Flames acquire, sign Wideman; re-sign Comeau
Ryan Pike
June 27 2012 01:24PM
In their first "big" moves of the summer, the Calgary Flames announced on Wednesday afternoon that the club has acquired pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Dennis Wideman. Headed to the Washington Capitals in return are blueliner Jordan Henry (himself a pending UFA) and a fifth round pick in 2013.
The Flames also announced that Wideman has been signed to a five-year contract worth $5.25 million per year. Sportsnet 960 The Fan's Pat Steinberg is reporting that the deal also includes a full no movement clause.
A native of Kitchener, Ontario, the 29-year-old Wideman had a strong season with the Capitals, posting 11 goals and 46 points. In 535 career NHL games with St. Louis, Boston, Florida and Washington, Wideman has 251 points.
He immediately becomes the highest paid Flames blueliner not named Jay Bouwmeester. Based on the amount of money being spent on Wideman, Bouwmeester, Mark Giordano and Anton Babchuk, this perhaps adds fuel to the fire of the Bouwmeester trade rumours.
The Flames have ALSO re-signed winger Blake Comeau to a one-year, $1.25 million contract.
UPDATE: Notes from the Feaster media availability:
-Flames were at 50 contracts prior to the Wideman signing, so they got the Capitals to take back an expiring UFA contract to get the deal done. No further deals are necessarily coming, as the Flames can fit under the cap with their many defenders, but Feaster noted that he's willing to discuss any deal that'll make his team better.
-Comeau was offered a two-year deal, but turned it down in favour of a single year term. He wants to prove that last year's under-performance was a fluke and that his 20+ goal campaign was not.
-The Flames are looking to add a top-six forward and possibly bottom-six guys that make the team more difficult to play against. Not necessarily guys that are "boxers," but guys who finish checks and make teams work hard to get points out of Calgary.
Oh The banter!
Whelp, it's pricey. But the guy is not a sieve 5 on 5, and can put up some points. And has a history with Bouwmeester. I don't hate it, but I don't particulary like the length.
Correct me if im wrong, but did we just give up assets to sign a free agent and pay him open market money?
@Emir
I was under the impression that Henry is a pending UFA, so it's basically the rights to Wideman for the rights to Henry and a late-round pick.
haha. oh my.
emir: kinda. henry wasn't really a prospect, and 5th rounders are nothing
Finally something that makes sense. A solid, under thirty, proven performer. We still need a boatload of change but this is a good one. Welcome Wideman.
Not really surprised at the money they doled out to get Wideman but that 5 year term leaves me wondering a bit.
Is there any word on any NTC or NMC attached?
I like the signing because it helps solidify the Flames defence corps, but if and only if Jay-Bo stays.
Does this signing mean the end of Jay-Bo's time in Calgary? My fear of this five year contract is that it could turn into a Cory Sarich situation. Who knows what Wideman will be in years 4 and 5 of the contract.
The money for Comeau is pretty low, which is pretty good.
with #4
Jay-Bo/Butler(yikes) Giordano/Wideman Brodie/Smith/Babchcuk(double yikes)
without #4
no number #1 d-man Gio/Wideman Brodie/Smith
Is Brodie ready to be elevated to higher pairing?
Term is too long. But that is pretty much what you pay for a top 3 guy.
Afraid to ask but... can anyone confirm whether or not he has a NTC/NMC?
I was just going to say that I suspect that the "term and money" issues will be the ones continually brought up in this deal.
I know we're talking two very different players, but the moment I heard this deal the words "Sheldon Souray" popped into my head.
Bouwmeester to St. Louis? Seems likely, but did Wideman pick Calgary because of his relationship with Bouwmeester? Then perhaps not?
@Emir
Sure... if you want to be pessimistic about it. You could just as easily say that we traded virtually nothing to get the guy that probably becomes the 3rd best defenseman on the team.
Anyhoo... that's a lotta scratch for a lotta years. Not sure I approve of the deal but we definetly needed help on the blueline and this is help. Bottom line is the team is better now then it was an hour ago so there's that.
Also means that we put the pie in the sky dreams away with regards to Suter.
According to the press release, there's no NMC/NTC. That doesn't mean there isn't one, but the Flames have been very transparent with these things in the recent past. If it's not on the press release, it probably doesn't exist.
EDIT: I was mistaken, press releases generally don't have anything but cap hit and one-way/two-way details.
Wideman is a top 4 right handed Dman. Something severly lacking on this team for the last 5 years.
I like this deal. simply because i doubt we could have signed him if he went to free agency. there is alot of competition. i expect to hear more from jay in the next few days
But it means we are missing our 2nd and 5th for next year's draft.
I'd like this deal a lot if it meant it was Wideman and JBo as the top pairing.
if jbo goes because of this, there is literally no way this deal is not a straight up loss.
Again, I don't like the term, but I am surprised at how angry some people are....
@jeremywilhelm
I'm angry about everything jw.
You know, I'm a fan of the signing. Sure, the term is a little long, but it gives us something that lacks big time in our D, a right-hand shot. Wideman is no slouch, I'm not sure how great his corsi numbers are, but I know from watching him play in Washington he was useful on the PP and should help us there as well.
The Comeau deal is a good one, one year at a roughly half the price of his last deal. Good job Feaster.
IF Bouwmeester is gone because of Wideman, I WILL be upset.
Wideman/JayBo 1st pair, Gio/Butler 2nd pair. I can live with that assuming we don't unload Jay. Quick question, can anyone share what 'history' Wideman and JayBo have playing together? I don't see it...
@Vintage Flame
Or Gio and JBo as the top pairing. I like Butler a lot more as the #4 D-man then as the #2 D-man.
