Seems to me like the terms of the Florida pick/Calgary pick for Montreal is basically saying that Montreal bet on the Flames to finish in the 'mushy middle'.
So next year, the Flames better be really good, or they better be really bad. Not sure that you can necessarily bet on Markstrom being this good again, or that Wolf can come in and do what Markstrom is doing in his first season.
I am all aboard team tank for next season then. Makes the most sense to me. Hanifin and Tanev both out, plus hopefully Markstrom.
Do whatever it takes to get Mangiapane scoring again next season, and flip him at the deadline. The interesting thing to look at will be how both Sharangovich and Kuzmenko are doing - re-sign or flip - and I guess it will depend on how they feel staying in Calgary, how much success they are having, their demands will be, and what kind of a market there is for them.
Either way, I am sure that the Flames will make this deadline, as well as perhaps in the off-season, to simply avoid being in the mushy middle. Can you imagine the uproar if this team finishes 10th worst, and still has to give up that pick, while Florida finishes in the high 20's? This is just an extra incentive to retool a little deeper and acquire a better pick next season.
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