[stemit14]

So if Ottawa really wants to improve their right side on defence, has limited cap space and wants to shake up their team to finally start making the playoffs next year… seems like Andersson is their best option. No idea if they like him as a player or if the flames would be willing to trade him, but if a top 10 pick was potentially on the table, I think Conroy should absolutely be in on that.

We keep discussing “rebuild” vs “retool” and I think it’s about turning things around faster than these rebuilds you see from so many teams (Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit, etc.). Something you see (for the most part) in those long rebuilds is the selection of an impact player usually comes in annually (at best) through the draft.. and it’s usually a single player each year (from their own first round pick). The typical model is that these teams make 1 high first round pick in the top 10 every year and then an extra pick or two in the first round that’s outside the top 20 by trading rental players/veteran players at the TDL. Unless a team hits big on one of the later picks (outside the top 10 in a draft), it takes so many years to draft a core of 5-6 players… 5-6 years if you get one impact player per year from your own pick.

The Dallas model was that they hit big on 3 players in a single draft. They managed to do that with 2 picks outside the top 10 which is lucky. Instead of hoping your scouts get some gems with 2nd/3rd round picks or late 1st round picks in a single draft like Dallas did… the flames could improve their chances of getting a new core really fast by trying to get 2-3 picks in the top 10 of this draft. If they hit on 2 of 3 picks in the top 10, then possibly draft in the top 5 next year… they could have 3 new core pieces of the team in the span of two years. Add in at least two of Zary, Coronato, Wolf and Pelletier and it looks like a competitive core in 3-4 years instead of 5-6 years under a typical rebuild.

Much easier said than done of course… teams just don’t trade those picks… especially at the draft. It would be an incredible start to this rebuild/retool though. Drafting Lindstrom, Yakemchuk, and Iginla in the span of 30 minutes would make for the most exciting draft in this team’s history.