Originally Posted by Enoch Root
I've said it before but I'll say it again. A 'one year face plant', a 'retool on the fly', is a perfectly fine strategy, if you have a team that is just missing a couple pieces, if you already have several good pieces to build on (like Dallas and Colorado)
The problem that the Flames face, is their core is too old to try and supplement. A one year face plant does not get them anywhere, because there are only two years left on the current core. Current Core:
Huberdeau (32) - Kadri (35)
Backlund (36) - Coleman (33)
Weegar (31) Andersson (29)
The only guys young enough to consider part of the rebuild, of the next core, are Weegar and Andersson, and Andersson is gone.
If there were a solid group of guys in the 25-30 range, then that's who you could build around with a quick retool. But the Flames have purposely left that age group empty. Any professional that looks at Sharangovich, Frost, Farabee, Pospisil, and Klapka, and sees the makings of a core, needs to be fired immediately. Nothing wrong with any of those guys as supplemental pieces, but there isn't a single core piece in the group. The Flames HAVE to know this.
The talent on the roster is all young: Coronato, Parekh, Wolf, Gridin. EVERYONE can see that.
These are guys that can become core pieces. These are guys that if you add a couple elite players to, you have a core that you can work with, and be competitive with, for YEARS.
The Flames are in a perfect position to have a fast rebuild - they have a few young pieces already, with multiple other young assets that will provide depth and maybe one or two more core pieces, and they have valuable aging players that they can trade for even more young assets.
All they need is 2 or 3 elite young pieces, along with the stockpile of draft picks that will come along with it. It's a perfect situation, and they could be in really good shape (not yet competitive, but young and upcoming) in time for the new building. They can do what Montreal has done, and there is little risk of being Buffalo or Detroit.
But there is NO CHANCE that this team, as it is structured, can build a competitive team on the fly. And if management can't see that, then management needs to be replaced.
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