Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Not sure where to post this, but this thread seems to make sense, with all the Pettersson discussion... Here is why I think it is insane for the Flames to give up good young assets for a 26 year old. Let's break down the roster into groups, in order to see better when the Flames are in their life cycle.
Mature players: 30 and up - can help now, but not for much longer
Prime: 26-30 - the driving force of the team. Ideally, you want your core to be in this group
Pre-prime: 25 and under - can be key players now, but their best years are still ahead of them
Prospects: not yet on the roster
If most of your players are Mature, your window is closing. If most of your key players are Prime, your window is now. And if your key players are younger and prospects, your window is still ahead of you. The goal is to build a strong core group that are all in their prime together, along with some young players to continue to feed the core (and keep costs down). So where are the Flames, currently?
Mature:
Huberdeau
Kadri
Coleman
Backlund
Lomberg
Rooney
Hanley
Barrie
Prime:
Sharangovich
Andersson
Weegar
Kuzmenko
Kirkland
Duehr
Bean
Miromanov
Vladar
Young:
Wolf
Zary
Coronato
Bahl
Pachal
Pelletier
**Pospisil**
Prospects:
A) Parekh, Honzek, Brzustewicz
B) Gridin, Morin, Suniev, Stromgren, Basha, Mews
C) Grushnikov, Battaglia, Misa and on and on
Look at the core group - I would venture to guess that there isn't another team in the NHL that is that weak in the 26-30 range. You CANNOT build a competitive team around that. The Flames should absolutely NOT be trying to add to the Prime group (i.e. try to be competitive now). Adding Pettersson to that - at the cost of several of the young players - is beyond stupid.
The Flames' organizational strength is in their Young players and Prospects. They are actually in a really good position with players 23 and under. They need to continue to focus on that - continue to trade the Mature players, as their contracts come due, and acquire more picks and/or young players.
Cozens fits this model (at the right price). Pettersson does not. Not saying I particularly want Cozens, just saying his age fits the plan.
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