Post Free Agent Frenzy - What's left for the Flames
It took Darryl Sutter about two days to move Vandermeer, ink Bouwmeester, re-sign Pardy and then shore up the bottom end of the organizations depth chart with Sjostrom, Kronwall, Armstrong and Murray. According to NHLnumbers, Calgary now has 19 players @ 53.748M, leaving about 3.053M in cap space.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like the Flames are pretty much done for the summer. There are a few, nagging loose-ends that will likely need to be addressed in the near future though...
1.) Dustin Boyd is still RFA. Not sure what the snafu is here, but Boyd put in a lot of thankless hours as a 4th liner and penalty killer during his entry level deal meaning he's probably had to learn a lot of hard lessons without a lot of pay-off. It also means his new salary won't be inflated because his output this far has been lackluster. He's the type of guy that will probably out-perform his next contract if he's signed and managed properly, so I'd like to see his name on a multi-year deal @ 1M/year or less sooner rather than later.
2.) When Boyd signs, the Flames will have 20 NHL players ready for duty, (including Sjostrom and Prust): 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies. They'll also have about a million shaved off that 3.053 in cap room, leaving about 2M in space and the club dreadfully short in the "healthy scratch" department. The top 6 will also consist of -
Bourque-Jokinen-Iginla
Boyd/Glencross-Langkow-Moss
Which doesn't blow anyone's socks off, but doesn't look too terrible...until one projects what the roster would look like sans Langkow, Iginla or even the injury prone Bourque. No one behind the top six, aside from perhaps Old Man Conroy, would have a prayer of stepping in adequately for any longer than a game or two (save which ever of Boyd or Glencross draws the short straw...and even that's debatable). I would suggest the PP, which was a sore spot last season, is poised to either stagnate or get worse considering the Flames lost two of their more capable PP forwards (Bertuzzi and Cammalleri) and replaced them with no one.
Which brings me to...
3.) The roster as it's currently constructed is probably solid given the steps forward by guys like Moss and Glencross last year, but it's also walking a thin line between "decent" and "dreadful". As such, I would suggest the Flames still need to drop some salary and add at least one more capable ES and/or PP scorer. Wayne Primeau should be cut or demoted one way or the other - his 1.4M salary is obviously well out of line with his potential contributions. He could be replaced by just about anyone at about half the price (Sjostrom), so deleting him is requisite no matter what.
A lot of the UFA targets I identified prior to July 1 are gone, but a few potential guys that are still around include Jason Williams, Mikael Samuelsson, Kyle Calder and Ruslan Fedotenko. Calder is probably the worst of the bunch, but the other three would all make for adequate (if not ideal) candidates. There's also the Bertuzzi option, but let's not talk about that...
3.5M in cap space may not be enough to sign another forward and keep an acceptable amount of breathing room under the cap (which Sutter learned the hard way last year is a must), so dealing a guy like Cory Sarich for prospects or a cheaper d-man may be in order. Sarich had a good season last year, albeit mostly from the 3rd pairing, and he'd probably be able to cover his 3.6M salary from an ability perspective. The problem is, the Flames have greater need elsewhere and already have a huge chunk of tough minutes covered by Regehr and Bouwmeester (and, hopefully, Dion Phaneuf). Paying Sarich 3.6M to take on secondary or teritary competition for 17 minutes a night probably doesn't make much sense for the Flames anymore as a result.
Darryl Sutter has had an excellent summer thus far. If he can trim the fat and address some minor, lingering forward depth concerns, I think the Flames will well positioned come October.
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Good summary
As I look at this roster, I see exactly the same thing, and the same ‘best’ option. That is, get one more forward who can contribute in the top 6 – not a star, obviously, but a Fedotenko-type would be welcome. I believe that Boyd can play top 6, but I’d like that to be the depth option, not the ‘must’ option. I believe that Backlund will be able to contribute top 6 later this year (again, though, as a depth option). Both of those guys will be able to help fill for an injury, and Glencross too. However, all of that depends on one more forward that is 2nd-line capable. Personally, looking at the list of available, I’d jump on Fedotenko, but that is salary dependent.
And to make all this happen? Has to be trading Sarich – Gio is more than capable of being top-4 D, and with big minutes taken by Dion, JBo and Reggie, one of the 7th D types like Pelech could be in the top 6 and that wouldn’t be devastating. And the depth in last-pair D types who will be sitting in Abbotsford makes Sarich the most expendable, even if it is just for draft picks.
Anyway, unless there is some blockbuster Phaneuf deal happening, which I doubt, this will be a quiet two months as you predicted a couple of days ago. I’m already anxious for October…
I think we’ll see Sutter deal Sarich for a 2nd line winger rather than any of those FAs. I was interested in Fedetenko the last time he was up for UFA, but I’m not sure he’s the right fit for us now. He’d probably give us about what Moss, Glencross, or Bourque will, and I’d rather see us aim a bit higher.
question is: does sarich have the clout to land a “better than Williams” type forward? Im not sure he does.
Well…I’ll throw this out for fun…Sarich + (prospect) for Simon Gagne. The Flyers need to drop a couple of bucks and have the following blueline: Pronger, Timonen, Carle, Jones, Coburn, Parent, only two of whom are signed past 09/10.
