Perhaps GM-ing isn't the easiest job in the world, given how some see a situation like this.
Getting too attached to a player that's ultimately a high end role player and treating him as a core piece when he isn't is how bad decisions end up being made.
It's not just that though. It's timing too. The Flames are far out right now, and a lot has to come together to even start that progression to competing. Pospisil needs to be the max of whatever his ceiling is in like 5-6 years to matter at all to the outcome of this rebuild. Based on how he plays (hard and on the edge), he won't be. Or at least it's unlikely.
Like others said, he would be awesome to a team near completion. The perfect piece to add to a acompetitive team that needs those qualities, but that's not the situation here. He's just helping a team that is collecting futures be slightly less bad. It's a waste.
But NJ will see the value in a guy like him, and how useful he would be to their team with a strong core in place.
A top ten pick is more valuable to today's Flames and its timeline than Pospisil is. It doesn't make him not good. It makes the two parties not an ideal fit for each other.
The ultimate goal holds precedence over clinging on to guys like Pospisil just because he's good just to have some watchable players now, while you continue to lack real core pieces that a player like him can be leveraged into.
One must see the forest from the trees if we're ever going to get where we want to go.
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