Free Agent Open Thread
Kent Wilson
June 30 2010 10:28PM
I was going to prepare a Flames primer to free agency, but decided not to re-invent the wheel when I saw Haley had already done an admiral job of things. Make sure to visit M&G for a thorugh overview.
I have to say, this is perhaps the murkiest July 1 for the Flames I've seen since the lock-out. Previously, whether facing many or few obstacles, the obstacles were at least apparently obvious.
Not so this year. The Flames cap room is not only tenuous but also completely muddied by Dawes (buy-out?)
Kotalik (uh...waived for an as-of-right-now unclear purpose) and pending $3M+ contract of Ian White (maybe?). The lackluster free agent pool makes things even less certain - we know the Flames want "offense", but there's no clear method to acquire the requisite players. Big trade on it's way? Almost every Flame worth anything on the trade market has a NTC. And the club doesn't have much in the way of prospects or draft picks to dangle either.
As such, we enter things almost completely blind. There's a chance the coming week will end without any significant changes whatsoever. And probably an equal chance the face of the team may have been altered irrevocably. We can only sit back and watch as things unfold. And hope.
Anyways, Pat, Bob, Myself and Ross Creek will endeavor to keep up with on-the-spot updates and analysis as things come down tomorrow. Feel free to share you comments, questions, fears, hopes, dreams and reactions in the comments.
Larry Brooks is saying Callahan isn't coming here. I'm sad inside.
Yeah, that's just after aquiring Ballard @ 4.2 to replace Mitchell.
Is it just me or is Ballard not and upgrade over Mitchell (when he was healthy) and 2.5 not an overpay for Malholtra. I'd take Tanguay at 1.7 over Malholtra @ 2.5 6 days out of 7.
good... I hate the canucks.
So apparently Nystrom is testing free agency too - I guess what we do know about the Flames is they need a couple more left wingers. Hagman and Glencross are the only two currently.
What would it take to get Mike Riberio here.
That being said does anyone want him here?
I don't know and it depends on what it takes to get him. If you're moving Regehr and/or Langkow to get him...no thanks.
Is Rene Bourque not a left winger?
And that's what I would expect to get included so I agree no way.
Whether it be Savard, B.Richards, Weiss, whoever tomorrow should be interested and for Flames supporters sake it better be interesting.
Technically, although he's played mostly RW for the Flames.
If I recall, I believe Bourque prefers the RW, as well. He can definitely play both, though.
My hopes and dreams involve Sarich being traded. Also, what would you think of the two remaining LW slots being filled by Tangs and Whitney?
@SmellOfVictory
I concur both should come relatively cheap as well but Whitney wants a multi-year deal probably at 2.5-3 mill per.
Whitney's from Alberta so could return out west to end his career and Tangs could have a rebirth playing with a pure scorer in Iginla.
Sarich needs to be moved for both though.
No thanks.
I'm all ears on Jason Spezza or Stephen Weiss or Derek Roy or even Andy McDonald. I've never liked Ribeiro. I'd rather Brad Richards out of the Big D... even Brandon Dubinsky or Marc Savard.
Do not want give away king spezza.
Sounds like Andrew Ladd could yet be on the move. I can't believe that... I'd think that after moving Byfuglien that both Ladd & Brouwer would be stayig put.
From McKenzie...
Final tweets for night: Sounds like Ladd on move out of CHI. If he goes to arb, too expensive for CHI. One NHL GM predicts ATL gets him.
From Kypreos...
Long shot Ladd moves to a western team but for what its worth, Van has thrown their hat in the mix and would love to add his size and grit.
From Pierre LeBrun...
Piling on to my colleagues' Andrew Ladd tweets: am told Florida, Atlanta, Vancouver and Calgary among teams interestd in him
Screw Nystrom lets go after ladd, if were losing mayers and mcgrattan we need this guy on our team.
Ladd would be a decent addition. He doesn't bring a great deal of offense, but can play against a decent level of competition.
@Canucks Suck
I'm all for saying bye to Nystrom if it means saying hello to Ladd... love both, tho.
Who would blame him. 2010 Flames season is starting to look like a washout. I hope D Sutter proves me wrong bi=ut I don't think so
I can't post a Twitter link to this (I have no direct twitter access at work) but @SportsnetSpec is reporting that there's a podium set up for a Sutter afternoon press conference. Clearly something is up. And if it's already planned- I'm guessing it's a trade.
"Source suspects something up in Calgary, where Sutter is clearing cap space. Podium already set up for afternoon presser."
I'm having trouble linking as well, but this is what Arik is referring to, posted about 20 minutes ago by Mark Spector.
"The Flames would like to announce they have acquired center Chris Drury..."
