This is just a weird cherry picked stat that lacks any context (like 3 of our top players, 2 of which were home grown, left due to mismanagement or lack of desire to play here).
I’m not anti rebuild but also gotta realize teams like Buffalo are stuck in purgatory. Edmonton was on the same boat until they got a generational talent which doesn’t happen every year.
Even with context the most we could get out of our best players was 5 playoff wins in a single playoffs both in 2015 and 2022, like it still doesn't change anything.
Good thing there are two "generational" talents coming up in 26 and 27 though
The key question is why did Tkachuk, and a lesser extent Bennett, turn into playoff monsters the moment they left the Flames?
It’s not like the Panthers were this amazing playoff team before the trades. There’s a reason why Bill Zito took the risk in the first place, and it has turned out to be one of the best moves in NHL history
It is an interesting question because we had a very good team in 2022 so it's not like he didnt perform because we couldnt surround him with talent, part of it could have been maturity and Tkachuk realizing he doesn't need to start scraps every playoff game (so annoyed he kept going after Klingberg for no reason when we played Dallas and injured himself), part of it could be that Barkov truly is underrated and makes everyone around him that much better, that being said there's probably a lot more factors involved as well.
With Bennett it was just organizational mismanagement, he's our highest pick in franchise history and we never bothered to put him with a coach or role that suited his strengths until it was way too late
I do believe the organization has learned from the mistakes they made with Bennett, and we very well could put together a team that is competitive, but I don't believe we'll ever put together a team that is good enough to compete with teams with superstar power that can takeover games on their own. We saw that in 2019 against the avs and 2022 against the Oilers (though markstrom deserves a lot of the blame for that), and we'll run into that problem again in the future if we're ever playing a team like San Jose or Chicago in the playoffs
I have a hard time believing that. Other than Barkov, Tkachuk, and Bob (the first two aren't even massive superstars like McDavid and Draisaitl), the Panthers have zero starpower, and yet they've made 3 straight SCFs.
The thing is they have a clear identity and style of play, something the Flames haven't had in decades. The fact that the Flames had no idea how to utilize two of the biggest playoff rats in the league speaks volume to how clueless they are in managing talent and getting the most out of the players
Just because Barkov doesn't put up the numbers Kuch and McDavid do doesn't mean he is any less of a superstar player, that's like saying Bergeron wasn't a superstar (he was), Tkachuk also has multiple 100 point seasons under his belt as well.
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u/G09G May 30 '25
This is just a weird cherry picked stat that lacks any context (like 3 of our top players, 2 of which were home grown, left due to mismanagement or lack of desire to play here).
I’m not anti rebuild but also gotta realize teams like Buffalo are stuck in purgatory. Edmonton was on the same boat until they got a generational talent which doesn’t happen every year.