So are we, I assure you.
They are nominally rebuilding, but the best description I have of the "rebuild" is that the only thing they felt needed rebuilding was the culture, and they appear to be trying to vibes a Cup run into existence without any reliance on talent. They've only ever shipped out malcontents, people Torts seems to hate, and one guy who wasn't resigning here, and the thought of moving our older players for younger assets seems to be beyond them,
Pelletier and Kuzmenko are excellent glue type of guys to have on your team. Flames fans aren't just saying it when they say these personalities will be sorely missed.
Conroy said in an interview last night that Briere called him in the morning and they just hashed it out all day. It seemed like Briere literally woke up yesterday and decided that it was the day he was going all in to get Farabee and Frost off of the roster, and Conroy was the guy that was going to benefit.
I feel for Philly fans though. This trade stings for you guys a lot. I think many of us Flames fans also kinda understand a little bit what you Flyers fans are going through since we saw a bunch of it over the last few years.
I can't speak for all Flames fans, but I feel like many others share the same sentiment. We're excited for this trade for how it benefits us. But we also feel for you guys and know what it's like to has similar struggles and frustrations with management, so many of us aren't going to gloat.
Like I said, I don't think they targeted Kuzmenko or anything. He's in there to make the money work and then disappear.
Nah. I think there's enough evidences that indicates there might have been a bit of fixation by Briere. Conroy said they hadn't really been actively chatting. He basically said Briere basically called him out of the blue yesterday morning and they chatted all day until the deal got done.
There's enough evidence that Kuzmenko was the first player to be confirmed wanted from the Flames end and Pelletier was the second player to be confirmed around an hour later. Picks are picks, basically always fluid. It seems Frost was the first player to be confirmed wanted from the Flyers end and maybe Farabee was second? Or maybe they were always a package in Briere's eyes, I don't know.
Coincidence wise:
- Kuzmenko seems to know Michkov well.
- Frost and Farabee are buddies and hang out a bit off ice
- Briere and Pelletier are both undersized French Canadian NHLers from Quebec
I don't know if the above coincidences were the sole reason why Briere decided only to chat for Conroy for the whole day to get the deal done... but I'd say if Briere called first and he decided to chat with Conroy only, spending a single day to consummate a deal, it's fair to conclude a fixation on a player must have occurred. Especially since Conroy was the one that seemed to walk away with the win over Briere.
As a Flames fan, we were kinda mad that we didn't seem to have taken a shot at Kakko for the price paid. But if a similar thing happened then to what happened for Briere/Conroy, then in hindsight, we can't blame Conroy for that situation. Channels weren't open to other teams/other GMs.
Flyers look to be either rebuilding to tweeking. Take your pick. Shedding $5mill is a good move if the guy has fallen out of favour with the organization
I don't think Farabee has fallen to that level of bad that his contract needed to be shed in this manner based on Flyers fans comments. This feels more like fire selling Bjorkstrand for cheap to make a play for another player type situation, or moving a useful player in Monahan with an asset to fit Kadri... but not.