Realistically, what pressure is there on this roster to preform? I was just thinking about it, with Treliving they don't make any mid-season moves to bring guys in. As part of that, guys are never on the way out. Is it a coincidence that the Flames best season came after a big trade?
Just looking at it, the Flames always seem to preform best when they get a new coach. Part of getting a new coach is that there is heat on the players to preform lest they get moved. Or even when Gulutzan blew up, it had the sense of "something needs to change" where it might not just have been Gulutzan. But time and time again no player has really been on the out in a way that was impactful to the team. Not saying you make trades to shake up a locker room, but that's weird, isn't it? The team picks it up whenever it seems that there's motivation of something being done to shake up the team, but it always comes to the coach first and the same results happen. Like, as I mentioned earlier the 2018-19 season was preceded by a big locker room guy like Ferland being traded out (also Dougie but apparently they didn't like him) and the team is mediocre to start, but they get stomped and something flips in them and they get hot. They play a fast pace, they retrieve pucks, it felt like there were never quitting. From an outside pov looking in, it seems like they were pushing back against the potential consequences of another failed season. And it makes sense looking at all the years before where the Flames only real consequences for quitting was the coach being fired, and a FA being brought in as a vote of conifdence in the team. Every other player that's been on the out from the Flames? Kulak was gone as a favour to him, Brouwer/Stone/Neal were bought out/traded for being bad, Frolik's agent trash talked management, Hamonic, Hathaway, and Brodie just walked in FA. At no point are there every consequnces for the actual on-ice product from guys the core care about.
This isn't to take any blame from anyone involved like Ward, who should at least be able to put together a bottom 6 that isn't abhorrent and preforming well below expectations, but at what point do you look at the group and wonder if they realize that there are no consequences for their actions beyond getting a new coach and another shot at kicking the bucket?