Its nice to see a handful of youngsters playing well, and org should never tank, the pick will be what it is at this point and there is no doubt that a few of these guys taking a step is good news but what exactly are we rebuilding right now or ahead of curve towards?
As far as actual player value in the long run, the team is terrible, we have two decent young forwards. A very good goalie we can build around, and one d prospect who looks like he can drive play but is two levels away. Beyond that I don't see anyone I'm sure will pencil in to a contenders lineup in 5 or 6 years, yet anyway.
I don't know what the answer is as to how you do it, but this team will never win a stanley cup without somehow obtaining a young 1C to build around and at least 3 or 4 more forwards behind that who can score and play in the top 9 that will actually be here in 5 or 6 years. Probably 2-3 more really good defenders too beyond Parekh who can play in the top 4 as well. And we're not talking about going fishing for someone like Shane Pinto or another middle six C, teams that win usually have at least one forward at least on the periphery of the hart conversation.
Unfortunately years like this where you sewer your draft pick and end up not adding another one of those core pieces for me feel like either treading water or a step further away not a step towards the goal. It's fun to watch but getting a top 5 pick is insanely difficult and all the stats show that most of the teams who win at least start their run with a piece like that. Not rooting for the bottom to fall out either, just not very optimistic for where this road leads for the Flames other than mediocrity in 5 years
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