[cannon7]

I've posted this in other threads. But I think the only way a small market team like the Flames can compete sustainably is to invest predominantly in scouting and development and not in free agency. The Flames (IMO) don't even have a top 15 scouting and development staff. It's a miracle they've had any success. Despite this Tod Button's team have found some mid/late round gems. And absent of blue chippers, the minor league system has made the most of a middle-of-the-road talent pool. But the Flames are still straddling the line when they actually need to go all in. It may be an oversimplification, but I think the Flames need to be a hockey equivalent of the Tampa Bay Rays. Sure the big market teams will poach your top end talent, but as long as you have a pipeline deep with prospects and a development team with the talent to maximize that potential, then you can still compete against those big market teams while you hold those rights. Instead the Flames are just doing the same thing the big market teams are doing but then only getting to pick from the lesser tier of free agents to fill depth holes. It is a recipe for mediocrity at best.

For example, instead of trading away first/second round picks at the trade deadline when competing for a playoff spot to acquire rentals to make a push down the stretch, the Flames need to do what is traditionally considered counter-intuitive and instead trade away expiring contracts for first/second round picks regardless of how important those expiring contracts may be to the current season. Sure the hockey writers will go nuts when core players are moved, but the reality is a small market team always needs to be a seller when asset valuations are at their highest. The Flames should be going into every draft ideally with 2-3 first and second round picks.