I think going out and - hypothetically - grabbing BOTH MacTavish and Cozens - isn't going to turn this organization around overnight.
Calgary is still likely to finish at the bottom of the standings this season, and next season, and probably the season after that. Great shot at drafting another top-end centre prospect this year, a great chance at the McKennea lottery following draft, and probably still a good chance at the Dupont lottery too. As long as Calgary does not trade away their own firsts in the upcoming years, I am good with a trade for Cozens and MacTavish.
A plethora of centres would be damn amazing for a change. Having to convert some to wing, or then keeping the two best and shipping out another one or two to trim the roster off?
What I don't want to see is the Flames to start trading away assets for 'win now' players, even at their primes. I don't want this organization to prioritize the standings over this year and next and turning this rebuild around artificially into a mediocre mess again. I don't think it becomes that with MacTavish and Cozens - I mean, Anaheim and Buffalo have been poor with them.
Calgary is not going to turn into a playoff or 'mushy middle' team with the defence as is. They have been better than expected, but as teams are cranking up their GAF levels, and with the losses mounting, things are starting to snowball the way most people assumed they would.
I have absolutely no issues that Calgary trades SOME futures with SOME prospects (even a healthy dose of each) - just absolutely NOT the 1st round picks in the upcoming drafts as those can really bite the Flames in the butt soon. The Devil's? Sure. Even the unprotected Vegas pick (which I am loathe to trade away 'just in case!' - these are important assets for the rebuild, but they don't have to be used in the draft. If you can package up some of these assets to either grab players like MacTavish and/or Cozens, or even package up assets and move up ever draft, I am all for it. There is a lot of quantity in the Flames organization, but there is definitely a lack of quality still, though there are young players that are exceeding expectations to this point in time.
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