Culkin is probably the sleeper of the 2012 draft class. I think Ortio to Finland was the right move, hopefully he can develop into a future backup or something like that. Good to hear about Granlund, so he'll play hockey in Finland this year, but next year does he have to stay there for military obligations or can he come right over?

So with a looming lockout we could see lines in Abby of:

Baertschi/Kolanos/Byron- Nemisz/Horak/Walter - Bouma/Reinhart/Ferland - Aliu/Wahl/Howse

That 1st line could do some serious damage.

Not a bad AHL lineup!

If there's a lockout I imagine Backlund would be the first line C in Abby

Would Backlund have to clear waivers?, or if their is no CBA, would waivers even exist?

Backlund has played more than 60 games in the NHL and is past his ELC so I would imagine that he would be waiver-eligible.

The waiver would still exist, I would think, because it would constitute an internal NHL activity between teams. My guess is that the NHL would probably decide, internally, to operate under the basic regulations of the previous CBA until a new agreement can be reached.

I'm guessing here, but I think it would be better for Backlund to play overseas than to risk the waiver wire.

Sooo...

Cervenka goes back to Avangard with Ramo, our former Dynamo Moscow guys (Giordano and Hudler) move to Osmk instead this time. Send Backlund and Wideman with them...

And we could have the entire starting line up of the 2013-2014 Calgary Flames playing for Avangard Omsk this year.

Awesome.

Here is something to consider, and correct me if I'm wrong, but given that the NHL and KHL do not have a transfer agreement in place, if those players go to the KHL, could the team suspend them, thus retaining a year of their contract?

Now, if that were so, how funny would it be if both Stajan and Babchuk went and played in the KHL, thus extending those little pieces of heaven for Flames fans one more year.

I believe a team can terminate a contract if the player in question sign another contract elsewhere, unless a team wants to retain their rights. *see Clay Wilson and Alexander Radulov

Radulov was suspended by the Predators after leaving the first time, hence his returning to play all of ten season games and the playoffs which "burned off" the final year of his ELC.

Although, I can understand why Feaster would be waiting with bated breath to terminate Stajan's contract. Heck, it might be worthwhile for Murray Edwards to buy a KHL team just to offer Stajan a big contract so that he could terminate the one with the Flames. Don't tell me Flames fans wouldn't be happy with that. ;-)

I don't believe waivers would exist because there's no functioning NHL during a lockout.

I honestly have no idea.

But I think that NHL teams have the right to terminate contracts on players who choose to play for another team, so that would get the team off the hook for Stajan.

As for Babchuk, I believe he is worth his contract. He needs to be sheltered, but can produce offensively at an elite level when given that oppourtunity.

However, the Flames have an awful lot of competition for those sheltered minutes, as they are currently trying to groom two young potential top-4 defencemen at the same time (Brodie and Butler), neither of whom can easily be moved for their full value.

So Babchuk is in a tough spot, playing for a team that will struggle to be able to use him properly.

However, long-term injuries to Brodie or Wideman could see this change very quickly.

What happened during the lockout last time around, is (and Flames fans should be very familiar with) they put 'clauses' into their contracts. Just like the no-movement or no-trade clauses that we've given out to everything that can skate, all European contracts signed by NHL players would have "escape clauses" in them that if (when) the NHL comes back for the 04-05 season, the players can leave their European team without penalty. But, hey, why not sign a top notch NHL player and take over the league for those few months? I'd let him walk when the NHL comes back but at least I'll sell out every night for those few weeks or months.

Mr. Pike, Your junior report forgot about the OHL starting camps this week too. Flames '12 2nd round pick - Pat Sieloff - he will be playing for the Windsor Spitfires. Living in London will be looking forward to seeing him play a few times this year. Hoping for some bone crushing hits! Him and Culkin could be a solid #2 pairing in Calgary in 5-7 years. Here's hoping....

Mr. Pike, Your junior report forgot about the OHL starting camps this week too. Flames '12 2nd round pick - Pat Sieloff - he will be playing for the Windsor Spitfires. Living in London will be looking forward to seeing him play a few times this year. Hoping for some bone crushing hits! Him and Culkin could be a solid #2 pairing in Calgary in 5-7 years. Here's hoping....