Quote:
Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef
This is not even a factor, it was well known Kotalik would go back to Europe rather than being demoted. Even being sent to Europe he still has to be paid his contract. It comes down to the simple fact the Flames gave away a 2nd round pick in order to save $3 million in cold hard cash.
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I don't think it was well known. In fact, Feaster did not even talk to Kotalik at all during the off-season if I am remembering an interview correctly. Us fans WANTED Kotalik to go to Europe. We assumed he would ask to go to Europe rather than remain in the AHL when first demoted there. To most people's surprise, Kotalik worked hard and was a good leader on the Heat (according to Ward, Horak and some other Heat players they interviewed). Feaster must have assumed that Kotalik was just fine with staying in the AHL for another year.
Regier was the one that spoke to Kotalik about his chances at making the Sabres' roster, and Kotalik volunteered returning to Europe if he did not make it.
Also, it wasn't to save cash. It was to gain tagging room. Flames really couldn't re-sign Tanguay and Glencross before free agency as they did not have the tagging room.
However, the definitive proof that the Flames were not looking to simply save a couple of bucks was that they were willing to overpay Richards. I forget the exact dollar value of the offer (including bonuses), but if memory serves it would have made Richards a 10million+ player over the next few seasons. It was a relatively blatant cap-circumvention contract - everyone knew Richards would not play all those years anyways, so I would say it shows that the Flames were not counting pennies at all. They then went on to make some front office moves (AGM, scouts) spending even more cash. Saving cash didn't seem like a priority that year at all based on the subsequent moves and attempted moves.