I really don't see the need in buying out Flash. People on here have been hating on him so much all year and I do understand why, but if you think a string of awful luck doesn't have at least something to do with his season this year than you haven't been watching the games. The guy went from playing with two solid NHLers that clearly found chemistry together to being bounced around a lineup, including rotting away on the bottom two lines for most of the season. He is still very offensively skilled and has ability. Think about the pressure on him this season. He was basically the only proven offensive veteran on the team going into training camp. That's a lot of pressure for a guy who's always been a secondary scoring type of player. It was obvious he was "squeezing the stick to hard" for much of the season. He began second guessing himself and it just led to more problems.
I say we keep Flash. At $4.5 Million we are nowhere near breaking the bank and he only has one more year left. Why move him or waste a buyout on him? The Leafs are paying Clarkson almost a million more to score 1/3 of the points (and don't talk to me about intangibles because Clarkson was awful this year).
I see no reason to move him because his value is low and a buyout is pointless on a player who is in his final year of his contract. If DT decides to move him, then I support it because clearly he didn't see Flash as a integral piece moving forward. But I think he'll keep him. There really isn't a ton of 50-60 point wingers out there in free agency, especially ones that will sign for less than $5 Million.
Also, I like hearing this from Tallon. Dale is a pretty straight shooter and usually says what's going to happen. Last year before July 1st, he said we'd be going young (which was a nice way of seeing his hands were tied) but it was the truth. We didn't expect significant signings, and well, we didn't get them. If Dale is talking about who he needs to pickup and that he's actively looking for scoring wingers, that is a great sign.
We don't need anymore centers, we need help on the wing and on defense. With DT planning to move a player or two to the wing (I think Pirri is just such a natural fit at wing, or Trocheck too because of his size/speed), and bringing in defense, it's clear he knows what this team needs because we have all be singing that song since the first week of the season.
I hope we can start this off-season correctly and pickup that future Shea Weber stud in Ekblad, and then move onto the draft and start building a contender.
