgary as a market. Looking back at last year's trade deadline, theoretically the Flames should have looked to trade Gaudreau. Recoup some assets. Understand if he will sign with you or not in January, not in July. Give him a legitimate deadline, to understand what moves you can make to maximize value. I even said so at the time and got lambasted on this site. The alternative was said player getting us to round 2, but that's it. Good franchises maximize asset value over the long-term
regardless of current position because that's how you become a Tampa, Boston, leveraging assets and being unafraid to make difficult decisions in tough scenarios. Gaudreau should have been traded- absolutely after the season ended; even for a late pick to somebody to sign before FA. Would the fans and Calgary have let that happen? Absolutely not.