In a move that surprised literally no one, the Flames have qualified RFAs Mikael Backlund (whee), Leland Irving, Paul Byron, Blair Jones and Akim Aliu.

I'm assuming all of these guys will just accept their offers and we'll be done with it. However, if arbitration is in the cards, it'll most likely be Irving that choses to go in that direction. (Although, the question of whether or not he's earned that based on his play is still very much up in the air.) Not qualified today: Ryley Grantham, Logan MacMillan (and let's be honest, no one cares that either of these guys didn't get offers) and Blake Comeau.

Comeau is an interesting case, and he's a player I'd like to see kept around since he's young and moves the puck the right direction. If the Flames had a capologist that actually did his job, they probably would've elected to take Comeau to cut-down arbitration like the Vancouver Canucks did last week with Mason Raymond.

Oh well. Comeau didn't really earn his pay on the ice this year, so that's why we're at where we're at. I'm still clueless as to why it took the Flames so long to announce these players had been qualified, since everyone knew what was coming already.