Quote:
Originally Posted by Macho0978
It's like we are playing PlayStation when people suggest that we do this.
Kadri is not going to be happy with 15 a night and his value will plummet as his production does.
Huska is the coach, and he is trying to win games. He is not sitting Backlund against McDavid types in a close game. Only thing he can do is take Backlund off the PP. The rest of his ice he deserves.
Young players are not committing long term deals with this franchise for 15 minutes a night. Frost lost minutes coming here, signed 2 years. Zary has not signed, and his minutes dropped after the Frost trade. It is possible that Zary does not want to commit long term with the Flames this off season due to concerns over his ice time.
The log jam at forward looks good on paper, but with no top end and too many quality players. Odds are the flames struggle to win with the lack of top end and at the same time players will be unhappy due to lack of opportunity.
Good teams are forced to move players due to cap issues, but if they draft well, they often gain. The Stars were brought up having guys like Bourque and Bischel. The are forced to play them more with Marchment, Granlund, Dadonov, Dumba out. They are forced due to lack of cap. But if you draft well and trust your farm system, you will gain in the long run trusting these kids.
Just because the Flames aren't forced into this situation due to cap, doesn't mean there is no issues. If they don't address the forward situation and stay healthy as a team, someone will get lost in the shuffle due to lack of ice or lack of deserved call ups. This impacts contract talks in the future.
I think this is why Conroy is looking at defense as Ras out and forwards out for a younger replacement evens out the ice time issues. The Flames have some D that deserve to be in the NHL over AHL, but year 1 those guys usually will take a spot on the team even if it is 3rd pair with games in the press box. They are gaining valuable experience and a much better pay cheque.
Flames have too many forwards that just don't deserve a 4th line role and are proven enough to be upset if they are the player that gets lost in the shuffle.
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Minor tidbit you may be missing. They are specifically calling out 5v5 time and trying to have more balanced 5v5 time.
Guys like Kadri will earn their extra time on the PP.
Guys like Backlund will earn their extra time on the PK.
Huberdeau seems to be getting time on both PP and PK.