Jakub Nakladal – Keep Or Give Away?

Should the Flames resign Jakub Nakladal?

At first glance, the answer is a resounding "YES!" But when you dig deeper into the defenseman's style of play, you realize just how important of a piece he could be to the Flames future.

At 6' and 212 lbs, he's a big defender in front of his own net. His hard shot on the offensive makes him an asset in the oppositions zone. He had 2 goals and 12 assists in his time with the Stockton Heat in 35 games. And he had 2 goals and 3 assists in his 27 games with the Calgary Flames. In his last 6 games of the season with the Flames, he averaged about 17:38 of ice time and notched 2 assists in those games after 13 shots on net.

Even after taking a stick to the eye while defending his own net in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nak wouldn’t slow down and laughed while describing how his wife said it was scary-looking, but luckily no permanent damage was done. He came back soon after and made an impact right away, proving that he could see just fine.

According to Cap Friendly, he's the lowest paid defenseman on the Flames teams this season with an entry-level contract and I think it would do the Flames a world of good if they could re-sign the effective blue-liner. The Calgary Flames aren't known for having many Czech players on their team – they tend to favour hometown boys instead – but the ones that they do have are great assets. And Jakub Nakladal seems to be a great addition to the Flames team as a powerful two-way defenseman.

by Traci Kay