If teams are playing to just be "competitive" then yeah, I am laughing. There was a lot more expected of the Flames than to be on the brink of not making the playoffs. We were told over and over they have the best defense in the league.
But I mean,
exactly that was the Canucks' goal too. I wasn't arguing whether this "mediocrity" strategy is the way to go or not. My point was that these two teams tried to do the same thing, Flames succeeded and the Canucks didn't. In the best case scenario, had Benning actually accomplished what he wanted to do (including probably trading the Boeser pick for Lucic), Canucks would be where Flames are now. So any laughter you have should be targeted at the Canucks. If something is left (there shouldn't), then laugh at the Flames. But yeah, fair enough on that being a coping mechanism.
What comes to Flames, I'd also argue that the sheer quality in Western Conference is really high this season. 3 good and truly competitive teams are going to miss the playoffs this season. I don't see it that they were supposed to be there with Nashvilles and Winnipegs this season, and the rest of it is fairly even. Realistically, I don't see this season as a huge disappointment for them.
For the record, I don't mind where the Flames are. I think people on HFBoards live in a bit twisted world of hockey where anything but the Cup and 1st overall pick is a massive failure. I believe a team being competitive and playing meaningful games in March/April (including those "first round exit" teams) has lots of value and is a good thing for the vast majority of people following and being around that team. Also, as long as that kind of team is
run correctly, nothing will stop it from taking the next step. Nashville being a very good example of that. They've been a competitive team for a long time now and took the next step by great drafting and incredibly shrewd managerial moves.
I do agree that not having that 1st rounder top 5 (or 10, whatever) protected was a huge oversight. That should be a given in every trade nowadays because any non-playoff team can win the lottery. But there's still only tiny percentage chance it's going to cost you.