Addition of Kevin Poulin Bumps Contract Count Up

8 years ago

The Calgary Flames added goaltender Kevin Poulin late last week in a trade that saw precisely zero assets head the other way. This means that they’ve added a contract without divesting themselves of one, which complicates their ability potentially to do other things later on in the season.

This begs the question: how many active contracts do the Flames have right now?

The short answer? They have 47 active contracts, with 3 deals that are on the books but slide for varying reasons.

GOALIES (5)

Jonas Hiller
Karri Ramo
Joni Ortio
Jon Gillies
Kevin Poulin
(Nick Schneider – not active; deal slides due to age/junior status)
(Mason McDonald – not active; deal slides due to age/junior status)

DEFENDERS (15)

Dougie Hamilton
Mark Giordano
Dennis Wideman
T.J. Brodie
Kris Russell
Ladislav Smid
Deryk Engelland
Kenney Morrison
Tyler Wotherspoon
Patrick Sieloff
Jakub Nakladal
Brett Kulak
Ryan Culkin
Keegan Kanzig – in the WHL, but deal is active because he’s 20 (and because it has already slid before)
Oliver Kylington – in the AHL; deal counts against their 50 contracts because it could become active if he plays 10 NHL games this year, but it won’t be active unless he does so because he’s younger than 20
(Rasmus Andersson – not active; slides due to age/junior status)

FORWARDS (27)

Michael Frolik
David Jones
Jiri Hudler
Mikael Backlund
Mason Raymond
Matt Stajan
Lance Bouma
Joe Colborne
Brandon Bollig
Josh Jooris
Johnny Gaudreau
Sam Bennett
Sean Monahan
Micheal Ferland
Derek Grant
Bryce van Brabant
Emile Poirier
Morgan Klimchuk
Drew Shore
Bill Arnold
Markus Granlund
Kenny Agostino
Hunter Smith
Garnet Hathaway
Freddie Hamilton
Austin Carroll
Turner Elson

PLAYERS NEEDING DEALS

There are five players that don’t currently have contracts that may be signed before July 1, 2015 (and, particularly for the college players, they may count against this year’s contract limit):

F Mark Jankowski – 2012 first round pick; in senior year of college, quietly a point-per-game college player on a good team
F Matthew Deblouw – 2012 seventh round pick; in senior year of college; hasn’t blown the doors off in the NCAA, but could be considered for an AHL contract perhaps
D John Gilmour – 2013 seventh round pick; in senior year of college and also a quiet point-producer
D Brandon Hickey – 2014 third round pick; in sophomore year of college; could go back to college, could sign and jump to AHL or WHL depending on how this season goes
F Andrew Mangiapane – 2015 sixth round pick; will be in 20-year-old season next year, could play pro or go back to junior as an overager.

If I were a betting man, I would guess that Jankowski and Gilmour definitely sign contracts when Providence’s season is done. I’d also guess that Mangiapane also signs, though his deal isn’t as pressing a priority given that both Jankowski and Gilmour can become free agents on August 15, 2015.

EXPIRING DEALS

An added wrinkle to the deals that the Flames probably want to add are the deals that they may subtract via free agency (or via trade). The following players will be free agents beginning on July 1, depending on whether the Flames extend the deals or not. (And whether the Flames retain the players or not.)

In terms of pending free agents with big cap hits, recall that the $71.4 million salary cap is effectively a daily average – which means that teams basically “bank” however much they’re below the cap towards potentially adding salary later on. So while teams might not have the cap space (or willingness) to take on, say, Jiri Hudler’s $4 million hit, his cap hit is reduced by roughly $21,000 for each day that passes in the regular season.

Unrestricted Free Agents: (6)

Jiri Hudler
David Jones
Kris Russell
Jakub Nakladal
Jonas Hiller
Karri Ramo

Restricted Free Agents: (15)

Johnny Gaudreau
Sean Monahan
Joe Colborne
Josh Jooris
Derek Grant
Markus Granlund
Kenny Agostino
Bryce van Brabant
Drew Shore
Bill Arnold
Freddie Hamilton
Turner Elson
Tyler Wotherspoon
Joni Ortio
Kevin Poulin

When considering which players may join the Flames in the coming weeks or months, also keep an eye on what deals are on the books and which deals may or may not be continuing into the next season. (For instance: Mason McDonald is going pro next season, so they probably want to have a spot in Stockton available for him to play in 2016-17.)