Controversial post here, for 2 reasons.
Flames are rebuilding. Look at the standings. Listen to the rumours. They are rebuilding this year, and i foresee another season in which they finish near the bottom of the standings. 23rd overall right now (and 25th in P%). Just wait until Lindholm, Tanev and Hanifin get traded (plus whomever else - might be a surprise or two). Look how many teams below the Flames have games (and even multiple games) on hand. I don't see the Flames improving their position after those trades at all. I see them falling.
What about next year? Does anyone think this is just a 'bad year'? Who is going to step up and lead the Flames into the playoffs next season? Sure, Conroy will come out and say that the goal is playoffs. However, unless he loses his mind (or unless Edwards loses his), this team is not going to go out and make futures-for-win now players. This is not an idiotic organization. Next year will be another rough year, and I bet they would finish in a similar area as they end up this season.
Second reason that this post is controversial? I can't imagine that they stay in a rebuild for more than 2 - max 3 - years. They are starting with too much young talent already. They are trading valuable pieces right now. The market is also very strong for 'cap assistance moves' as well. Remember Feaster when he declared the Flames "open for business" when it came to helping teams clear cap in exchange for assets? It never materialized. Why? Because the market was non-existent thanks to compliance buyouts opening up massive cap room everywhere. This year is the opposite - next season will see an opening, but teams are incredibly tight right now. There will be opportunity there.
At any rate, there will be an injection of young players and prospects over the next two seasons, and they will be added to the existing base, as well as to some of the existing players. Andersson and Weegar will likely be here, Kadri and Huberdeau likely as well. Backlund maybe, though he will probably be a 4th line player by that point. However, there will be Wolf, Zary, Pospisil, Pelletier, Sharangovich, Coronato, Honzek, Morin, Solovyov, Kuzenetsov and blah blah blah. Point is, the Flames are not starting from zero like they essentially did in the last rebuild.
I also think that the Flames are too good of a drafting and development organization. I don't know why people keep bringing up the Oilers and Sabres - one was a terribly run organization, and the other tanked so hard without being a good drafting organization. Are the Flames either of these things? Sure, Flames have made mistakes, but they are not a terribly run organization. Oilers were a cap team most of their rebuild. They were trying to win, and falling on their face in embarrassing fashion in every way, especially on the drafting and development side of things.
Flames continually find solid NHL players in the lower rounds of the draft. I am going to love seeing a surplus amount of picks, and hopefully a top 5 pick (and double hope it is 2 years in a row) being injected into this organization. That excites me, and it should excite everyone when you consider how much talent his organization REALLY has in players who are under 23.
Flames would have to intentionally tank (or become incredibly mismanaged) to not just move up the standings naturally in 3 seasons. Maybe they don't make the playoffs on their third or 4th year, but they probably come close. They will have to try very hard to remain in the bottom 5 past 3 seasons. I just don't see it. I don't see it considering what they are starting with in terms of tradeable assets, I don't see it with already having a really good prospect pool feeding player, and I don't see it based on their history over the last 10+ years drafting.
I do think that they are in a rebuild that hasn't been announced, I think that's where they are going to stay for the next 2-3 drafts, but I don't think it will take longer than that before they start moving up the standings again. By year 5 this team should be competing in the playoffs and being an exciting young team.
Maybe they go on a run and prove me wrong. Good then. I won't be cheering against that either. Certainly complicates Conroy's decisions. I just want to see this team compete, period. The Flames screwed up their last rebuild, at least in my opinion, because they never even went on a run (third round or higher - or even won more than 1 game in the 2nd round). If they suddenly do that now, it will shock me, but I will be the last person cheering against a winning season, if it makes the rebuild last another couple of years. There are never any guarantees in sports, so you enjoy the wins when they come.
I just feel that they are in a rebuild, and I don't think it will take as long as some of the comparisons some posters are making. I guess we will see.
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