Here's a link to a RT of the tweet: http://www.twitter.com/wyshynski/status/17495633689
And thus Arik cries at work.
It's probably Sutter and King announcing Pengrowth no longer has the naming rights for the Dome. :p
I'd suspect trade as well.
i would forgive all of sutters face palming, if he brings in miko koivu.
there are few other things that would make me happier (hockey wise :) )
Wild won't be trading their best player.
oh i know. based on the free agency market, who would you want to bring in kent??
If we are dreaming let's dream big. I was on david pagnotta's twitter and he was saying Anaheim is going after Kovalchuk and that is delaying them re-signing Bobby Ryan. I can only dream that they sign Kovalchuk and trade Bobby Ryan. He definitely wouldnt come cheap but is the exact player the flames need in developing a competitive team for years to come.
Rumour has it Savard to Calgary for Regher. Thoughts?
Millard just twittered about Savard to CGY. *rumor only*
I think I could get behind that.
Millard is SportsNet and is basically echoing every fanboy's messageboard wetdream.
Color me unimpressed. Go with the track record, i.e. TSN.
Via Bruce Garrioch...
Marc Savard's agent Larry Kelly says they haven't been approached on any deal to Calgary.
The problem I have with Savard is that he's basically unproven post-concussion. Sure, he had a couple good playoff games, but then he also looked awful at times. Look what the massive concussion did to Bergeron- took him from a 30 goal, 80 point potential guy to a really good checking center.
Concussions can have severe repercussions. I don't want to take a gamble on it with the long contract and NTC.
Well, looks like Biron learned his lesson about waiting until the last minute last season. He's apparently inking for 900k a year for 2 years.
Bergeron- took him from a 30 goal, 80 point potential guy to a really good checking center.
I'm not sure what you're talking about, Bergeron is still a terrific player at both ends of the ice. That includes the offensive end.
Jesus, the obsession with points is just disgusting.
I wonder what they would have to give up to acquire someone like Setogouchi. I dont think SJS can re-sign him.
I'm not arguing that he's a terrific player, I'm arguing that he's not the SAME player. 30 goal, 80 points is a type of player. And while he's still a threat, his hands are gone, he doesn't finish anymore- and that's part of why he was good before the head trauma. Because he's a smart guy he figured out how to play a more possession oriented game, and now he's a different player.
Jesus.
30 goal, 80 points is a type of player
No, it is really not. Two completely different players can arrive at that result based on the context of their icetime.
how to play a more possession oriented game
What the hell does this even mean? "how to play a more possession oriented game?"
Possession drives scoring chances, which drives goals. And of course you'd like to finish your chances better than the average scrub, but that can be a very transient skill.
Possession is everything. It's not something random bit players choose to learn how to do. It's everything.
Okay, fair enough. You can have a guy riding alongside Crosby picking that up on the PP and Crosby assists, but I'm referring to someone who forces 30 goals, 80 points. I should've been clearer.
You can play a possession game all you want- keep the puck make scoring chances, and so on- but if you don't have the hands to finish, the goals aren't going to come.
Word out of RDS is that Alex Tanguay is coming back.
Woo...hoo?
Via twitter MAGodin...
Alex Tanguay retourne à Calgary. 1 an pour 1,7 million
Well, this could be...interesting. Only a cap hit of 2.5M, so there's more reward than risk if you ask me.
EDIT: I'm a moron, he's a UFA, not a trade return.
How the hell does Dawes not get picked up by anyone? Unbelievable. Is the guy a drug dealer when he's not playing hockey?
I think thats Great news (particularly at that salary level). I can see Tanguay being this years UFA winner for the team that takes him, I find it hard to believe he has declined as much as the stats suggest.
I still dont think it's enough. Savard would go a long way to creating a competitive first line. Who goes if they get Savard? Langkow? Stajan?
I pray to god its Stajan...
I'll laugh if that's the "big move" hinted by King over the weekend. I was a huge supporter of Tanguay when he was here previously, but his last two seasons have been injury riddled and mediocre.
I like him at rumored 1.7M price, of course, but unless he gets back to previous performance levels, he's no game changer.
That is pretty remarkable. I wonder what they do with them cause when you think about it there simply isnt a spot for him with Tanguay.
Tanguay-Stajan-Iggy Bourque-Langkow-Higgins (he'll resign I think) Glencross-Backlund-Moss x-Sutter-x
Do you put Dawes on the 4th line? That might not be terrible but he wont produce much and isnt a real "checker"
Via Bob McKenzie...
Savard to CGY for Regher is a serious consideration for both teams, but Savard has not yet been asked to waive NTC by BOS. Stay tuned.