Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferarri
In my opinion this is a hard team to gauge and I think the best approach is to have cautious expectations until a few months in where the fan base can really gauge who they are. I agree with you that this team isn’t a Stanley cup contender but there is also some renewed optimism that a few bounce back years and a culture change could light a fire under this group.
With the trade market seemingly undesirable it seems realistic to go into the season as is and try again with this core group. Everything went wrong last year and even with that they barely missed the playoffs. Markstrom, Kadri and Huberdeau are key (especially goaltending) and with improved play at those positions this team has a chance at the playoffs.
I’m not a huge fan of the character or design of the team and have been very critical of guys like Huberdeau and Kadri. I think it’s fair for management to show a bit of patience and let this group try again given the circumstances. However, I do see you point about expectation for 30+ year old guys being hard to meet. I would say just be patient a bit longer before throwing in the towel and saying there is no hope.
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I don't think everything went wrong. It's been pointed out before, the Flames were relatively healthy, and a handful of players had great years. If you want to over simplify it is better to say that 1 big thing went wrong. Players who were paid to be top performers were not top performers. Some nights they were objectively bad.
Next season the Flames hopes fall very heavily on Huberdeau. Obviously Huska and the three goalies share the load, but the importance of Huberdeau's offense recovering cannot be understated.
It not just the wasted cap space, or just the points. Huberdeau becoming an 80 point player again forces teams to spread out their defensive coverage giving the second line and third line room to breath. More than that, it felt last year like the flames were desperate for a player who could take control when games were heavily contested.