Flames Claim Nigel Dawes
by Kent Wilson on Jul 16, 2009 10:56 AM PDT
32 comments
In a somewhat surprising move, Calgary has claimed diminutive Junior scorer and former Ranger Nigel Dawes off of waivers from the Phoenix Coyotes. Dawes scored 19 points in 57 games with the Rangers, but stepped into an elevator shaft when he moved to PHX, managing just 2 assists in 12 contests.
Dawes was a sniper in Junior whom, it has been rumored, was coveted for years by Darryl Sutter a la Jamie Lundmark. Dawes scored 47, 47 and 50 goals in his last 3 seasons in the WHL and has also managed 27 and 35 goals at the AHL level (the latter in his rookie season). He has yet to translate his scoring at the NHL level, although he's been confined mainly to 3rd and 4th line duties.
I like the Dawes addition purely from a risk/reward stand-point: he cost the club nothing and has the pedigree to eventually develop into a capable forward. If he stagnates, however, it won't be a big deal.
One has to wonder what this means for the rest of the Flames forward roster, however. Dawes is an RFA and will be wanting a one-way deal. In addition (assuming Dustin Boyd get's re-signed) the club already has 13 NHL forwards on staff - and most of them occupy the space Dawes will be looking to fill. This has to signal that at least one bottom-end forward is out the door; the natural choice is Wayne Primeau, of course, but the fact that Dustin Boyd has yet to sign a contract worries me...
This also means is guys like David Van Der Gulik, Kyle Greentree and Mikael Backlund will not be making the club out of camp this season.
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Qualifier for my depends vote: I’d rather have Boyd in my line-up. I like the idea of Backlund in the A, with a few peeks at him through the year as injuries and fatigue (thanks, schedule-maker) pile up. Hopefully, the number of guys on the Flames bench late in the season isn’t the same as the number of guys on my beer-league bench!
Yeah, I dont know if Boyd is a better player than Dawes, but it’d be terrible to live through all the growing pains during his entry level deal and then lose him right as he’s about to take the next step.
Frankly, I really think this means Primeau is done. either his injury is debilitating enough for the Flames to piull another Warrener or Sutter has finally come to his senses about the gawd-awful contract.
I should have noted that Dawes is a LW – probably the Flames thinnest position up front (Bourque, Glencross, Nystrom and now Dawes). So that’s good.
Funny, I was just thinking…another LW? I count Bourque, Moss, GlenX, Nystrom, Dawes, Greentree, Jaffary shoots left (plays both I guess). In terms of natural Right Wingers we only have Iggy, Sjostrom and McGratton. Boyd, Prust and Lundmark are centres who sometimes play wing. I’m still curious who is going to replace Bert as the 2nd RW. Moss?
Moss has played RW since making the bigs. Not sure why he’s listed as a LW in most places.
I think he moves up this season and he certainly deserves to.
by Kent Wilson on Jul 16, 2009 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions
I’m happy with that. Depth is looking like this then?
Bourque – Langkow – Iginla
GlenX – Jokinen – Moss
Dawes – Conroy – Boyd
Nystrom – Prust – Sjostrum
Greentree – Lundmark – Jaffray
DVDG – Backlund – McGratton
Other than the fact that we don’t have crap ass ‘d’ and arguably one of the best goalies in the game…are we the canucks? I feel like our team is made up of Third liners and below. The Cammelleri and Bertuzzi (only for scoring) holes are looking big. I’m much happier having Moss and no Bert, but that means the next two lines are thin… and that’s if Boyd is signed.
why is it so hard for people to spell sjöström ?? i mean, umlauts aside, it’s still two Os.
;)
by walkinvisible on Jul 16, 2009 1:10 PM PDT up reply actions
I said depends, and it all depends to me on how much he costs. If it’s at or near the minimum them I’m all in favour of it. If it uses up much extra cap space that could be spent on a proven commodity, then I’d be opposed.
the “rumor is” he’s looking for no more than 1M (and will probably get less).
by Kent Wilson on Jul 16, 2009 12:41 PM PDT up reply actions
More Abbotsford fodder
I had long ago come to the conclusion that Primeau was done, or at the very least on the Rhett Warrener retirement plan. I largely suspect that one way deal or otherwise this is simply a move to bulk up the shear number of guys in the AHL/NHL bubble group. I think there are three reasons behind this move for DaSu.
