I am sick of the direction of this team. I don't really think of this as a 4th straight year of the same because 2010 kind of took most of us by surprise. But this is the 3rd straight year the Flames have gotten off to a horrible start and basically said they were going for it. This by all accounts is the year to sell assets off for several reasons
1. Top 5 pick is likely to be a franchise changer
2. Having multiple picks moving into the draft and tons of cap flexibility can allow management to be active at the draft in terms of trades. Some teams will be trading off players to fit in the $64M cap and having an abundance of 1st and 2nd round picks the Flames can be in position to make those trades.
3. A bigger free agent pool. With plenty of buyouts considered the flames can be players in that pool
4. Sellers market. The shortened season will eliminate only 3-7 teams by the deadline. The flames have a nice mix of high and low cost pieces that should be for sale. Trade Iggy, Bouw, Kipper. Shop most of the roster around and see what can be had
This rebuild can be short of done correctly but if we don't become sellers then we might be in for a very long few years
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Another thing to consider is the fact that the other teams that are terrible do not have many guys that are worth dealing
Washington has Chimera and Riberio along with Poti
Tampa has BJ Crombeen and Sami Salo
Buffalo has Ott, Hecht with Regehr Leopold and Pardy on the back end
Florida has Goc, Santorelli and Kuba
The Oilers could possibly deal Smyth Hemsky and Ryan Jones along with Whitney Smid and Sutton
All in all, though there isn't really a lot of quality there at all. Mostly 2nd/3rd liners.
The 2003 draft was the year to do it because it was a very deep draft. There were players available late in the 1st round that would be top 10 picks in most years.
By all accounts that I have read, the 2013 draft is the opposite. Decent depth in the top 5 and maybe top 10, but after that, a whole lot of average. It's not really a good year to go all in. Teams in the top 10 are not going to want to trade down easily either.
If this is the draft that the Flames finally decide to go for the rebuild, their timing stinks.
There's some mixed messages regarding the depth. Here's what Craig Button had to say (and I'm sure he does talk with our head scout):
"Comment From Gerry
How do you see overall strength of this draft? There have been some organizations who have suggested that it is over rated. The top 10 are exceptional, but after that it is weak. Do you agree?
Craig Button: Perspective will always vary. I think this draft has similarities to 2003 draft in that, there are very good players deep in the first round and I think there will be very good players drafted in the 2nd round like 2003 with Bergeron and Weber."
So it sounds like a great draft to be rebuilding. The top end is good and it does appear fairly deep. If we get a top 5 pick we have an almost sure star/superstar and if we get another 1st rounder we can grab another solid prospect. Based on what I've heard about this draft saying it is a bad draft to be rebuilding would be false. Extremely good top end and doesn't drop off right away.
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This rebuild can be short of done correctly but if we don't become sellers then we might be in for a very long few years
There is no world where a rebuild takes less than 5 years.
The only question is how badly will they stink in that time. They stink now so I am not trying to convince anyone of a direction, my point is only that there is no short path.
I would not complain one bit if Burke came over. Listening to him and Eric Francis has a Torts/Brooksie sitcom ring to it. That and he is a great trade maximizer.
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Have any of you guys actually met Ken King? He is a sharp businessman with great respect for the Flames and even moreso for the fans. He's always out mingling with people in the concourse at games, at Flames Central when possible to hang out with the patrons and answer their questions, and has always been approachable in most situations I've seen him. He bought my friends and I drinks once and sat there at FC answering all of our questions - and he was even more keen to hear our opinions.
Where am I going with this? You may not like King's approach to team success and the heavy-handed nature of his role on the GM duties, but him and his team aren't stupid and they certainly aren't out to destroy the Flames through lack of action. They also consider the fans in most decisions they make, so getting rid of Iginla / the core is not an easy one because that's the house most of us Flames fans have grown up in for the last 18 years. Iginla is an institution in this city and you can't just fire him off without very good reason to do so. He is asset to the city, not just the team.
I don't know if Burke could do a better job, but axing King is not as easy as it would seem. He does bring a strong PR and management element to the administration, even if some people don't like the results (or lack of them). Hold the whole operation accountable, not just King.
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