Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkGio
This is what I don't understand. The Flames aren't cap strapped, so why ask a poor team to retain and pay the necessary premium. For two seasons of a measly 1.2 million in savings? Just buy out Stajan and keep a good asset.
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The Flames have cap issues just like most teams. Treliving is limited by the cap and therefore the amount he spends on goaltending subtracts from the amount he can spend on forwards/defensemen. Getting goaltending at a cheaper rate allows him to spend elsewhere. Pretty elementary. That 1.2 million is not insignificant.
Buying out Stajan saves us pretty much nothing on the cap, I'm confused as to why you'd suggest that. Suggests to me that you don't really understand the implications of the salary cap. The Flames have a 23 man roster. If you buyout Stajan's 3.5 million his cap hit is 1.8 million next season (as per
https://www.capfriendly.com/buyout_c...or/matt-stajan) but you still have to ice the same amount of people on your roster. Guess what the average NHL salary is? A lot more than the difference between 3.5 million and 1.8 million. You'd have to pay Stajan not to play for you while also paying a player to replace him. Unless the player was making league minimum you're not really saving anything.
I doubt the salary retained equated to half the value of the trade as killer carlson suggest. I think it more likely that the trade could have been Smith (full salary) for Hickey + conditional 3rd/4th and that saving the 1.2 million merely cost us a move down of a round in the draft into a 2nd/3rd. But obviously merely speculation on my part.