Flames Acquire Fredrik Modin From Atlanta

The Flames added to their forward depth in a late deal that was made official after the deadline, acquiring 36-year old former Bolt Fredrik Modin for a seventh-round pick. A UFA at the end of this season and with just seven goals and ten points in 36 games, Modin appears to be riding out the tail end of his career after winning a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004. At just an $800K cap hit, this move is low-risk and probably low-reward for the Flames. An oft-injured 36-year old player that hasn’t scored more than ten goals since 2006-07 with the Blue Jackets doesn’t appear to have much to offer to a team littered with bottom-six talent and making a push for a playoff spot.

At the end of the day, Feaster stuck to his guns and did what he set out to do–add to his team’s depth both on defence and at forward without sacrificing major cap dollars or a roster player–but the question remains just how impactful either of these players will be. With the exception of one 54-game season, Brett Carson has yet to become a permanent fixture on an NHL blueline at 25-years of age, and has likely already reached his ceiling. With one of the easier roles on the Thrashers in terms of quality of competition, Modin’s underlying stats were mediocre bordering on flat-out bad. He started in the offensive zone on 52.2% of his shifts beginning with a faceoff and only finished there 47.2% of the time while operating with a Corsi rate of -11.23/60. In fairness to him, Atlanta has struggled with possession all season, and with a goal differential of -27, now sit in eleventh-place in the Eastern Conference. While his PDO of 97.1 indicates that he hasn’t exactly been getting the bounces this season, he hasn’t exactly been doing a whole lot to earn them either.

In terms of Modin's age and declining skill level, this move doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the Flames; it's unclear exactly where he will fit on the roster at this point in time with no recent injuries of significance up front, but as I said above–this is a low-risk, low-reward move. Modin is collecting less than $1M this season, will more than likely be gone by July 1, and Feaster is familiar with him from his days in Tampa. Neither of the moves made by the Flames today can really be classified as outright 'wins,' but at little cost, neither can be classified as losses either. 

by Hayley Mutch