Wow This is just the worst for Colborne.
He was finally reaching his potential after being a disappointment for 4-5 years.
Rather than getting all worked up about moving to wing and getting top-6 ice time and playing stronger he is going to have to hear from the Flames management that he is a crappy player that is very lucky to be getting any NHL salary at all.
If the Flames were a bit deeper and David Jones played anywhere close to his salary and Glencross didn't get hurt then Colborne might has had a wasted season watching from the stands or worked back into the AHL.
Last Flame going to arbitration was Ian White. White won forcing the Flames to sign him to a 1 yr 3M deal (hours before the arbitration hearing) with UFA status in a year. White was awful and after 16 games with the Flames on that contract got sent to Carolina.
He signed a 2 year UFA deal with Detroit for less-- 2.9 /yr for 2 years and was benched by Detroit after 25 games in the 2nd year.
He played last year in the KHL (only 10 games) with the Traktor Chelyabinsk. Then he signed on to play with the Steinbach Huskies of the Carillon Senior Hockey League.
You wonder how it would have turned out if White would have signed a 3-4 year at 2M with the Flames rather than playing hardball...
|