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Calgary Flames

2011 NHL Trade Deadline: What the Flames Have

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The NHL trade deadline is a mere day away, and absolutely nobody has any idea what Jay Feaster is planning on doing. Not in a “What will he do? I don’t know but I really want to see” kind of way, like Darryl Sutter. It’s more so a case of the Calgary Flames being in a tenuous position, Jay Feaster being in even more of a tenuous position, and him playing his cards very close to his chest. So with that, here’s the first part of what the Flames are capable of doing at the NHL Trade Deadline–what they have to sell.

 

Being in the aforementioned "tenuous position" that the Flames are, they can't afford to sell off any contributors who are playing at value. This limits the available players on the club to just a select few on the bottom ends of the depth chart. Here's who the Flames could be moving tomorrow:

1. Niklas Hagman, LW

First off, Hagman isn’t going anywhere by himself. The fact that he went completely unclaimed on waivers is a testament to that. But with so many multi-player deals happening these days, especially ones swapping overpaid and underproducing players, seeing him move wouldn’t be the strangest thing in the world. It’s easy to look at that absolutely frickin’ gorgeous dangley goal he scored the other night and yell “HE’S STILL GOT IT- DON’T TRADE HIM”, but the fact is he’s been largely unproductive this year.

2. Curtis Glencross, LW

Curtis Glencross is enjoying a career year–and unfortunately, that’s about all it is. I addressed this in greater detail here, but the short story is that he’s shooting at 18%, 5% higher than his career average, his signing price will go up too high this summer for him to be re-signed with reasonable expectations, and he’ll fetch a solid return for the Calgary Flames. If traded, expect to see a late first rounder or early second, a decent prospect, or a couple young depth players signed past this season in return.

3. Rene Bourque, Also LW

Rene Bourque is having a rough season, and that’s putting it kindly. However, his goal total isn’t terrible, and at the end of the day, there’s a lot of GMs who don’t look much farther than that. He’s still on the right side of 30, has a history of hard-nosed play, and just turned in a monster performance at the Heritage Classic. Furthermore, Jay Feaster failed to identify him as a “core” member of the team when he first took over. If traded, expect at least a 1st rounder and a prospect in return, if not another roster player.

Obviously anything can change. A simple phone call with an absurd offer could even send Jarome Iginla somewhere. That being said, that chances of someone significant moving are in the Kate-Moss-on-coke-slim to none range. And the chances of all three of the aforementioned players moving are in the same range. It’s not happening. Mostly because they’re all LWs. Two could possibly move so long as another LW returns and Lance Bouma gets a call up–but all three? Exceptionally unlikely. We’re also unlikely to see anyone on defence move, given the club’s current shortage in that area. But I’ll get to that in another post.

Part two of the Calgary Flames Trade Deadline series can be found here.

by Arik Knapp