[Calgary4LIfe]

I would believe that a rebuild is very much on the table. Why wouldn't it be? It is obviously not plan A, probably not plan B either, but it most certainly is a choice on the table. Maloney said as much himself when he stated that there was a rebuild offer on the table for Tkachuk.

If Lindholm is traded, and the Flames are not able to replace him with another #1 centre in the lineup, will this team still be 'trying to compete'? I don't think so. That's a massive hole, on a team with question marks as is. I don't for a second believe that any of this ownership group are morons that go about their business on a hope and a prayer.

Sure, this team can make a series of 'hockey trades' and bringing in enough quality players to compete even if all of their upcoming UFAs are traded for futures only. Lots of those futures can conceivably be traded for win-now players. However, it becomes harder when you look at the cap.


Contenders are mostly all tight against the cap, and we all know the cap is barely moving. That means that every move that the Flames make shipping a notable UFA will probably necessitate some (closer to equal) salary coming back. It just makes manoeuvring that much more difficult. Yes, the Flames would also then be sending some cap back to other teams when making the opposite trades of course, it just means that moves are just harder to make - especially if you have to make a series of them.

The way I see it:

If Lindholm is re-signed, then hopefully Hanifin and Backlund are re-signed as well. Tanev is a warrior, but i do think the smart move would be to sell him. Toffoli can be re-signed to a decent contract, but wingers are much easier to replace (and Pelletier and Coronato are this team's best forward prospects, and they are both wingers).

If Lindholm is not re-signed, then I would like to see everyone being moved. Hanifin I would rather re-sign given his age, but if his contract demands are too high, or he remains adamant about waiting for next season, then you move him. Kylington is the only guy that should be re-signed then - assuming his demands are not so out of whack. However, he may want to play out this season too as he has zero bargaining position from sitting out an entire year. I hope he either extends for a fair deal, or just agrees for a further 1 year extension on July 1st.

I think you either place both feet into competing, or you place both feet into rebuilding. I think if you have one foot in competing, and one foot in rebuilding for the future, then you end up doing neither and finish in 16th spot again (not that this was why the Flames finished 16th last season).

I also don't think the Flames (or any team in the entire league) have any appetite for a 5 year rebuild. I think if they do rebuild, it will be a two year plan, with year 3 being a playoff-hopeful team already on the upswing.

This teams' drafting and development team is excellent, and Conroy himself has stated numerous times that he is very confident with them.

I think this all hinges on Lindholm. There is only one thing that I don't really understand...

Lindholm wants to see what direction this team is going in? They hired the coach already (and I assume that he approves of the coach), and he obviously has had discussions (and lengthy ones I assume!) with Conroy, so what is left? Is his expectation that Conroy is going to move some picks for players to win now? Does he want to see what happens with Hanifin? Seems to me that the direction on what kind of a deal they get in exchange for Hanifin would probably be dependent on what Lindholm wants to do, no? Either futures to maximize their rebuild, or for 'win now' players.

This off-season is incredibly interesting. Definitely not the rollercoaster that last off-season proved to be, but I guess it is early yet.


As for being able to compete now:
I think this team can compete as is. Obviously this team can not afford to lose talent for free any longer. They can't enter the season with this much asset worth as UFAs. However, let's say everyone gets re-signed. I do believe this team has enough horses to go on a run, especially with Markstrom in net. Yes, with Markstrom in net. I think there has been a long line of former #1 goalies who were hanging on in this league, or goalies touted as being good enough to become #1 goalies but never were, have been acquired by Calgary. Markstrom is the only one that I can think of that was a proven commodity and in his prime. I am sure he will have a bounce-back season. He is legitimately good enough to hide holes on your team.


I also look at this team as not having any glaring weaknesses. Strong in up the middle, good on the wings, strong on defence (assuming Hanifin is here), and strong in net (Markstrom returns to form, and Wolf backing up). Contender? Maybe not. However, I think this is a team capable of going on a run.


However, as stated, this team can simply not afford to risk entering the year with costly assets being able to walk away as UFAs. They may be in a playoff spot at the deadline, and find themselves out of one with just some bad luck or a few key injuries. I don't think this is a top 4 or top 8 contender to warrant that risk. If they were close, then so be it. Vegas went on a few runs in the last 6 years, even though they failed to make it last year. I would have liked to see this team on a few runs in that sort of a time-span. They haven't. They have been out of the 1st round twice in Treliving's tenure, and got smacked both times.



I would prefer that this team rebuilds right now. I think this is a great opportunity that should have commenced last season. However, I get it - and this team is hardly a 'bad team' either. I don't, however, envy Conroy's position. That's a lot of risk and difficult decisions that he has to make. I, for one, love that he is the GM now, and I have faith that he will see this out to the point where this team eventually gets good enough to go on runs, whether that is next year, or in a few years from now.