The biggest question in all of this is which Wideman shows up this season.
Was it last season's Wideman where he couldn't find a shooting lane to save his life, turned the wrong way at times when pressured by oncoming forwards and had injury/disciplinary issues? Or will it be the Wideman who was arguably the best defencemen in the NHL at finding shooting lanes, was a boon on the rush with great chemistry with Gaudreau, who was a relative stalwart defensively - especially when Giordano went down, and who provided strong leadership?
No major injuries from that year to the next. Yet, it was Jekyll and Hyde. I can see why Hartley was overly-patient with Wideman - he was money on the PP and could be trusted against the top lines in the NHL defensively. It just never happened.
If that Wideman comes back this season, Flames are definitely looking poised for the playoffs (considering all the other moves as well), and his trade value will dramatically increase if the Flames are still inclined to trade him then. If the poor Wideman comes out this year, I would assume he will be a 6th/7th defencemen, in and out of the lineup, and who probably won't be able to be traded.
At this point, Flames don't have anything to lose. If they can trade him for something now, I am sure they will do it. I don't think the Flames will be giving him away, however. They are more likely to keep him around as a depth defencemen and hoping he regains some of his form between that of last season, and the prior season - and that wouldn't be some type of crazy expectation to have, IMO. If Wideman does that for the first 2 months of the season, I would bet the Flames wouldn't have trouble unloading him, or even just decide to keep him as that makes him a decent piece for the season to hold onto.
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