Quote:
Originally Posted by stemit14
I’m sure Conroy will be active looking for another centre with potential top six upside (Necas/Mercer/Rossi) but I think I’d rather just go with Kadri-Zary-Frost-Backlund this year. Zary has shown solid progression for 2 straight years in the NHL and looked great at centre last year. If it works out and Zary turns into a legit 2nd line center - great! Found the solution internally. If it doesn’t work out and the team struggles - great! It’s a good year to have a high pick.
I’m fine getting another young centre that will be signed for long term if it doesn’t cost any of the young players in the system but I’m not sure that’s realistic.
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But this is the Calgary Flames way of doing things. Wait and see how it goes and hope for the best.
The Flames need to get more aggressive in what direction they want to go. I'm all for keeping Zary if we trade Coleman and Kadri for picks and go with a much younger team. But the insiders on here say that is not an option.
Keeping these guys blocks this team from drafting high enough to get a superstar. Odds of getting a superstar outside the top 5 is very low and teams that tank have extra picks and probably are more likely to hit on a superstar picked outside the top 5 than we are.
If we are not tanking, we need to get aggressive to upgrade our top 6. If you look at who wins the cup and use the following criteria.
Team that wins has a top 5 center or top 5 dman or a winger that is considered top 10 player in the league. 95% of teams that win the cup have elite players. Guys in the mix as best forwards or defense. Teams that try to depth their way to a cup, roll 4 lines and win, very rarely win without at least 1 line or top pairing that is elite. Carolina and Dallas are 2 examples of teams that have great teams that just can't get over the hump due to lack of elite talent. Dallas tried to address this with Rantanen, but now they have killed their cap situation and probably need to re-tool.
Flames chances of adding elite at the top of the draft is dwindling as the prospects develop. We can't blow this unless we want to just make the playoffs.
If we want to manage cap, not tank and trade for a star then we need to make decisions on young players who are about to get paid when they still have big value. Zary is not going to be a star, some might disagree, but he is replaceable through the system. We need to upgrade and do it with the players we got. Rasmus and Zary for Mercer also has the potential of being good but losing 2 for 1 could drive us down the standings and get us a top pick as well as probably an extra pick in the trade. Mercer IMO is the most valuable player in the deal but losing Rasmus who plays 24 mins a night leaves a hole in the roster and probably helps this team tank down the standings.