Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
See, that's the thing. Every team will have down years, when things aren't working out. And during those down years, they will get high draft picks. Then, at some point, things will be better again. And fans say: look, they tanked, and now they're good.
But no one is able to show any direct lines between tanking and winning.
Every team is continually trying to improve their roster. And every team is subject to a hard cap. There are all kinds of ways to try and improve, under the cap. Obviously, drafting well is key. It also requires luck.
As to the MacKinnon example, that is what I mean - MacKinnon being on a good contract allowed them to acquire more players. There are lots of ways to build your team. For some reason, fans are fixated on one way
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It seems like the Flames should have hit hard with Monahan, Lindholm, Tkachuk and Gaudreau all on decent RFA deals. And they arguably tried but missed on UFA signings (Neal). The luck was in not having a Makar fall into their lap, or a goalie getting really hot.
I guess the question in hindsight would be - without the Neal deal, what do the Flames do. Who could they have signed to put them over the top instead. They needed, at the time, a goalie and a guy who would do what Neal was supposed to do.