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With the lottery in the books, the order for June's NHL draft is one step closer to being finalized.
The good news is the 1st round pick Calgary dealt to New York in the Travis Hamonic trade didn't turn into Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov or Filip Zadina.
The bad news is, well, the Flames don't have a 1st round pick. Or a 2nd round pick. Or a 3rd round pick.
As such, it should be no surprise they're sitting at the bottom of the league in expected value added at the draft.
The Flames are the only team in the bottom-10 that missed the playoffs. Of that group, the Flames and Devils are the only two that aren't *still* playing hockey.
As you'd expect, teams that spend a lot of their draft capital are usually good. Very good. Ready, or damn close, to compete for a Stanley Cup good. And yet the Flames, who spent more capital than anyone, missed the playoffs by 11 points.
I do think they are better than their record indicated. I also think their core is good enough for them to contend sooner than later. That said, they have a lot of work to do on the roster – particularly around the edges. They'll have even more if they subtract from it in order to move back into the 1st round,
which appears to be a goal for management.
**
When the Flames announced Brian Burke would be stepping away from the organization, they framed it as a mutual decision.
After reading
Burke's interview with Sportsnet discussing his move into television, I'm inclined to believe that was the case.
Burke suggested the combination of all the travelling that came with his job, and visiting his daughters weekly in Toronto, was "brutal".
I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but it didn't make sense for Burke to continue jumping through hoops to balance his work life and personal life if he wasn't going to play a big part alongside GM Brad Treliving. And it didn't seem like he was going to.
"It’s just our GM doesn’t need my help as much and I’d like to do something else."
Recent posts:
Five keys to a successful off-season for the Flames
Notes on quotes from Bill Peters' introductory presser
The Flames need a new backup goaltender
Trading T.J. Brodie could make sense for the Flames
Calgary Flames 2017-18 season awards
Setting the table for the 2018 off-season
On the possibility of trading into the 1st round
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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