@BCFLAME
NO man it just means we are trading down our top ten pick for next year for #30 or so and picking up a 2nd rd and 5rd ;-)
This moves Butler off the top pairing (thank goodness, good kid, over his head) and helps Gio on the back end move the puck out, Brodie gets to stay as a #5, which is good, and find a fill in #6.
The team is better, no matter how you swing it.
The Flames now have EIGHT guys signed to one-ways (Bouwmeester, Wideman, Giordano, Smith, Wilson, Babchuk, Butler, Carson) plus T.J. Brodie, who has to be on the opening-day roster.
So...yeah.
Shoes dropping and whatnots.
@jeremywilhelm
Assuming Bouwmeester isn't dealt
Babchuk will be saying goodbye, of that, there is no doubt. Smith, Wilson, and Carson are all replacement level. Easily Waived.
Yeah but feaster will just have to trade down twice next year or trade with the nyi lol
I highly doubt he will be....
I hope....
@ VF
Agree to a point. Wideman would add extra physical element that JBo lacks and is better at this point than Butler. Would work even better if JBo had his minutes cut back. See if Gio and Smith/Butler become 2nd pairing.
That would leave Smith/Butler with Brodie and I really don't want to see Babchuk and his contract sitting in the press box all season.
I think, assuming no other moves are made, the opening night d-man depth chart will look like this:
Bouwmeester- Giordano
Wideman- Butler
Smith - Brodie
Press box: Babchuk, Wilson
Waivers: Carson
Time for a little perspective. Remember when the salary cap was $50 million in 2007? Well this deal is $3.75M in 2007 dollars. Or roughly 7.5% of the team cap.
$5.25M with a $70M cap is 7.5% of the cap.
We all need to recalibrate our brains to the new cap number. $5.25M is not that unreasonable. Nobody would have been freaking out about $3.75M for Wideman 5 years ago!
TRADE BUTLER!!!
The speed at which he signed though makes me think we coulda paid him less....
Well, our top four now looks a lot better at the moment assuming we keep Bouwmeester which we might as well. I think he will rebound this year and perform better with an offensive minded coach. It's refreshing to say that we actually have a #2 defenceman now although Butler performed admirably in that role he's a #4 in my books. Wideman has put up some solid #s in the past and should give a boost to our PP.
I came over here from calgarypuck hoping to find some educated hockey talk, but's its all reactionary over here too.
5th rounder for Wideman, who immediately makes the d-corps better.
That's easy.
Contract length: he STILL won't be veteran status (+35) after this contract. Just because he's been around the league a long time doesn't mean he's old.
$ amount: dictated by the market and totally reasonable considering past performance and output. Don't forget that the cap is 70.2M this year.
Wake up Flames fans! We just added and free agency hasn't even started yet.
Another win for Feaster, imo. If the guy can somehow nail down a decent #1 C, then playoffs could be a possibility? Not sure if that is good, but it is what it is. I'm agreeing with the consensus that dealing JBo may not be prudent now?
@thymebalm
Now all we need to do is add one Doan and one Schultz ;-) and were looking a whole lot nicer then last year
Flames needed another top 4 defenceman, now they've got one. They didn't give up a whole lot, so count me in favour of the signing. Sure, the term is quite long and the cap hit is substantial, but the Flames got a good defenceman for next to nothing whose a guy who should be able to quarterback the powerplay. Also, the Flames can now feel comfortable that Babchuk doesn't have to play top 4 minutes anytime soon, because that would have been a disaster.
Thanks for the info guys!
I wasnt sure how to feel about the deal. I guess i'm not 100% sure. The money and length are open market in my mind. I dont think its a deal that i'm going to be excited over, i'm happy to have the player. I'll reserve judgement later in the year.
Now with 8 D men I don't really see us trading one. Lots of JBo rumours but who knows. Id rather see him stay.
And one thing i'll say, i'm worried that his points will drop being here in calgary. Then the effigies and protests begin. So lets all have that in mind right now, expect 30-35 points.
With the cap raising this is the going rate now for free agents. We saw it last year. We will see it this year. Your either inactive or you pay the price.
I don't like the contract. But we weren't signing a player like Wideman for less.
@Sincity1976
agreed. I guess we can argue its a win that we didn't over pay
This deal is awesome (we land a top 3 D-man for a 5th rnd pick and an expiring minorr league prospect).
If J-Bo is in fact dealt away we can judge that trade when it happens and on it's merits.
Wideman's an okay top-4 option. He's decent offensively and can keep his head above water at ES against top-6 guys, although it's not like he excels defensively. More info on that today.
$5M+ over 5 years though? That makes me nervous as hell.
Comeau deal is a good one though. Absolutely no complaints there.
Instead of being a sign that JBo WILL be traded, I think this is in fact a sign that Justin Schultz won't be playing in Calgary next year. He starts poking around Edmonton and Vancouver, and all of a sudden the Flames (who were going after Schultz) trade for a different D-man and sign him immediately. I think Calgary is done as far as the Schultz sweepstakes... and the one for Parise, and Suter, and Bobby Ryan.
I'd say if we could parlay a prospect and pick or a player into something useful, like say a top six forward, we might squeak into 8th place. Then get swept by LA or St Louis.
Oilers vs. Flames banter aside, Justin Azevedo, are you the same AHL Justin Azevedo i just picked up in NHL12?
I'm now hearing possible destinations for Jay-Bo include St. Louis and Detroit. I still believe it will be tough for Calgary to move Jay-Bo with that cap hit plus he has a NTC.
Feaster sure likes 5 year deals, first Tanguay and now Wideman.
It's obvious the Flames are still in the same old philosophy of being competitive now as opposed to down the road. Wideman might help us squeak into eighth place.
I'm more concerned about the forwards, Baertschi is still developing and Cervenka hasn't played a lick in the NHL and Jokinen's status remains unclear.