Is it time to have an honest conversation about completely blowing up this roster? Let’s go over some of the issues that the Flames face, dating back to the last quarter of last season (and before that). This is a team that is built fundamentally wrong to compete in the West, and in the NHL in general.
- The team is slow. At least half of the forward group are below average skaters. They just cannot push the pace.
- The team is soft. This doesn’t mean fighting. This means players who actually battle for pucks. How many flames forwards would you trust to actually win a puck battle in the corner. I could count them on one hand (Lindholm, Tkachuk, Ryan, maybe Backlund)
- No depth on the current NHL roster. I’d say over the past 3 or 4 years the Flames have had a horrid bottom 6, and that doesn’t appear to be changing this year. The defensive depth is ok, but nothing special. We rely massively on Gio, who is still elite, but there aren’t really and difference makers back there. Maybe Andersson could be soon, but who knows.
- The organizational depth, at this point, is downright scary. There’s some decent forwards, but nothing to write home about. That’s including Dube. Outside of Valimaki, who we don’t know what he is yet, the defense is worse. This is a by product of graduating some younger defensemen, but still. Let’s not even talk about the goalie situation.
Is there even a reason to be optimistic about the way this team is built? We can be Corsi gods, but who here would actually trust the Flames in a 2-1 game in the playoffs?
- The team is slow. At least half of the forward group are below average skaters. They just cannot push the pace.
- The team is soft. This doesn’t mean fighting. This means players who actually battle for pucks. How many flames forwards would you trust to actually win a puck battle in the corner. I could count them on one hand (Lindholm, Tkachuk, Ryan, maybe Backlund)
- No depth on the current NHL roster. I’d say over the past 3 or 4 years the Flames have had a horrid bottom 6, and that doesn’t appear to be changing this year. The defensive depth is ok, but nothing special. We rely massively on Gio, who is still elite, but there aren’t really and difference makers back there. Maybe Andersson could be soon, but who knows.
- The organizational depth, at this point, is downright scary. There’s some decent forwards, but nothing to write home about. That’s including Dube. Outside of Valimaki, who we don’t know what he is yet, the defense is worse. This is a by product of graduating some younger defensemen, but still. Let’s not even talk about the goalie situation.
Is there even a reason to be optimistic about the way this team is built? We can be Corsi gods, but who here would actually trust the Flames in a 2-1 game in the playoffs?
