I don’t believe that any of the coaches and players will tank on purpose. That is just not the way that most of them are built. They are all coaching/playing for their next contracts.
Tanking, rebuilding, or retooling are all the sole responsibility of the GM, upper management, and the owners. So far, none of them appear to be willing use the terms “tank” or “full rebuild”.
I only judge Craig Conroy on what he does, not what he says. I do not know the level of autonomy he has or hasn’t received. He does appear to have bought into rebuilding, shown by trading away expiring veteran contracts for draft picks and prospects and I am perfectly fine with that.
What worries me is that Maloney and his ilk are outright lying to the fans and trying to gaslight us, pretending that the Flames are close to being a competitive play-off team. This approach will only ensure that Calgary stays in the “mushy middle” forever.
Calgary Flames fans are not stupid. We can see what this team is and isn’t. Calgary has only won two first-round play-off rounds during the last 25 years. As much as we like to hack on Buffalo for being poorly managed, the Sabres have won more play-off rounds than the Flames during that same number of years.
Calgary fans know that only 3 out of the last 20 teams winning the Stanley Cup DID NOT have a 1st overall draft pick on their roster. We also know that the odds of drafting first overall are only 25% even if we finish last.
That said, I firmly believe that any NHL team with even halfway decent scouting could rebuild any team with 2 Top 5 picks and 2 additional Top 10 picks in 4 years. Calgary’s scouting has looked good since 2023, and they already have the first of the two Top 10 picks in Parakh. I would like to see them bottom out for this year and next to gain two Top 5 picks, then slowly improve while grabbing another Top 10 pick on the way. That would be a 5-year re-build, and the team could be perennially competitive as soon as the 2029/2030 play-offs.
I know that 5 years is a long time for some fans and the team might be painful to watch at times, but I feel that it is infinitely better than being in the “mushy middle” for another two decades.
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