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Originally Posted by Ashasx
I guess I'm in the minority but I think you could get a lot of good pieces by trading Lindholm and Hanifin for futures.
I also don't agree with the thought process that "this team can't rebuild because it has no prospects". Well, that's exactly why I would rebuild, otherwise you find yourself in a worse position than the Flames in 2013 when they sold Iginla and Bouwmeester far later than they should have. The only real difference makers/prospects that came out of the organization during that era were Gaudreau and Backlund - not nearly enough to bring this team over the top after we added Monahan/Tkachuk/the rest of the core.
This is definitely a team that has structured its contracts for the short-term. But again, you can't let the mistakes of the past dictate further miscues for the future. It sucks that Huberdeau and Kadri are on the books for 8/6 more seasons, but those costs are sunk.
If the Flames truly believe they are a contender, by all means make these next moves like they believe it. But I don't even think the Flames organization believes that. They think if they get into the playoffs, there is a chance for another 2004 run. That's how this organization has been run for 20 years.
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The challenge of starting a rebuild with a mediocre prospect pool is it extends the time for the rebuild and takes away the faces that sell tickets.
The challenge with having long term expensive veteran contracts while doing a rebuild is it creates a toxic development environment and keeps you too competitive to draft high. Plus, few ownership groups are willing to spend 250 million dollars on long term veteran contracts while losing most nights.
Technically you could, but I think nearly every front office would continue to try and be competitive in thst situation. If the Flames fall on their face for a couple of seasons maybe that changes. You and I may call that being perpetually mediocre, but that is just another way of saying perpetually competitive.