Tradewinds Shouldn't Blow for Iginla

With the season officially over, most Flames fans and media pundits are looking for answers. Why did the Flames miss the playoffs? In yesterday’s press conference, Darryl Sutter auspiciously blamed the team’s home record, but most people who follow the team will say it was their inability to score goals.

The Calgary Flames finished dead last in the league in goal scoring, managing only 204 tallies in 82 games. To me, this seems to be the problem. The home record Sutter points to is a result of only scoring 204 goals, not the cause to missing the playoffs. With an obviously scoring-challenged group, the team will need to make changes next year if they are to contend again in the Western Conference. Listening to the Fan960’s Overtime show the past few days, which allows fans to vent their frustration and anger, I’ve heard an alarming number of calls for Iginla to be traded. I feel this would be the worst possible move the team could make, and if it happened, the playoffs could be a long, long ways off.

The idea most people have when they suggest trading Iginla, is that he’s on the decline from his most productive years, and now is the time to trade him, while he still holds some value. Perhaps a deal could be worked out where the Flames could secure a couple of early picks in the upcoming draft. Those drafted players, it would be hoped, could later blossom into that same offensive machine that Iginla did after being traded for Joe Nieuwendyk in 1995.

The problem of course is that chances are, it wouldn’t work out. Iginla turned out to be one of the top five players of the past fifteen years, but how many times have highly touted prospects fallen short? By moving Iginla, the team trades away its only real offensive talent, making their goal scoring problem even bigger next year. In a best case scenario, the Flames would secure a high draft pick, who after one or two years, (more likely three or four) turns into a goal scoring machine that the team could build on in the future. In the worst case scenario, the draft picks turn into Rico Fata’s, and the Flames are left with nothing, while their offensive struggles continue. So, if the draft picks did work out, the team would still need to suffer through a couple of seasons where they miss the playoffs and really have no chance of accomplishing anything each year. (Think Edmonton Oilers.)

The other problem with trading Iginla, is the team would lose the face of the franchise; their identity. Jarome Iginla has been the Calgary Flames for the better part of a decade, and is without a doubt the most highly recognized player on the team. Trading your only real marquee player away (Kiprusoff is great, but could never be the face of the franchise), would be like taking out the engine in a boat, and then asking the remaining players to start rowing. This is the same situation the Flames found themselves in after trading away Fleury in 1998. Suddenly, the team didn’t have anybody to rely on or anybody to guide them. The team was a rudderless ship, floating through non-playoff waters for several years. It wasn’t until Iginla began to develop into the player he is today, that the team was able to pull itself out of their seven-year funk, and return to the postseason.

Lastly is Iginla’s relationship with the fans and the people of Calgary. Easily the most beloved Flame since Fleury, and probably more beloved than he ever was, Iginla is as important to the city as he is to the team. There would be a public backlash from an Iginla trade, when people realize that the most famous person in the city, an unofficial ambassador for Calgary who’s involved with the community, has been traded away for a couple of draft picks.

Yes, the team needs some draft picks that aren’t in the 700th round, but there are 20 other players who can be traded that wouldn’t affect the team in anyway. Iginla is the only player, who being traded would have a profound effect on the team, and most likely not a positive one. He shouldn’t be traded away simply because he can be traded away. Much like the Oilers trading Ryan Smyth in 2007, this move could send the Flames into a long, downward spiral that most fans aren’t interested in seeing happen.

Are you Jokinen?

Following the aftermath of the Phaneuf trade, late on Sunday night, TSN reported that Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust had been traded to the New York Rangers for Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins. However, by Monday morning there still had not been any confirmation from either team. Was the deal happening or wasn’t it? There had been some speculation throughout the morning that Ales Kotalik, with a no-trade clause, would not approve the move. The trade was eventually finalized late Monday night though and Jokinen and Prust (again) were no longer members of the Calgary Flames.

I have to say I am not impressed with how this was handled by the Calgary Flames organization. After news of the trade first broke, there wasn’t any reaction from the team. This left two players in the lurch, wondering whether or not their tenure with the Flames was finished, and knowing for certain that they were no longer wanted by the team. Now I know hockey players are compensated very well for what they do, and one of the sacrifices is the possibility of being traded to another team, in another city, but this fiasco wasn’t only unfair to the players being traded, but also the rest of the players on the team.

I can’t imagine what yesterday’s morning skate was like for the players and coaching staff arriving at the Saddledome, knowing that two of their players are no longer wanted by the organization. I don’t imagine it would be possible to have an effective practice with that black cloud hanging over everybody. Why even have Jokinen participate? Was Sutter going to be achieving anything? “Hey Olli, you need to keep working on your face-offs; the Rangers will appreciate it.”

However, I think the practice would be a picnic compared to the game last night. Not only is it impossible to expect anything from Prust or Jokinen, it is also difficult to expect anything out of the rest of the team as well. Two players were about to be traded, and four players were playing their first game in a Flames uniform, following the Phaneuf trade the day before. A third of the skaters were either new to the team or about to be off the team and I don’t imagine there was much of a positive attitude around the dressing room. Perhaps Sutter gave a speech before they hit the ice, “Hagman, Stajan, meet your new teammates; but don’t worry about introducing yourselves to 21 and 33 though, they’re going to be traded after the game. Now let’s play great!”

It’s no wonder the team came out flat and uninspired in losing to the Flyers three to nothing. The blame of this fiasco should fall squarely on the organization. First off, the trade shouldn’t be leaked out to the media before it has been finalized. Secondly, after it was leaked, at least one of the teams should have addressed the issue, both for the players and the fans. I typically hear about how “classy” the Flames organization is, and would usually agree, but as it concerns the Jokinen trade, the team really dropped the ball.

