Quote:
Originally Posted by looooob
the thing is, as Flames we are like haha good one, but Pens , Hawks and Oilers fans would be thinking if it were them , yeah could/probably will happen like this based on past experiences. well maybe not Oilers (other than the lottery bits)
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It’s obviously a crazy scenario all around with the most important parts built on pure luck (draft lottery wins)… but if by some crazy luck the flames won the draft lottery and got the first pick overall this year, I would love to see Conroy lean into the rebuild with the kind of aggressive trades I proposed.
I think virtually the entire fanbase (with very few exceptions) would be absolutely ecstatic if the flames came out of this draft with Celebrini + Iginla + Yakemchuk even if it cost them Andersson + Markstrom + Vancouver’s first round pick + Calgary’s 2nd round pick + Dallas’s 2nd round pick. Sure, it would mean the flames defence gets even more decimated and would make them even more likely to finish near the bottom of the league next year… but they are very unlikely to make the playoffs anyways next year (even with Celebrini) without major free agent signings (unlikely).
I don’t think ownership/upper management would have a problem with attendance next year with Celebrini on the team. And I think that same ownership would be very excited to have another Iginla in the system… Jerseys would be selling like crazy. And strategically… the moment to lean into the rebuild is in this draft if you get that first overall pick.
I’ve mentioned this in an old post… if the window is there to potentially get 3 impact players in a single draft, I’d do everything possible to make that happen. 3 picks in the first 12 is the best chance to make that happen and doing that in this draft would be the best timing to speed up the rebuild. If you average only getting one impact player from the draft simply through your own pick that comes with finishing near the bottom of the league, it takes at least 5-6 years to build a new core to the team through the draft. If you could get 3 of that core in a single draft by drafting 3 times in the top 11/12 (including first overall), that could potentially cut the rebuild time period by 2-3 years… which is what ownership/upper management want.