Quoting: KingofRnR
They also need another Monster Shut Down D-Man for the 3rd Pairing, since Stone isn't the Best Defensively (although I'm a huge fan of his and believe he's playing some of his best hockey right now and has been off setting his weaknesses with his amazing blast of a shot and offensive contributions)
Fox outright refused to sign any contract with CGY and made it public, completing taking away any leverage from Treliving
The problem to me is players don't want to come to Calgary unless they're Traded and have no right to refuse or we over pay them. Might be because of the additional taxation in Canada and/or because of past and perceived future Covid restrictions affecting their and their friends/families ability to travel and see one another. Not to mention the better weather and lifestyle opportunities available elsewhere
Next, I could see a lot of Draft Prospects intentionally trying to fail their Draft interviews and discourage Treliving from selecting them, so they're not selected by Calgary, perhaps wanting to avoid the whole Adam Fox "I will not sign in Calgary" event. To be honest, I can't really blame some of them given Sutter & Treliving believe in longer development in the minors, are hesitant to give young players a shot and are simply harder on them in an attempt to "make them earn it". Why join Calgary's organization when the path to the NHL and opportunities are easier to find elsewhere.
I don't blame them for cutting Valimaki, he didn't look good enough, but he seems to be doing just fine in Arizona now
The Team is so good on paper, we just need individuals to perform like they're being paid to do, but a Top-6 Right Shot C/RW and another Big Shut Down D-Man would definitely help as well, as would benching Lucic 1/2 the time
Treliving is probably doing as best as he can though given all of the above and has still been able to build a competitive team overall
Quoting: KingofRnR
They also need another Monster Shut Down D-Man for the 3rd Pairing, since Stone isn't the Best Defensively (although I'm a huge fan of his and believe he's playing some of his best hockey right now and has been off setting his weaknesses with his amazing blast of a shot and offensive contributions)
Fox outright refused to sign any contract with CGY and made it public, completing taking away any leverage from Treliving
The problem to me is players don't want to come to Calgary unless they're Traded and have no right to refuse or we over pay them. Might be because of the additional taxation in Canada and/or because of past and perceived future Covid restrictions affecting their and their friends/families ability to travel and see one another. Not to mention the better weather and lifestyle opportunities available elsewhere
Next, I could see a lot of Draft Prospects intentionally trying to fail their Draft interviews and discourage Treliving from selecting them, so they're not selected by Calgary, perhaps wanting to avoid the whole Adam Fox "I will not sign in Calgary" event. To be honest, I can't really blame some of them given Sutter & Treliving believe in longer development in the minors, are hesitant to give young players a shot and are simply harder on them in an attempt to "make them earn it". Why join Calgary's organization when the path to the NHL and opportunities are easier to find elsewhere.
I don't blame them for cutting Valimaki, he didn't look good enough, but he seems to be doing just fine in Arizona now
The Team is so good on paper, we just need individuals to perform like they're being paid to do, but a Top-6 Right Shot C/RW and another Big Shut Down D-Man would definitely help as well, as would benching Lucic 1/2 the time
Treliving is probably doing as best as he can though given all of the above and has still been able to build a competitive team overall
I've heard the income tax argument before. I agree that it may be the case for player perceiving a benefit, but those states/municipalities make up for their taxes elsewhere: usually, luxury taxes or house taxes. Only Dallas, Nashville Florida and Tampa Bay have lower effective tax rates than Calgary, so the straight up income tax discount isn't that much lower. Reality, doesn't matter though. It's just how players perceive the state savings. The argument could be made that players are willing to take discounts to play in Vegas and Tampa because they can make more money on a lower cap hit than they could in Toronto or Montreal. However, the purchasing power parity of those places destroys your increased income. Moreover, Canadian players are still payed in US dollars. They gain considerable purchasing power from the FX. In short, a player in Calgary can afford significantly more than a player in LA, Vancouver, Toronto or NY. Given that Math isn't their strong suit, your argument about weather and the "big market" is probably more apt than any financial argument. I don't blame Tkachuk for wanting to live in Florida. He's young, rich and there are women everywhere. I get it.
Interesting point about the draft. It would be hard to prove, but the theory is sound in principle. The only issue I see with it is that if you didn't want to play for Calgary, you likely won't want to play for Edmonton, Columbus, Minnesota, St Louis, Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit or Winnipeg either, if only because of the weather and quality of the metro area. Calgary is higher ranked than all of them in terms of standard of living. Sutter hasn't been here that long (this time around) and other teams slowly develop players (Tampa, Detroit, Toronto.)
If we really want to upgrade any of our forward group, we have to give up a roster player to do it, and it won't be Dube and a prospect. There are only so many roster spots and we aren't going to replace Gudreau and Tkachuk by "committee". That should be evident by now. On paper doesn't mean much.