Quote:
Originally Posted by Royle9
I understand wanting to pick high, I really do.
But the tank group seems to think in order to do so we have to get rid of every veteran and then some even think we need to get rid of Wolf... just to TANK.
Can it not be a bit of both? It doesn't need to be a complete bare bones sell everything, in fact no team ever really does that to start a season. We need a balance, we need to have an identity and understand when our window will be and Craig has that. He's said multiple times that they project to have a GOOD team by the time the new arena opens and that's their long term vision.
For now they stay competitive and try and promote from within.
Of course he's said they'll want to watch for young guys who fit the window via trade and then any big star UFA that may make sense *Cough Makar* cough.
I think he's stuck to the plan he's been very transparent about.
But somehow its just not good enough (or bad enough in this case) but NO team ever just sheds every player over 25 and fills their roster with prospects and young guys.
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Thank you. I've newly signed-up to this board, but I've reading the argument now for years and you have always been the voice of reason -
My problem is the full tank arguments do not account for material factors:
(1) they do not consider (or discount) the factor that you are dealing with human actors - players have characters, some are good, some are not; teams have coaching and development, some are good, some are not, etc.
(2) they misunderstand the value of draft picks - a high pick increases your likelihood of finding a valuable player, but it is not exclusive (the comment that you cannot win without a top 5 pick, is case in point - and it is factually incorrect, Vegas won recently without a top 5 pick).
(3) because of these errors, they assume that because something has been unlikely (or is deemed unlikely) or has not occurred in the past, then it will not work in the future.
Someone above said that culture is top-down - this is true in a way, but the top needs to find the right people who then develop the culture at their level and below - the right people in the right places and trusting those right people to do their job is how a good organization is formed.
The current direction of the Flames appears to understand this.
Moreover, the tank position does not even appreciate where the Flames are at - we already have two potentially elite players (Wolf and Parekh).
Yes, it would be nice to have a top 6 center, but it's not definite we don't - Zary shows glimpses of that potential; Honzek is a big guy who missed a year of development - if he takes a big step forward (which is not uncommon for players with that history/make-up), he could be that guy. Moreover, you don't need a 100+ point guy as your center to win (eg Bergeron, Barkov, Kopitar).
I do think the Flames need to find a game-breaking forward- and by that I mean one of those guys who can shift the flow of a game, create chances out of nothing, etc. - I don't care if he's a center or winger, but we need someone who can do that. Generally, we need more top 6 skill.
The odds of this would be greater with a high pick, but there's usually a Kucherov or Kaprizov or Gaudreau somewhere beyond the first round and it's not a lottery - good scouts will find him, good management will draft him.
The tank people should look to Buffalo - that is what the result would be. Chicago is trending in that direction. A year from now we could be looking at Anaheim and San Jose and asking why their efforts to take the next step did not pan-out.
I remember the Young Guns era - even with Iggy, things were not great - it took Iggy and Sutter and Kipper to reset the culture.