Quote:
Originally Posted by RedHawk12
Remember though that we tried to sign Lindholm to an extension. We tried to sign Hanifin to an extension. They were only traded after we couldn't and were going to lose them for nothing. There are reports out there that we are looking at signing Andersson to an extension. There are reports out there that teams are interested in Andersson and that we are the ones who are not really engaging and will only trade him if the deal is good enough. Well any player can be traded if the deal is good enough. That's not a rebuilding mindset. There are reports out there that teams are interested in Backlund and Coleman, and we've flat out said they're not available. That's not a rebuilding mindset.
There are players and deals to be made now and have been there for the last 2 years that Conroy has been in charge if this team is truly rebuilding, and we're not seeing it.
What we are seeing is this team taking a wait and see approach. Give more ice time to young guys and don't sign or trade for veterans that keep us in the mushy middle. Well that's the prudent thing to do in our situation. To not do that would be downright negligent, and Conroy is not stupid. But it doesn't mean that we're rebuilding.
It's clear that Conroy sold Edwards on competitive way forward rather than a tear it down rebuild. Let the young guys play, let the vets regain form, don't waste money on UFAs, try to improve the team through the draft and trades as they come up, and see what happens.
It's also clear that the Flames sold many fans on their plan disguised as a rebuild. Trade a couple of expiring contracts and a goalie that doesn't want to be here and suddenly we're rebuilding? I don't think so.
I'm looking at what Conroy has said, and what he's been doing, and it's not a rebuild. But he's convinced many of you that it is, and I guess hope sells just as well as success. We'll see if it pays off, but I see more of the same. And yeah, I agree we all see what we want to see, you and me included.
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It's difficult to evaluate a team's performance based on hypotheticals that didn't happen. I could see a trade for Hanifin with an extension being a better value than what we got for him as a rental. The Lindholm extension offer IMO was a bit of a panic move because of the narrative that no one wanted to play/stay in Calgary. The bottom line is that it didn't happen, because Lindholm's camp wanted too much.
Andersson is another case that could go either way. You still need veterans that will teach and help your young stud prospects. I would prefer the Flames to trade Andersson, but I could see him and Weegar pairing up with a rookie each until said rookies develop and can run their own pairing.
Just look at the steps that Zary and Pospisil took thanks to Kadri. Look at how well Coronato is developing thanks to Backlund and Coleman. I think they would've developed much slower under different circumstances, like when Bennett and Jankowski were left to figure things out on their own line.
Personally, I don't think that anything's clear in regard to the direction of the team.
Maybe aside from several of our prospects playing better than anyone expected at this point.