Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongavey
If the Flames are going to give up a bunch of assets for a center you would far rather get a PPG center like Pettersson than Cozens. Pettersson scores at a PPG rate, that is a top 8 center in the league. I would much rather have a guy who is in the top 6.25% of centers in the league than a guy who is the top 47% of the league in terms of scoring.
If Conroy is going center hunting right now I hope he is going big game hunting and going after Pettersson as opposed to grabbing something in the middle of the league.
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Yes, Pettersson is a much better player than Cozens, that's why he earns $11.6M. But there is more to it than that.
1) Pettersson costs $11.6M per year and is 26. That's #1C money, and I think he is a flawed #1C.
2) With Huberdeau and Kadri on the books as well, that's using up a lot of cap for 3 guys that are 34, 31 and 26. What kind of core building is that? As Pettersson is entering his prime years, the other guys are sliding out of theirs. There is little on our current roster in the same age/career group as Pettersson - we don't have the pieces to build around him.
3) Cost of acquisition - Pettersson would cost us some young pieces. Do we have some? Yes. Are we in a position to start moving them out? No. We have an old core that needs replacing. We need youth. Acquiring Pettersson pushes out that youth acquisition, meaning that Pettersson himself will be in his 30s before we can build around him.
If you're going to go all in acquiring a guy that is going to make $11.6M for the next 7 years, it has to be the right guy, at the right time. I don't think he's the right guy, and this is definitely NOT the right time.