Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
I love Lance Bouma. The guy is a warrior and an important cog in the team that we saw on the ice last year.
But you have to hold the line on support players or they get priced off of good teams. I want Bouma to do well, but if the Flames just gave him 2.25 and called it a day, we'd be seeing the last of Bouma in a year or two as he'd have to ply his trade on a weaker team that can afford to pay more for a middle six forward that scored 8-11 goals a season.
Holding the line now keeps him here for 5 years where he belongs.
If he's 2.5 in 2 years the Flames will have to promote a younger option, ... contending teams have young players filling in the bottom 4-5 forward roles.
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I see your point. It is also worth mentioning that the Flames seem to have a knack for finding those bottom 6 grit and heart players.
But I do think that Bouma has slightly more upside than a typical support player though. I guess the question is, do we need him to be more than that...? If not, it might be better to flip him and let him flourish (and get paid) somewhere else while letting another support player step in.