Now What? – A Look Ahead

The draft is over!

But now there’s a lot of things that will happen in rapid succession: qualifying offers to RFAs, free agency and Flames summer development camp.

The Flames have 34 players with contracts for 2014-15. They can be split into three main groups.

:

G Karri Ramo, D Dennis Wideman, D T.J. Brodie, D Mark Giordano, D Kris Russell, D Ladislav Smid, F Jiri Hudler, F Matt Stajan, F David Jones, F Curtis Glencross, F Brandon Bollig, F Mikael Backlund, F Sean Monahan & F Brian McGrattan

:

D Shane O’Brien (one-way, but buried), D Tyler Wotherspoon, D Patrick Sieloff, D John Ramage, D Brett Kulak, D Ryan Culkin, F Corban Knight, F John Gaudreau, F Sven Baertschi, F Bryce van Brabant, F Josh Jooris, F Markus Granlund, F Max Reinhart, F Bill Arnold, F David Wolf, F Kenny Agostino, F Michael Ferland & F Turner Elson

Sliding Deals::
F Morgan Klimchuk, F Emile Poirier & D Keegan Kanzig

That’s roughly nine roster spots (a goalie, two defenders and six forwards) and a lot of cap space to work with. That leads us to…

Eleven players are pending restricted free agents and must be qualified by 3pm MT on Monday for the Flames to retain their rights.

I would wager that neither Eddy nor Martin get qualified. And Ortio, Bouma, Byron and Colborne are probably locks. Beyond that, we probably find out on Monday.

Based on the Winsport ice-time calendar, Flames development camp opens next weekend. We’ll get confirmation on dates and roster invites in the coming days.