As of 4:00 PM on February 2, 2010 you can colour me still scratching my head. After a marathon call-in show late Monday night that turned into an early Tuesday morning, I’m still struggling to get my head around Daryl Sutter’s latest deal to acquire additional forwards. This time, it’s Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins from the New York Rangers and this one makes very little sense on the surface.

However, it certainly makes you wonder – what the heck is coming next?

Today, Daryl Sutter told the media at the Saddledome that we’ll have to wait and see if anything else comes from this trade, but it gives them flexibility down the road. Is that an omen? Maybe, maybe not. Fact of the matter is, Calgary has a ton of forwards on the big team right now, and with 3 separate players injured (Moss, Conroy, Dawes), transactions will have to be made eventually.

That screams to me that something has to be in the offing, but then again, what does anyone know at this point? Maybe a sense of confusion is exactly what the GM wants. I’d hope so because on the surface, it’s so so odd. Kotalik is a guy who has been scratched in 8 of his last 9 games and does not have a great track record with recent stops in Edmonton and Manhattan less than All Star material.

But Daryl said today that sometimes a change of scenery helps and that he was happy with the way Kotalik played in Edmonton and Buffalo. That may very well be, but the fact is, he’s a forward signed for 2 more years at 3 million dollars a piece. The economics of this acquisition make no sense, especially knowing the type of players Daryl seems to like on his team.

Higgins on the other hand you can understand.  A UFA at the end of the season, playing close to home in New York, former 20 goal guy in Montreal. If he works, that’s cool and maybe he gets re-signed if he fits into the long term plans at the Saddledome. If not, well then he’s gone come July 1st anyway.

I’ll tell you this much, from the hundreds of emails that have poured in the last 18 hours or so, there is a HUGE majority of people who don’t like this move. The phone calls last night and this morning (till 315 am) are the same way.

For me, I’m willing to wait to see if this is the end game, or if we’re still on the road to that end game.

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