Canada Day Frenzy: Flames Analysis

By Nick Symon

Friday brings more than just a national birthday, it also brings hockey fans together to get the low down on which free agent will be dawning their favourite teams colors come September. Our hometown Flames have an interesting summer coming up, as GM Jay Feaster gets to start putting his stamp on the franchise. The Flames don’t have a lot of holes to fill but also don’t have much cap space as their current payroll sits at just over 56 million dollars, according to nhlnumbers.com. Feaster already filled the most glaring hole, by re-signing LW Alex Tanguay to a 5 year deal to once again play alongside Captain Jarome Iginla. The cap has once again risen and will sit at 64 million dollars next season, giving the Flames just under 8 million dollars to spend.





Current Flames Line-up:

CAP HIT - $56.7 Million


CAP NEXT SEASON - $64 Million

TANGUAY – BACKLUND– IGINLA
GLENCROSS - JOKINEN – BOURQUE
(VOID) – LANGKOW - MOSS

KOSTOPOULOS - STAJAN – JACKMAN
BOUMA - (VOID) – HAGMAN


(VOID) – BOUWMEESTER
SARICH – GIORDANO

BUTLER – (VOID)
MIKKELSON – CARSON


KIPRUSOFF

KARLSSON

UFA’s: Pardy (D), Babchuk (D), Morrison (C), Staios (D),Chucko (F), Pelech (D), Armstrong (F)




RFA’s: Mikkelson (D), Butler (D), Irving (G)


Top 3 prospects: 1. T-J Brodie, D

2. Greg Nemisz, RW

3. Ryan Howse, LW



Taking a look, the Flames need a top-9 winger, one top-4 defensemen, a 5th/6th defensemen and some extra depth down the middle.



Top 9 winger:



This year’s free agent crop isn’t very impressive, aside from Brad Richards. Wingers available top out at 2nd liners at best and most of those guys are injury prone. Topping the list of possible available players is Pittsburgh Penguins, Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy had a career high 21 goals and 45 points last season playing on a Pens team that was riddled with injuries. Kennedy did not receive a qualifying offer from the Pens making him a UFA come July 1st. Bob McKenzie tweeted late Wednesday night, that the Pens will try to work on a deal with Kennedy on Thursday, so stay tuned. Another player at the top of the list is Bobby Butler. Butler, only 24 years old, really shined down the stretch with the Sens, finishing the season with 21 points in only 36 games. He is no-way a house hold name but he could be a steal as he will probably come cheap. Simply watch this goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB9YTcSjRSs

Butler was a free agent signing by the Sens back in 2010 out of the NCAA.

Intriguing names that fall under the 2nd liner/injury prone are guys like Scottie Upshall and Tomas Fleischmann. Joel Ward, who had a coming out party in the playoffs, fits that top 9 winger extremely well, as does a guy like Max Talbot. Finally, other players of interest could be Chris Higgins and Sean Bergenheim. That list of players are young (age range 24-30) and most of them will be entering their prime. Kennedy and Butler really pop out at me, both are only 24 years old but given a chance to play, they both have shown they can be extremely effective.



Top 4 defensemen:



The crop of defensemen is much like the crop of forwards, guys who are solid in the top 4 but aren’t superstars. There is no secret that this player will be looked upon to fill the shoes left by Robyn Regehr. Topping my list, as long as those damn Red Wings don’t re-sign him, is Jonathan Ericsson. At 6-4, 220 pounds, Ericsson is a different player than Reg (less physical, better puck-mover) but would have no problem filling in for him. Latest reports say that the Red Wings are close to re-signing him, so for the Flames sake, hopefully there is a snag in the negotiations. Second on my list, but another player who might not make it to July 1st, is James Wisniewski. Wisniewski might also be out of the Flames price range but with his booming shot and physical style, he could fit well in the Flames top-4. Other names to keep an eye on are, Jan Hejda, who is your prototypical defensive defensemen, Andy Greene, Jack Hillen and Mike Lundin. Hejda is 33 while Greene, Hillen and Lundin lack the physical style which the Flames probably need. Like I mentioned, this list has a lot of ifs. If Ericsson reaches July 1, then he tops the list without a doubt. If he doesn’t and I don’t like the Flames chances with Wisniewski, then Feaster might have to get creative. All I hope is that the Flames go younger.



5th/6th defensemen:



I think this spot has to go to T-J Brodie. He shined in camp last year and all signs have him being a tough out again this season. The Flames have to start giving their prospects a chance and with depth on the blue line, (Brett Carson and Brendan Mikkelson) a guy like Brodie can make mistakes. At the end of the day, Brodie should be on the Flames roster come October.



Depth at centre:



Depth at centre for the Flames depends on if they can move out Matt Stajan. If they do, then look for a more suitable 4th line center to be brought in. One name who could be a good replacement is, Zenon Konopka. Konopka will not only bring toughness to the squad (307 PIMS last season) but he will also bring it in the face-off dot (4th in the NHL - 57.7%). If the Flames can’t unload Stajan then look for minor league deals to be handed out.



Finally, look for the Flames to add depth through their farm system in Abbotsford, as former 1st round picks, Kris Chucko and Matt Pelech as well as AHL players, John Armstrong and Hugo Carpenter weren’t given qualifying offers. Some of these holes could come from the NCAA, as the Flames, with their new Assistant GM John Weisbrod look to be more active when it comes to signing players.

The biggest question this off-season for the Flames however, is how much salary can Feester unload to clean up Darryl Sutter’s mess? Feester has already gotten rid of one bad contract, as he shipped Ales Kotalik and his 3 million dollar salary to Buffalo at the draft. It came with a cost as the Flames gave up corner-stone defensemen Regehr and a 2nd round draft pick in 2012. In return the Flames received 24-year old defensemen Chris Butler and 22-year old prospect Paul Byron. The more I look into and read about this trade, the more I don’t like it. Even though Regehr isn’t getting any younger, I don’t think the Flames got the most they could’ve got in return, even when Ales Kotalik is part of the package. Why we had to give up a 2nd rounder, I don’t know, especially when we got a prospect who wasn’t even rated in Buffalo’s top 10 and Kotalik only has one season left on his contract. If Luke Adam or Marcus Foligno were part of the package I would say great deal. Regardless the deal has been done, the Flames freed up some cap space and you got to give this Byron kid a chance. The most glaring contracts that many fans would like to see off the books are ones of Matt Stajan and Niklas Hagman. Stajan has 3 years remaining on his deal at a cap hit of 3.5 million dollars, while Hagman will play out his final year, at a cap hit of 3 million. Both players were horribly inconsistent last year, proving they are worth half their cap hit and not suited to be top-6 players. Out of the two, Hagman would probably be a whole lot easier to move but with teams around the league grasping to get to the cap floor (48 million), you never know who might be willing to take on a Stajan’s contract.

Top 5 teams in NEED of salary (Current cap hit):

Florida ($21.35 Million)

Colorado ($27.1 Million)

Phoenix ($31.4 Million)

Winnipeg ($35.9 Million)

Islanders ($36.6 Million)



Feaster has a lot of hard work ahead of him and if he can unload more bad contracts (especially Stajan), I really hope he doesn’t give up any more draft picks to do it, unless the package in return is for a TOP prospect. Personally I don’t like his chances but with a whole slew of contracts coming off the books next summer, (Langkow- 4.5, Jokinen- 3, Hagman- 3 and Sarich- 3.6) I think Feester just has to play it smart this summer and build towards the future. I would be ecstatic if Feaster could land Bobby Butler and Jonathan Ericsson.

JERSEY FOULS!
 thesportsroundup@gmail.com
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