The Flames will never come out and say that losing today will help them win tomorrow as that seemed to be the approach both Edmonton and Buffalo took after taking it on the chin from bad free agent signings or misses that could never get them over the hump. Edmonton drafted top 10 11 times in 13 years and is currently enjoying a 5 year run of making the playoffs where they lose in the conference finals and cup finals twice. They pulled themselves out of the rebuild by landing one of the games best players of all time.
Buffalo started their top 10 journey in 2013 and are also on a run of 11 top 10 picks in 13 seasons. They show no signs of getting out. Top picks Eichel and Reinhart have won cups elsewhere.
I think the Flames will recognize this is a reset year but I do not think they will view this as a long path back like the Sharks and Hawks have taken. Maybe having guys like Wolf, and Coronato along with vets like Weegar and Kadri they can avoid multiple years at the very bottom
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