-TheRev

Photo from: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/Flames+finally+pull+trigger+controversial+Jokinen+trade/2510662/story.html

The "TRADES" That Rocked the Dome

Read down for Analysis of Potential Jokinen-Kotalik Deal




To Toronto:

Dion Phaneuf- 7 Mill
Fredrik Sjostrom- .750 Mill
Keith Aulie- Prospect

Total $: 7.750 Million

To Calgary

Niklas Hagman- 3 Mill +2 yrs
Matt Stajan- 1.75 mill-UFA
Ian White-.950 mill-RFA
Jamal Mayers-1.4 mill-UFA

Total: $7.1 Million

When I first heard about the deal I went through a series of emotions from shock, to anger, to curiosity, and finally acceptance. Here is how the trade breaks down in my eyes.

The Flames lose a player in Dion Phaneuf who has loads of potential and at the ripe age of 24 has yet to fully reach his prime. He will most likely move on to Toronto and flourish, much like other players that have moved on from Calgary and matured into the players that Calgary originally had hoped they would become (Stillman, St. Louis, Giguere to name a few). Dion was the best player in the deal, and in saying that I think the Flames lost the deal skill wise. They lost a dynamic player who could change the game in an instant, whether it was a monstrous hit or a laser beam point shot to the top corner. He was and is a game changer. The problem that he brings is that he has defensive deficiencies that most of the time overshadows his incredible ‘game-changing’ abilities. He also has an enormous ego, that has been well documented, that clearly went ‘head-to-head’ with a couple of the other personalities in the room, including that of his line-mate and perennial team leader Robyn Regehr. Phaneuf was clearly causing problems in the dressing room and this move was needed both for the player and for the team. Phaneuf was also the Flames point shot on the powerplay and demanded respect with the shot that he possesses, even if it does not hit the net every time. That being said, the Flames powerplay isn’t exactly top grade and maybe this will force them to switch their strategies with the man-advantage. The Flames were in need of a desperate shake-up after going winless in 9 and this, I believe, was the smartest move as it takes a bona-fide ‘hot head’ out of the dressing room and installs fresh blood into the system.

The Flames also traded Freddy Sjostrom and defensive prospect Keith Aulie. Sjostrom had a couple of good games but rendered replaceable in the end. I was upset to see Aulie go as he was our ‘blue-chip’ prospect that, I thought, the team was very high on. He had tremendous upside with his size, 6’5” and 208lbs. He clearly has the potential to be that shut-down defensemen all teams want when he showed what he could do in the 2009 World Juniors. I understand the Flames have immense depth on the blue line, but I believe this kid had the most potential of them all and it surprised me when Sutter included him in the deal.

In return, the Flames receive three players that can make an immediate impact with the team, with the fourth (Mayers) more just window dressing for the deal. Stajan and Hagman provide that offensive depth that the Flames have been desperate for ever since the scoring well went dry early in December. Hagman comes in as the Flames 2nd leading goal scorer with 20 goals, while Stajan comes in 41pts, which ranks him 2nd in team points and a 51.6 face-off percentage (higher than any other Flame, not counting Backlund who has only played 3 games). The Flames add the offence they need and Stajan is still young at 25. They also added Ian White, who at age 25 provides the Flames with another puck moving defenseman. Now White is no Phaneuf, but he might be able to provide some stability (he was a +1 on Toronto!) to a back end that, at times this season, has looked iffy at best.

The Flames needed a shake-up and Sutter provided them with exactly that. He also allowed the Flames a little wiggle room in the salary cap as three of the four players are free agents come July 1st and it gives the team some options when re-signing players like Bourque.

This trade can not help me think of the infamous Gilmour-Leeman debacle in the early 90’s as the Flames gave away the biggest player in the deal and that trade ultimately crippled the franchise for a decade. Phaneuf has a ton of potential and I will not be surprised if and when he flourishes in his new surroundings where he will have more freedom to make the big hit or take the big shot.

The winner and loser of this deal won’t be known until a few years down the road. Hopefully it isn’t 2020 and we look back on this deal thinking, “If only we hadn’t traded away Dion Phaneuf.”

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Wait!

It has just been announced that the Flames just pulled off another deal sending much criticized center Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the New York Rangers for Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins.

Shocking? Yes. Like it? Yes!

We send a guy away who simply just did not fit with this team. Jokinen never gelled properly with this team and never fit on the top line with Jarome Iginla; probably the biggest problem considering this was the role that he was brought in to do. Good riddands to this super underachiever. The funny part of this whole thing is that Sutter said, when he acquired Olli last winter, was that he had been trying to get him for three years and he had to make the deal…”Hey Darryl, how does your foot taste?” I am just glad Sutter was man enough to realize his error and did what he could to fix it.

Brandon Prust most likely goes into the record books as the only player to be traded by the same team mid-season, two seasons in a row. Astounding! But not a real loss as we have numerous players that can fill his role, including the newly acquired Jamal Mayers.

Calgary gets Kotalik which immediately gives them a solution to their point shot on the powerplay, which was lost with Phaneuf. Kotalik has a cannon of a shot and will be a nice addition to the unit. He makes $3 million a year for the 2 seasons after this one. With the potential to be a better player, Kotalik is probably slightly overpaid at this time, but will hopefully thrive in his new surroundings. Higgins has struggled since being injured in the 08-09 season and never was able to find his footing in the big apple. He becomes an UFA at the end of this season and could end up being a rental player. These two players coupled with the three forwards from Toronto definitely bolster the depth of the Flames forwards.

This has been an amazing day for Flames fans and will definitely be a turning point in the Flames season. I am glad that Sutter pulled off these trades now rather than later as it gives the new players added time to gel with their new team.

Olli and Dion gone in a day…I guess there is a giant red PANIC button in Darryl Sutter’s office.

This, once again, has been,

Newman on the Flames