I am more than ok with keeping Markstrom.
Vernon - Kiprusoff - Markstrom.
When I think about it, the Flames as an organization have had 3 unicorns that only occasionally make an appearance:
1) Top line centre
2) Great coach that gets more out of this group than they really are
3) Great goaltender
There have been solid "B" guys - I particularly liked Ramo (once he finally cleared waivers, got to play and work on his game, and then came back up). Brathwaite was a real breath of fresh air for this organization when it was simply drowning in goalies that that were goalies in name only. Lots of disappointments like Kidd, or over the hill washed up guys, or betting on guys who have never been #1s but maybe could be (and then never were).
Yeah, Flames aren't competing, but they are going to be going through a retool, and I think it is going to be a couple of years at least. I firmly believe that the Flames will be very much in the Gavin McKenna toilet stakes, and that's ok. I don't think the Flames will stay down at the bottom for too many seasons - probably just next year and the year after, and then they will be coming back up. Just way too much in the pipeline not to. Heck, it may just be next season.
We don't know what the real package for Markstrom was. There were a lot of guesses from a lot of people of what could have made sense, but AFAIK, nothing was ever actually confirmed. I said this at the very start of the rumours - Markstrom has a lot of value to the Flames. He is a fantastic goalie, last year aside. He is one of the leaders on this team. He has been through quite a lot in his career, and he has always owned up to it. Last year he publicly stated that he sucks at hockey. This year he is damn elite, but he doesn't brag about it. He is a great teammate by all looks.
The greatest value to the organization is two fold here:
1) Obviously would make a fantastic mentor for Wolf. Takes so much of the pressure off of Wolf. Wolf needs that ramp and support. His last start resulted in an emotional loss for him, and that was damn hard to watch. He needs a guy like Markstrom to just help him through those rough patches.
2) I am all about tanking for McKenna - full confession here. However, I also see the need to continue with reliable and consistent goaltending in order to properly develop players in the system. There is nothing worse than having your prospects play in front of lousy goaltending that every time a young player tries something that doesn't quite work, that turnover becomes a sure goal. I think ideally, you want a goalie that will make those saves. You want to pile on a lot of 3-2 and 4-3 losses, not 7-1 and 10-2 losses.
It sounds like I am trying to talk myself into being happy keeping Markstrom. I am not. If there is a really great return on Markstrom, I am all for it. I just think that there is real value to him being on this team, and that trade value has to eclipse the value of him staying on. I would venture a guess as to say that since he is staying here, the trade offer wasn't at that threshold.
I am happy either way in keeping him, or trading him for a haul. It is one or the other. I don't want something in-between like trading him just to trade him.
Once Hanifin is traded, this team will probably implode. I think it probably has already with the Tanev trade. It is going to take a lot of energy to continue playing at this high level that they have been playing at. I think the wind just got taken out of their sails. It is what it is, and that's part of the business, but it is the right direction to go in. At least the Flames can have decent goaltending to cycle guys through the lineup and seeing what there is in the organization, and wolf gets a really good sounding board who had MASSIVE issues adjusting to the NHL. That experience is valuable for Wolf.
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