1. As Kent has previously alluded to, the Flames appear serious about icing a competitive team in Abbotsford (in answer to an earlier trivia question, the last good Flames AHL team I can recall is the St. John’s baby Flames who won the Calder in 2000-2001. From a review of the AHL website, not a single player on that team is currently on the Flames roster) Either Dawes plays down there or pushes a bubble guy who can contribute down there improving the Heat’s quality either way.
2. I think they are dedicated to making a competitive atmosphere in those bottom spots and let the cream rise to the top. This would also be part of the view that Darryl is looking for that cheap guy to fill that scoring forward spot and Dawes is simply another ticket in that lottery (I would also include Boyd if signed, Lundmark, Greentree, Glenncross in the running)
3. After the injury woes last year, I think Darryl wants to have lots of options of guys to fill in.
All good points, although I’d be very surprised to see Dawes play a minute in Abbotsford. He has 133 NHL games under his belt and is already a better player than, say, McGrattan, Prust or Primeau (or Nystrom, arguably).
by Kent Wilson on Jul 16, 2009 12:48 PM PDT up reply actions
I said no...
and not because I don’t like Dawes. I honestly don’t know where he fits on the spectrum of 3rd/4th liners the Flames have. However, they’re starting to reach the point of having too many of those guys. I’m all for competition for the spots, and depth, but I’m not sure how roster and playing time decisions are made when there are so many guys that sample size noise is too difficult to filter out, and with this many guys the sample size of time they can showcase themselves is getting small.
I like this pickup.
Dawes is a young physical guy who should fill in well. This signing shows yet again that a boring defensive brand of hockey is going to return to the Dome. Boring to watch, but as a Flames fan I like it.
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ooooh, i like dawes from his time in new york. good speed, hard work. a bit smallish. good shot i think
Based on his history alone, Nig has a lot of grit and scoring touch. As an outside observer of the Flames I don’t see this signing as a negative. I doubt that he’ll fare less well than either Prust or Nystrom, depending on who he will be linemates with, and I think Colin S hit the nail on the head in saying he looks to be a late bloomer.
If you take into consideration the players he played junior with (other top liners), and who he ended up playing with in NY and Pho, you’ll see that he hasn’t been playing top lines.
I believe whole heartedly that players play to their line mates potential (Look at 07 version of Montreal Canadians Second line – Kovalev/Plekanec/Kostitsyn – all had stellar years, and you can’t tell me Plec and the Mofia Kid have Kovalev talent!!) .
I think Dawes will fair fine when he finds his spot on the Flames. I doubt that he’ll be in the A for long, if at all.
by Cruisin4aBruisin on Jul 16, 2009 8:10 PM PDT reply actions
Heatley is not coming to the Flames. Next topic please.
Sutter is signing these 3rd and 4th liners cause there aren’t any 1st or 2nd liners out there anymore. Tangs anyone? Plus he has no intentions on taking on any large salaries anymore. Yeah maybe he bundles up one or two for a decent second line option but that hasn’t been the case with Sutter and his 3rd/4th line bargain bin signings in recent years…he usually keeps them or sends them down to the AHL.
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Not unless the Flames drop a whole lot of salary in the process.
That may be another reason to “replace” Boyd, however – he’s part of a package headed out of town.
What's the word on this package?
Who’s going? Who’s coming?
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I would bet this turns out to be a good move (depending on dollars when he signs of course). Sure his last year was poor but who had a good year with Phoenix? His desjardins basics were actually really terrific when he was in New York. I bet once he gets some quality linemates he’ll be more than keeping his head above water.
Well, lets put it this way: If we can get 10g out of him on the bottom two lines for less than $1 million, then how is this possibly a bad deal?
I dont think it will be, but there’s nuances to this issue considering the Flames have lots of similar players and limited cap space. At this point, getting 10 goals out of Dawes might represent a lateral move because it will simply bump a guy like Boyd down or out of the line-up.
If the roster is managed properly and Calgary squeezes value out all their good bets at the edges (like Dawes, Boyd, Sjostrom, etc) then I’m all for it.
by Kent Wilson on Jul 17, 2009 11:45 AM PDT up reply actions
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