Quote:
Originally Posted by PugnaciousIntern
UFAs rarely outperform contracts, players like Hudler are the exception. Those contacts need to be taken in context, as most teams' fans are generally quite disappointed with their UFA contract worth - to - production.
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I think it comes down to where management projects the player. It's okay to bring in a UFA that plays a prominent role on the team (top 4D, top 6F, 1G) but the Flames always seem to be targeting depth players AND giving them term and a fat cap hit. I have no problem with depth UFA's to a point, you need to fill out the roster. You just can't give them 3-4 years, it's just too risky. I wonder how a team like the Penguins can manage to fill out it's roster with no draft picks and nearly all of their money going to top players? Yes, depth has been a problem with Pittsburgh at times throughout the years but it's also always a problem here, even though the Flames throw gobs of money at it.
People are going rabble about the cap floor in 2014, but I don't buy it. If that was the case, offer less term and more $$$. It's impossible to project two+ years into the future so it's better to be safe than sorry. The cap floor is such a problem that literally NO team has ever been penalized for being under it. Calgary has got to be the only team ever that turned cap floor problems into cap ceiling problems within two years. Pretty impressive actually. There's like 20m between both extremes, I think a little more finesse and better planning was needed tbh, and I like Treliving.
Guys like Stajan and Wideman for instance, where were they projected? Wideman was projected as at top 4/PP QB, so given that his salary/term is fair. What cripples that deal is the NMC. Just say no to NMCs for anyone, ever. Luckily the Flames now seem to be doing just that.
Stajan was always so puzzling to me. What was the rush? If he goes to UFA and you lose him... so what? Offer him 2 x 3.5m, take it or leave it. His ceiling was bottom 6 at the time... so why? Leadership? Intangibles? That's great and all but a it's not worth $3m. Should've said see ya to Matt and given Cammalleri what he eventually got. That deal's not great either but at least you could be reasonably assured that he would play in the top 6. I'm not sure Stajan is has so many more intangibles than Cammalleri that it makes up for being 1/4 the hockey player. I mean, he is making a couple million less, but still...
Deals like Stajan's, Raymond's, Smid's and Engelland's add up to a whole lot of pain down the road. All we can hope is the Flames learned a lesson. People laugh at Lucic's deal but at least he is a proven top 6 player. The guys the Flames usually target are fringe guys. If Lucic declines, he's probably still in your top 9, what happens when Brouwer declines?