[FlamesAddiction]

Even if they blow it up now, it won't be until the 2030s that this team will be able to compete again.

The typical rebuild scenario goes like this:

Years 1-5 - Bottom out and build through the draft, primarily with multiple high 1st round picks.

Then some time around years 3 to 5, if you drafted well, you have to start paying the players coming off of their ELCs. Around the same time, if you want to start pushing to compete, you need to start supplementing with free agents. This is where things will get stuck when you still have guys like Huberdeau eating up a significant part of the cap.

Let's say the best case scenario rebuild happens and the team bottoms out for a typical 3-5 year rebuild. Woops, we have to give up one of our 1st round picks to Montreal during that time, which extends the rebuild to the 4-6 year range. Then when the part of the rebuild happens where teams start to compete, they still have an absurd amount of money locked into useless and unmovable players.

It's a never ending circle. Because the team can't do a proper rebuild any time soon, they are going to keep trying to avoid it, and on and on the cycle goes.