Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny01
It feels like you have craved the Buffalo/Edmonton route and think it will be different in Calgary. Buffalo drafted several franchise level players in the last 15 years and remain a tire fire. Edmonton was saved by a once in a generation player who could be top 3 all time when it is all said and done.
I agree the Flames need high picks and I think they will get some but it is important that the Zary’s Wolf’s, Coronato’s etc play for a team that doesn’t accept losing as an option so they can be the in prime talent to surround the high picks with down the road. I think things are starting to fall for the Flames and I expect a rough couple of months ahead. Their veteran 6 make up the top 7 scorers on the team but none of them are on pace for more than 50pts.
I think this team will continue to regress and move Andersson either at the deadline or summer. Conroy wants younger players on the team, wants more draft picks and has not done a single thing to deviate from his plan to rebuild this team.
Look how many teams in similar markets than Calgary have tried and failed to do exactly what you are saying. Is Colorado the only team is a similar market that pulled it off? To me the key was MacKinnon not being a star until his 5th season when he was signed to a sweetheart deal and landing Makar with the 4th pick despite clearly being the best player in the draft 8 years later.
|
I crave the Colorado, Tampa Bay, Florida route.
Which is the same as the Buffalo and Edmonton routes, just with less incompetence.
When you look at Tampa and Florida - they didn't really do anything unachievable in Calgary. Florida managed to woo Bobrovsky - that's the biggest thing that Calgary likely couldn't do (and it shouldn't be downplayed, he was huge in their success).
What Tampa and Florida did so well was draft their foundational players, do well throughout the rest of the draft, and made aggressive GOOD trades. Paying a premium for a salary retained Blake Coleman as an example for Tampa, and acquiring Reinhart and Bennett in Florida's build. On the flip side of this, Edmonton has done a bunch of dumbass stuff like pay bad free agents (Campbell), make brutally bad trades (Athanasiou), and manage their internal cap structure very poorly (hello Nurse). Buffalo and Edmonton both share a strong lack of ability on the draft floor as well (prior to Kevyn Adams at least, verdict is out on him so far). They can't draft worth a damn outside of picking in the top-5, and this isn't a problem the Flames have. The biggest problem with the Flames is lack of opportunity to draft in the top-5.
I'm confident in Conroy and the Flames scouting staff IF they have the opportunity to make those top 5 picks. If they get the opportunity to draft twice in the Top-5, especially in the next few years, I believe Conroy can build a Championship team because the Flames do a lot of the other stuff well already. They just need the opportunity.