Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
And that requires sucking for 8 to 10 years. Minimum. It takes a few years just to get to the bottom. Then if you want multiple top picks, you have to TOTALLY suck for several years. Then you have to rebuild your way back.
With no guarantees of success, that is a LOT to ask. Easy for a casual fan who will only watch when it suits them. Much more difficult for a BUSINESS that has to sell tickets every year.
|
Why I think the Flames are well positioned to rebuild right now:
1. Plethora of expiring contracts on some good players. Lindholm, Hanifin, Tanev, Backlund, Zadorov, and Toffoli would all help load the team with a significant number of extra picks to stoke the rebuild. Trade (and retain $ on those trades) and then don’t spend free agent dollars on back-filling.
2. Subtracting 4-6 of those players in the next 10 months (and at least 3 this summer) would massively hurt this bubble team. If you subtract those players, particularly Backlund, Lindholm, and Hanifin this summer - this team ends up in the bottom-10 next season.
I’m a season ticket holder and I’m looking for reasons to stay one, and them entering a rebuild is probably the only thing that does that for me. We’ve seen them spin their tires on their current approach - I’d love to see them change it. Like you said, it would be a tough sell and I think they’d need to put a face on it to keep some interest. I think it would have to be someone like Connie or Jarome or someone like that - or keep Darryl if he’s into it (and I think his pressers this year could lead us to believe he would be part of a rebuild).
Another reason why now makes sense? The arena. The Flames are going to want to be a team on the upswing in 4 years. Now is the time to start laying the groundwork.
One of the reasons I bang this rebuild drum so hard is because I actually think the organization is now in a good enough state that they could actually do it and be successful at it.