[heep223]

Lambert is such a dink. On so many levels.

6. The Calgary Flames
The Flames are currently going about the business of locking down all their restricted free agents, which is a fine idea. After that, they will apparently turn their attentions to getting new contracts for the guys who still have one year to go on their existing ones, but who they don't want to see leave any time soon. That's obviously also a good idea. Where they're starting, however, is not.

They're starting with... well, no, it's not Mikael Backlund, the soon-to-be first-line center who drives possession better than just about anyone on the team. And no, it's not going to be T.J. Brodie, who's probably one of the most overlooked very good defensemen in the league. It's not those guys, who should be tied to the organization for years at reasonable dollar figures to come because they're strong players in their mid-20s.

No, the Flames are instead focusing on 31-year-old, oft-injured winger Curtis Glencross. Late last week, Glencross said that the Flames want to get going on a new deal for him, one that would explicitly not-include any sort of hometown discount for the team that's made him an inexplicable folk hero. Which, you know, is his prerogative; when you're on the wrong side of 30, you can't be blamed in any way for wanting to cash in on a deal in the eight figure range.

But why would Glencross be Calgary's priority when so many more pressing ones are on the table? Unless they're expecting a protracted negotiating process with Backlund and Brodie, which they might be, the only reason to focus on Glencross first is that the Flames are a team as poorly run as they are fundamentally bad. Watching a good number of Flames games makes you realize Glencross really isn't very good; he doesn't drive possession in any appreciable way, he's hurt all the time, he doesn't draw penalties because he rarely has the puck, and he lives off a high shooting percentage.

He's fine, but he's not the kind of guy you should try to secure before your No. 1 center and No. 2 defenseman. Pretty simple, really.

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