I have been all aboard "let this team bottom-out". Never really on 'team tank' - I have never thought that burning it to the ground made sense unless a team was so poorly managed with a toxic culture that burning it to the ground was the only avenue left (i.e. you are forced into it).
The Flames are winning, so should I be frustrated, or angry, or disappointed, or something? No. Winning is fun, dammit! Who the heck doesn't love cheering for the plucky 'never say die' underdog? That's the team you are most proud of, and the easiest to cheer for! Enjoy the ride that this season is giving you. it has been a lot of fun so far, with some really great story-lines to follow as well - Huska, Wolf, Vladar, Bahl, Costco, Rasmus and his Stare of Death, The Captain's 1000!, and on and on. This has been a HUGE breath of fresh air after two terrible seasons. Just enjoy the ride!
There is always more than one way to skin a cat anyway. Sure, the easiest is to draft high. That might still happen anyway. If I had to pick, I would wait until the next two drafts after the '25 draft anyway. Mckenna and Dupont? Wouldn't that be outrageous?
This organization has done very well drafting for a while now. I think under Conroy, it is going to do even better. That's Conroy's focus. I don't fear winning, because the worst that will happen with Conroy's thinking is: "We will keep our own free agents". That's fine - I don't think that they will return too much value, and this prospect base is getting really deep as is.
As for the future team - I think the Flames have a good number of future NHL'ers in the org already. That's how much I believe in the Flames' ability to draft and develop. I do think they absolutely need a few 'franchise types' to go along with what I think is already a very deep base, but Calgary has shown the ability to draft and find those players outside of the first round. Yes, it is harder - much, much harder.
I also think that Calgary has a handicap - lots of players with no-moves that will block trades to Calgary, and Calgary's inability to attract high-talent UFAs. They MUST draft these players. I firmly believe this. I think they have at least 2 in the fold already - Parekh and Wolf - and I think that there could be 2 more that pop within the organization already. If so, Calgary is well on its' way there.
Either way, I do think that this organization will bottom-out eventually. I don't think that you can expect a team to out-compete every team every night. It just isn't sustainable. I hope they do it all-season long, however.
As for Montreal trade consequences - cheering for wins, or cheering for losses will accomplish absolutely nothing when it comes to what that pick (or where it comes from) looks like. I will cry with you if it is 11th overall. I will celebrate with you if it is Florida's 31st pick that goes to Montreal. Cheering for one outcome or the other won't do a thing to change it anyway. I just prefer cheering for the wins as they come. I soothe myself with "higher pick" when they do loose, but I much prefer to cheer for wins.
This is coming from someone who is 100% in on "team needs to draft high for a couple of years". In a perfect world, this comes next season and the following season after that. Heck, who knows? Maybe with McQueen's injury, he stumbles in the draft, and Jersey gives us the 11th overall pick and we end up drafting our future #1 C anyway this draft? Maybe Button doesn't gamble with value and picks a Kucherov over a Wotherspoon in the 2nd round this time around? They are valuing skill over anything else, so I bet that mistake isn't happening any longer (not a criticism of Button - I think he is the backbone to this organization being such a good drafting organization - kudos for him for spotting Kucherov and Gaudreau as special talents and having them on a separate list).
2015 was a hell of a fun year. I don't really 'regret it'. It really was terrible timing with the McDavid/Eichel draft, but this year isn't that. Hagens is good. There are a nice assortment of top-talent players in the first 10 picks, don't get me wrong. I am just saying that I do think that this team will eventually bottom-out (not tank, but bottom-out) and there will be a better chance at a McKenna and a Dupont later, which I think easily trumps anything in this upcoming draft.
So just enjoy this wonderful breath of fresh air that this season is giving you. Win or lose, just enjoy it. This is what sports should be anyway - fun!
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