You know what Colorado, Tampa Bay, etc all have in common - patience and asset management.
Problem with the Flames, and most Canadian teams to be honest, is that the ownership and fanbases are never patient. We always either push the chips in too early, and start making short term moves that set the teams back.
Tampa is a good example IMO.
They didn't go full "re-build" at any point. Coming out of the lockout they still had Lecavalier, Richards, Boyle, and St Louis. They ended up being really bad one season but didn't panic. They just traded Richards because he was a UFA. That got them Stamkos.
Then the next season same thing they were bad again, but they still had Lecavalier and St.Louis on the roster and didn't really "blow it up". That got them Hedman.
Two years later they lost in game 7 of the conference finals.
Then again two years later again they really sucked in the shortened season, didn't panic again though. Stuck to the plan, drafted Drouin and kept building around the same core. Two years later they were in the Stanley Cup finals losing to Chicago.
The next season they made the conference finals, but the year after that they were bad again. Missing the playoffs in 16-17.
Didn't panic again and try to tear it down or make wholesale changes, just remained patient. Make some smart deals like trading UFA Ben Bishop for Erik Cernak and others, and moved Drouin (who had asked for a trade) for Sergachev, but didn't panic and try to blow it up.
Tampa didn't win the Cup until last season which was 12 years after Stamkos was drafted and 11 years after Hedman was drafted.
Colorado was a team that went "full rebuild" but it also made a lot of sense for them at that time. They were a team that was a contender for 10-15 years prior, but then the core had aged out and it was time to reset.
Colorado finally bottomed out in 2009, drafting Duchene 3rd overall. They made the playoffs in 2 of the next 9 seasons, had a couple of blips where they weren't as patient and thought they were ready to contend (season under Roy) but that wasn't the case.
Still though over those 9 seasons they were able to draft Duchene (3rd overall), Landeskog (2nd overall), Mackinnon (1st overall), Rantanen (10th), Makar (4th), Byram (4th). Colorado was patient though, if this was a Canadian team they probably would have made alot more moves after bottoming out again after that 2016-2017 season. Mackinnon didn't look like he lived up to draft hype yet at that point, and discussion at the time was that Monahan was potentially better as he had out produced him to that point. Mackinnon only really broke out after Duchene was moved the following season, after asking for a trade. Landeskog had 33 points in 72 games that 16-17 season.
Colorado didn't panic and sell the farm though. They just used it as an opportunity to add another high quality piece, made a couple of changes, and kept building around their young core.
The best run teams always just accumulate assets, know when to sell on players, and are patient enough to build a winner over time.
Getting a Crosby and winning a cup within 4 years tends to be the exception, not the norm. And to me that still isn't really a plan, it's a lottery ticket. The Flames could finish last place in 2022 and 2023 and that still doesn't guarantee them Shane Wright, Bedard, or Michov...this organization has never had that type of lottery luck.
Hell maybe the Flames are on the right track here. Tampa (Drouin) and Colorado (Duchene) both had early picks ask for a trade away from the team and then really took off after that. Maybe Bennett asking for a trade is a good omen
