It’s been a long wait, but the Flames finally announced today they have qualified six players: Mikael Backlund, Leland Irving, Paul Byron, Akim Aliu and Blair Jones. The only player of interest who wasn’t qualified was Blake Comeau, which wasn’t a suprise given his lackluster output and a contract last year was $2.5M.

That doesn’t mean the Flames won’t sign Comeau this summer, however. The former Islander will become an unrestricted free agent which will allow the Flames (and everyone ele) to offer him something a lot closer to his real value (in the $1.5M/year I imagine). We have assumed around these parts that Comeau wouldn not be qualified for months, so this move is not unexpected.

Next weekend, the hard stuff begins – unrestricted free agency.