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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
I may be in the minority but I think we can definitely move him in the summer. Burke in an interview with Leah Hextall in the 1st intermission of the Coyotes game said that teams inquired about his availability at the deadline but that they weren't interested in moving him at that time. So obviously there's interest as there should be.
GM's value guys who are proven top 4 defensemen more highly than a lot of fans do. Just analyze the deals done at the trade deadline and on July 1st every year. These GM's realize that the going rate for veteran top 4 defensemen is quite high and are prepared to pay that salary. So for them Wideman's 5+ million isn't going to be as big of a deterrent as some fans think it should be. Wideman has value.
Fans are going to argue he's had an abysmal season. It hasn't been great but if you look at the history of the NHL you find a lot of GM's willing to give players second, third, fourth, etc chances. There's always the idea that a player just needs a change of scenery or we could utilize him better than the Flames because we need his point shot more than they do, etc. So has his bad season tanked his value? Not as much as fans think it should have. He'll still have value.
As such I think he could possibly be traded without retaining salary. If we retain salary or take a bad contract back then he's EASILY tradeable IMO.
Good thread, I know a lot of posters won't see the issue the same way but I do think it would help our cap situation quite a bit if Treliving moves him this offseason. I do think there is a high chance of it happening.
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I agree he has value, and I also agree that he's not as useless as lots of people make him out to be. But I think good teams are probably set up already as far as guys with Wideman's skill set are concerned, considering the price tag. But at the trade deadline they will be looking for depth, and his pro-rated salary won't be as big a problem.