Quote:
Originally Posted by Where ru Chris O'Sullivan
What!?!!?!!?!?
1) I am not versed on the CBA - some posters are saying if we had 49 contracts we could infact (I assume sign him?) and keep him here from now til our season/hopefully post-season ends? (hence wishing we had 49, not 50 contracts in-house).
2) We are in agreement, that even Sven our lord and saviour still ages? If he's not aging and infact immortal then we are not wasting his NHL career by letting him to return to Portland - I apologize. On a team that spends to cap every year, a team that pays J-bo 6.68M/ Stajan 3.5M / Comeau 2.5/ etc etc, why would I care if someones eligibilty comes 1 year sooner? lol? If your telling me as I think you are, that he, by staying up now (when we need him more than ever) is going to cost us 1 whole season sooner, a whopping 3,4,5 million more than he would make, where is my cheque book??
Seriously guys?? if the drawback is paying him real money 1 year earlier than projected, but were getting this kind of performance from him down the stretch and hopefully into the post-season... I dont know where your heads are, truly.
The only thing going to waste is talent that would be better served playing in the big league vs. tearing up a boys league.
Shame on you CP, so easily apologetic to players like CT, like Backs etc. that havent shown a thing in a flames jersey, but when real talent appears (nm actually backs it up with important goals in important games) you discount it and instead pretend to worry about the "overall state of this franchise"...Iggy and Kipper are real and there here now...this maybe their final hours, this is when you pull out the stops.
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If you'd take a little time and pay attention to the 50 or 60 times it's been explained already, you'd already know this, but here goes.
1. Baertchi is on an emergency recall (our 3rd one at this point in fact). As soon as one more forward is healthy he must be returned due to the CBA and the CHL transfer agreement. However, if for some reason the Flames forwards keep getting injured and we never end up getting at least 1 net healthy forward back, then he could stay until the point in time that 1 net healthy forward does come back. If that's the case until the end of the season, he could stay. However, for him to play more than 9 games regardless of the injury situation, the Flames would have get rid of a contract and burn the 1st year of his ELC.
2. We are not wasting his career by letting him play in Portland in any way. Here's why.
a. Since he's only 19, he's going to continue to get better. Even if he wins the Calder next year, he isn't likely to really come into his own until his 3rd NHL season and nobody should expect him to be a top end player in terms of points before his 4th. This is a recurring pattern for players that start in the NHL right out of Junior, regardless of their skill level.
b. As such, by not burning a year of his NHL deal, you can potentially have him on the team as a bargain in his final years. Having less money tied up in Sven at that point in time means we can spend on better depth and defence resulting in better results as a team.
Regarding Backlund, etc.
For the same reason as 2a, dumping Backlund now is the absolute worst time to do it. Next year will be his 3rd NHL season and should be the one where we can finally see what he's made of. He might not break out in his 3rd season to the same extent some players do, but it's reasonable to expect to see a solid progression next year(becoming a 35-40 point player instead of a 25 point one). If there isn't one, it's time for him to find a niche as shut down two-way bottom 6, face off winning Center or he won't stick around for long. However, you have to keep him around and give him chance to prove he belongs.