Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
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.
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Regehr's 4.02 million cap being shipped out cleared enough for the raises for Tanguay (raise of 1.8 million) and Glencross (raise of 1.35 million) because Butler was a restricted free agent and Byron would not count against the cap
So no the tagging room excuse is simply not true. This move was made to save cash to throw the vault at Brad Richards. I know Feaster claimed it was for tagging purposes, but the facts prove otherwise.