Really looking forward to watching Brzustewicz develop. Kid is killing it this year and if he can translate his game to the NHL the Flames will be laughing when they look back at the deal to get him.
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Originally Posted by Aarongavey
I think the negotiations have to be about what your end goal is. Trelivings may have been price but I think for young players coming off ELC for a team like the Flames the priority has to be term. Try to get the young guys (especially going forward) signed to as much term as possible. Only when that is done should they go to the UFA market and even then make sure that term does not mess with your ability to sign the young guys longterm.
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Totally agree with you. There's certainly an element of risk to locking players in so early in their careers, but in my opinion, the reality of the current situation is that if a player has options due to their situation that they've earned (i.e. being a sought-after player due to their level of play), they will tend to leave when they have control. Maybe it's the arena, maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the lack of success of late of the Flames, but until something changes, the Flames need to mitigate the impact of players leaving the first moment they can by drawing out that timeline. If things don't change with respect to Calgary's image around the league to players, continue to lock deserving players in early, after their ELC, for 8 years, so you don't see them leaving to another team (likely in the US) after you've invested time and money in developing them.