[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Two of the players he would love to move in Wideman and Smid he inherited. Raymond and Bollig were not great moves but they aren't long term issues. IMO Engelland is a serviceable bottom pairing guy and I've never really had a problem with that deal so I'm not overly concerned because these contracts aren't hurting the team seeing they are rebuilding and not remotely close to a contender at this point.

However I feel the Giordano contract is maybe the worst contract this organization has ever handed out and the worst part for me is that he did that contract under circumstances that favoured the player coming off a career season with another season left on his current deal. I have absolutely no doubt that if he waited until this season that the contract would have been lower seeing Giordano has come back to earth a bit and Brodie has kind of overtaken him as the main cog in the wheel. In the current era where everyone craves instant gratification I simply don't believe most Flames fans actually realize how much damage this deal is going to inflict on the organization. Now maybe GM's are operating on an understanding that they are going to get another round of compliance buyouts in the next CBA but I still cringe when I look at that contract. To make things worse after making that deal that will likely cripple this team in the future he is actually considering signing Russell to another deal that is going to hurt this team in the future. I'm starting to get the uneasy feeling this guy is going to put a mediocre, rebuilding team in cap jail before they have ascended into the ranks of the contenders.

It's hard to make much of his drafts because they take years to properly evaluate although I like the Hamilton deal so I give him a just a passing grade to date. IMO he's a lot like the team right now in that he needs to be better going forward so I would grade him a 7/10 but if he signs Russell to an extension I would drop the grade to 4/10.

Come on, really? You may not agree with these moves, but they are hardly awful decisions since Giordano is a high quality NHL player, and Russell is at the very least a solid bottom pairing defenseman.