I thought the exact same thing earlier today (probably while perusing Lowetide comments – they mentioned Gagne) and wanted to see what everyone here thought, but of course forgot to post it…thanks for reading my mind! Seriously, I do think Gagne is a possibility depending on how interested the Flyers are in Sarich (and who the prospect might be). Gagne is a bit of an injury risk, but I’d love to see him next to Iggy.
I’d settle for Ruslan Fedotenko if he’d come for 2 million. He’s another solid grown-up on a team that wants to play a tighter game.
Fedotenko-Langkow-Iginla
Bourque-Jokinen-Moss
I think Iginla will be better in his own end this year, so the only question mark in terms of two way play is Jokinen. Last year Bertuzzi and Cammalleri were bad and so-so respectively.
That also keeps GlenX and Boyd down in the batting order, which is a good thing, IMO. I might hang on to Sarich, just to see how the year goes. If they have enough fire power, and if Backlund and Boyd make progress, Sutter can sit on his hands. If not, move Sarich after a couple of months. Odds are one of the young guys will be good enough on D.
The cap thing has to be looked at in multiple parts. Before the last 10 games, LTIR can help a team sneak through a tough situation, Rhett Warrener being a good example. Sutter didn’t need a million dollars to fix his problems in the last ten days of last season either. He needed to have Eriksson, Pelech, and VDG, plus Boyd over Peters. The total cost of those salaries was about 3,000,000, so on a prorated basis, 200K would have covered it. I have no problem running around a million under until the deadline, and 500k below after. That would cover genuine bad luck like last year.
by Robert Cleave on Jul 2, 2009 9:55 PM PDT up reply actions
i think it was duncan who suggested “let’s give this roster a chance and see how it goes.”… if we can’t net any goals, then deal sarich in november-ish; he’s good value for his return, methinks, and under contract for another few years. i wouln’t be surprised if sutter had quite a few takers for a dman like him, and by november we might get a better perspective on what/who we need.
I brought up signing Mike Comrie in the other thread… so how bout a trade here…
Anyway to manage a deal sending Corey Sarich & a pick to Boston for Marco Sturm? Same salaries more or less, but better allocation of $
I think we’re looking at about 3.4 million with Primeau dealt, or buried in Abby or whatever option we have for him not being on the roster at that price. Boyd’s contract won’t be as pricey as Primeau which gives me that figure. So, 20 players with Boyd.
I would love to see Sutter save about 2 million or minimum 1.5 million for some wiggle room which means we can get someone for 1.5-2 million bucks on the Right Wing. The problems are this? Can we get someone that is better than Bert for that. …The answer is, hell yes, but their are rumblings Sutter wants him back. Bad idea.
Do we need to get someone? The right side look kinda weak, but….
I don’t see a trade happening with Sarich… I could be very wrong but I’d say that is out.
I don’t see all the fuss about Jason Williams… he should be cheaper than he is, but of those four he would be my pick.
I say go with this roster for now and see if the scorer’s need help in November.
For <$1.5 million, I would think Mikael Backlund might be pegged by the organization as a top six forward this year. Or, at least, given every opportunity to make the team in that spot.
It’s certainly debatable, but I think the chances of Backlund being a capable top 6 forward are slim and none. He wasn’t anywhere near that level last pre-season and I can’t imagine he’s come far enough in a single year to take the next step. Patrik Berglund, who dominated the league Backlund struggled in last year at the same age, played an extremely sheltered role in St.Louis last season which was heavy on easy competition and PP time and light on defensive-zone draws and the like. He finished the year with 47 points and I think he’s probably a better player than Backlund. At least, right now.
i think backlund will take his rightful spot at centre on the top line next year when/if jokinen departs. until then, i think the org will allow him to mature slowly in the A and not push him either into a third-line role or onto the wing…. injuries notwithstanding, of course.
by walkinvisible on Jul 3, 2009 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions
Perhaps. But if you could get 40 points out of Backlund playing with Iggy/Langkow/Jokinen/Bourque, you aren’t doing that poorly. That would be about what we got out of Bertuzzi.
True, but managing his ice time would be an issue. A guy liek Backlund is probably going to give it all back at the other end (like most young payers), meaning he wont be the same value as a 40 point NHL vet who doesn’t get scored on as frequently.
Plus, Backlund is a center. I would really prefer he stay a center in the NHL.
….bertuzzi gave it all back at the other end.
by walkinvisible on Jul 4, 2009 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Dean McAmmond?
What about bringing him back? Fast…had good success with Jarome, he knows the city, had some of his best years here. I bet he would sign with this Flames team for 1.2mil. Then he would get hurt right away. I don’t think he’s worse than Bert….and probably cheaper.
McAmmond is in Sjostrom territory now. He’s been a 4th liner for a couple of years and is 37. And has had multiple concussions over the last few years. And there’s the back problems. It wouldn’t surprise me if he retires.
In terms of other potential trading partners, Boston might be of interest. They have 5 defenders signed currently and there’s fairy steep drop-off after Wideman. They also have Patrice Bergeron and/or Phil Kessel up for grabs.
Samuelsson
I wonder if someone should tell the Canucks that signing every Swede they can doesn’t make them the same as the Red Wings. Not a bad signing, but probably a little richer than I’d have wanted the Flames to offer…
I’m interested to see how well Samuelsson does away from the Red Wings. I tend to suspect the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

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