By Derrick Newman
Following Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik out the Scotiabank Saddledome door this summer is yet another high priced contract in Daymond Langkow.
Langkow is set to make $4.5 million this season and coming off a near career ending injury, the 35-year-old wasn’t getting any younger.
Sure, Langkow is a serviceable, reliable veteran who can play anywhere from the first to the third line without ever hearing a peep or complaint from him.(The Flames have another player like that in Brendan Morrison)
But simply put, he was not in the long term plans of the team and GM Jay Feaster most likely saw a chance to shed some more salary to give the Flames added flexibility this coming season, while at the same time keeping the team competitive.
In return the Flames receive yet another former Maple Flake in right wing Lee Stempniak.
What is it about the Flames acquiring former Leafs? Probably just a strange coincidence, but it’s funny how the Flames have missed the playoffs ever since the parade of Leafs to Calgary started (they are carrying a virus I think). But I digress.
Stempniak had a 52 point season, with 27 goals, back in 2006-07 in St. Louis. He put up half that total the following year and was subsequently dealt to the Leafs.
He spent a season and a bit in the blue and white before being dealt to Phoenix in 2009.
He put up 14 goals in 18 games with the Coyotes and helped them get back into the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.
Coming from a Coyote perspective I don’t quite understand the deal as they get older and more expensive.
Figuring the Yotes are on a serious budget, you would think they would be going younger and cheaper, but what do I know.
My friend did just bring up the point that Jim Playfair is now in Phoenix and that connection probably assisted in the trade somewhat.
On Calgary’s end, the move gives Mikael Backlund the proverbial green light to take control of the number one center position – something I, and I’d like to think a plethora of Flames fans, have been hoping for since his arrival in Calgary.
Backlund is ready to take the reins.
Just like Regehr, I liked what Langkow brought to the table. He is as reliable as they come, but this is a business and the Flames are drowning in contracts that most teams aren’t going to touch with a ten-foot pole.
See: Stajan and Jay Bouwmeester.
This move puts the Flames almost $3.5 million clear of the cap going into the season.
I like the move.
It sheds salary, but also makes the team more dynamic on offence. It also makes the team younger bringing in a 28 year-old Stempniak and giving way to a 35-year-old greybeard in Langkow.
The trade also means that Langkow returns to Phoenix after being traded to Calgary back in 2004 for Oleg Saprykin and Denis Gauthier.
Saprykin will be forever remembered for scoring the winning goal in game five of the 04’ cup final.
Gauthier will be forever remembered for his ability to clear it off the pane of glass beside the hash-marks – oh, and submarining forwards whenever he had the chance. Good times.
JERSEY FOULS!
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9 comments:
There is nothing about this trade I don't like.
Langkow was good and played very well for the Flames but he is also one of the oldest players on the team and a big question mark after his injury. And his cap hit was quite large. And they had too many centres.
They did lose a vetern player with ltos of history and leadership in Calgary and it was a contract year so the Flames weren't stuck with him if he doesn't bounce back.
However, Stempniak, also on a contract year, isn't too shabby either. Seven years younger, plays wing, and has put up decent numbers when he had a good chemistry line.
And, if he doesn't work out, we aren't stuck with him either.
As I said, nothing I don't like about this trade.
Yeah, it's one of the first trades in some time that I can honestly totally agree with on every single level for the Flames. Feaster is cleaning up the mess the best he possibly can and I think this is a step inthe right direction. I just hope Stempniak doesnt turn out like the rest of the former leafs...
Well, one reason he can't be as bad as Stajan or Hagman is that his cap hit is a lot smaller. And he has no NTC or NMC or anything.
Also, with Iginla and Bourque on the right wing, Stempniak is going to have to play very well to get above the third line.
It would be very funny to see the Hagman Stajan, Stempniak line that the Leafs fielded when they had all three guys though. Course, it wouldn't be the top line like it was for the Leafs...
Yes, but you are forgetting that Bourque is a natural left winger, not right. Either way for Stemps to jump into the top six he'll have to play quite well. It makes the team deeper at the wing position which is good.
Isn't it kind of sad that we could field an entire line from an 09' Leafs team that sucked ass?
Ah, you're right about Bourque, that's my mistake. When I looked closer, I didn't realise how many natural left wingers we actually have on the Flames.
As for fielding the same line as the Leafs, it does seem kind of strange. I mean, if it didn't work for them, why would it work for the Flames.
However, it would bother me more if we were going to field it where the Leafs did: the first line. If the line end up with Hagman Stajan Stempniak, I can only see it as the third line. To me, that's not nearly as bad.
The real question is are we going to see more changes before camp begins or is this the group we'll see for the start of the season?
I'd say minor tweaks maybe. Freeing up the money he did gives Feaster some breathing room. I'm hoping the play of one of the young D-men makes one of the guys on one way contracts expendable. It's very possible I think
For starters Phoenix needed to take on more $alary to meet the cap floor.
Taking on ex-Leafs is not necessarily a bad thing. Lanny McDonald and Larry Murphy come to mind.
The move makes sense from every angle for CGY.
Glencross found good chemistry with Olli, but Bork plays a lot better on his natural wing than the right flank. Stemper can fill that role now.
With the masterful job Mosser did at pivot last year, this allows Brett Sutter to use Moss at center with Bork on teh left and perhaps Jackman on the right side for a very large fast skating line who can hit and score. This gives us the equivalent of two second lines.
Throw in the cap relief and it is a super deal for CGY.
With Stajan and Hagman slotted in on the fourth line with TKO, that give the Flames 4 lines who can score.
Calgary doesn't have much in the way of elite talent, but that is one deep team up front now.
I don't realy like a TKO Stajan Hagman fourth line. Too much money and lacks the physical play of Jackman. He was great there last year.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing Hagman, Stajan, or both to via trade, even if that trade gives nothing back in terms of current players. I think that awesome depth you mention would allow the Flames to shed those players and replace them with prospects or other pieces they already have.
I also think it's very likely that one of them will not be with the team much longer for that exact reason, whether they end up in the minors or get traded.
It is a deeper team, but a lot of average talent on the roster. It will all depend on how they mesh. Apparently Hagman is in the best shape of his life, so maybe he is a new man and shocks the Flames and their fans. And yeah PHX was just under the cap. They could have easily pick up a cheaper player and done the same thing though and that was my point. The familiarity with Langkow though with Playfair and that being his former team probably made the trade a little easier to do.
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