Flames Courting D Jakub Nakladal

According to Elliotte Friedman, the Flames are one of three NHL teams trying to sign 27 year old Czech Jakub Nakladal. Those of you who have been following the World Championships closely probably recognize him as one of the Czech team’s top-4 options.

Aside from his hockeydb page, there isn’t much out there about Nakladal. His results in the KHL over four seasons suggest a depth guy without much offense (single digit point totals each season), so I asked Corey Pronman of ESPN is he had any insight.

Sounds kinda like a new school shut-down guy: mobile, smart but limited offense. At 27, he’s the right age for the Flames needs. It remains to be seen if he actually signs with Calgary and if he proves to be NHL caliber. As we saw with the Roman Cervenka experiment, sometimes veterans from across the pond can’t translate their games in North America.