Age Gaps and Calgary’s Transformation
By Ryan Pike
9 years agoThe signing by the Calgary Flames of college free agent Kenney Morrison the other day got me thinking about the players the Flames have under contract for next season, and the age groups represented in that grouping.
So with a bunch of moves probably coming in the off-season, let’s see where things stand.
2015-16 DEALS, BY BIRTH YEAR
- 1982: G Jonas Hiller, D Deryk Engelland
- 1983: F Matt Stajan, D Dennis Wideman, D Mark Giordano
- 1984: F Jiri Hudler, F David Jones
- 1985: F Mason Raymond
- 1986: D Ladislav Smid
- 1987: F Brandon Bollig, D Kris Russell
- 1988: none
- 1989: none
- 1990: F Joe Colborne, D T.J. Brodie
- 1991: G Joni Ortio, F Bryce van Brabant
- 1992: D Kenney Morrison
- 1993: F Johnny Gaudreau, F Markus Granlund, D Tyler Wotherspoon, D Ryan Culkin
- 1994: F Sean Monahan, F Emile Poirier, D Brett Kulak, D Patrick Sieloff
- 1995: D Keegan Kanzig, F Morgan Klimchuk
- 1996: F Sam Bennett
Let’s ignore the cap implications right now. The Flames have 27 players under contract, along with another 15 restricted free agents, some of which won’t be retained.
The thing that jumps out to me, particularly in comparison to how things have been in the past, is the balance in terms of the team’s skilled players, and the presence of a lot more of the team’s important situational performers in the younger age group.
SAME LIST, RFAs ADDED
Pending RFAs in parentheses.
- 1982: G Jonas Hiller, D Deryk Engelland
- 1983: F Matt Stajan, D Dennis Wideman, D Mark Giordano
- 1984: F Jiri Hudler, F David Jones
- 1985: F Mason Raymond
- 1986: D Ladislav Smid
- 1987: F Brandon Bollig, D Kris Russell
- 1988: none
- 1989: (F Mikael Backlund), (F Paul Byron), (F David Wolf)
- 1990: F Joe Colborne, D T.J. Brodie, (F Lance Bouma), (F Josh Jooris), (F Ben Hanowski), (D Mark Cundari), (D Sena Acolatse)
- 1991: G Joni Ortio, F Bryce van Brabant, (F Drew Shore), (D John Ramage)
- 1992: D Kenney Morrison, (F Michael Ferland), (F Kenny Agostino), (F Bill Arnold), (F Turner Elson), (F Max Reinhart)
- 1993: F Johnny Gaudreau, F Markus Granlund, D Tyler Wotherspoon, D Ryan Culkin,
- 1994: F Sean Monahan, F Emile Poirier, D Brett Kulak, D Patrick Sieloff
- 1995: D Keegan Kanzig, F Morgan Klimchuk
- 1996: F Sam Bennett
If they sign Eric Roy, Austin Carroll and/or Jon Gillies, they’d be an addition to the 1994 group.
I’m not 100% certain that the Flames retain all the RFAs, in part because that would mean the team has 42 players locked up and I doubt they tie their hands that severely with established players. Kent’s gonna have a lot more about RFAs in detail in the near-future (check out his piece on the NHL RFAs from the other day), but you can see that they have a lot more talent in the younger age group than they’ve had in a long, long time. I think the interesting thing to watch – and probably the challenge for Brad Treliving now – is the transitioning away from players born in the early ’80s towards players born in the late ’80s. Heck, the team has very few useful players born between 1985 and 1988.
This is where the team’s iffy drafting comes back to haunt them, as their horrid drafting prior to 2008 has left them forced to trade or go to the free agent market for those players (who are in or entering the prime productive years of their careers), both of which are more expensive routes than drafting and developing them yourselves.
Alas, the situation is what it is, but the main take-away from this should be to keep an eye on the ages and specific placement of those ages in the organization of players the team is acquiring. I think that outside of specific strategic aged assets, the general trend will continue to be a move away from players on the wrong side of 30.
Both Drew Shore and Kenney Morrison are prime examples of this trend; they fit into age groups that were relatively thin for the team in terms of established NHL assets, so these acquisitions provided a bit more depth and options in younger age groupings.
Recent articles from Ryan Pike
