Quote:
Originally Posted by browna
This already may be a lost season but I think there’s a real urgency to not still stink or still be “finding their way” when the new building opens. They don’t have to be contenders but playoffs should be an expectation.
That won’t happen if they are waiting for the magic beans of draft picks to sprout (current and upcoming). And you run the risk of young guys like Wolf and Zary and of course guys like Parekh exposed to (sure get playing time but also) nightly expectations of losing this year and hurting their development.
Said before but I think Conroy is not anywhere where he wanted to be this far into his tenure. I think he’s at least a year behind where he thought he would be.
I think the hope when he took over and allowed the mass exodus for picks that he’d have acquired and attracted some impactful talent this far down the line. Along with the picks and using cap space, and the Flames would be on an upward trajectory to the new building. I don’t think the playoff chase hampered that last year, I think he’s just miscalculated the factors required to make those impactful transactions happen the last 2+ years.
He thought he could get some guys via FA (his talk about Raantnen made it sound like a real plan) and didn’t. The new building effect hasn’t hit the radar of players and agents yet.
Thought he could use cap space to get some picks to flip as trade bait for players, but didn’t/hasn’t yet. A guy like Mantha could’ve brought in a pick, but he got hurt. Etc etc
So now he’s got a team that will struggle and even if they get a top 5 pick this summer, will still have a hard time building around that in a year before the building opens, to be the calibre of team the organization wants, going into the spotlight season of a new building.
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I agree 100%, but if we win the draft lottery, at least the team will have hope to sell to the fans, and a potential superstar in Gavin McKenna. If we landed him, I think tickets will sell like hotcakes. Of course, odds are not in our favour.