[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by SebC

I don't think it does. We have 6M cap space and Bennett unsigned.

Our cap space is a little tighter than that. We have $6M in cap space with three players to account for, with Bennett, Kulak, and Wotherspoon left to sign. While two of those players may not be on the roster, two salaries will be, so each of those players matters as what they sign for could count toward the cap hit and affect the budget. As it is, the numbers in question are including Hamilton on a $612K contract. If he gets beat those numbers will shift as well. All of the salaries are in play right now.

If we moved Bennett+ for Pastrnak and fit him in this year, next year Stajan and Raymond come of the books and that could be enough for Backlund's raise.

Okay, so you trade for and sign Pastrnak and are lucky enough to sign him for the Gaudreau contract, or $6.75M over seven years. That means we go into 2018-19 with $62M spent on 14 players. So you go and spend another $6M over five years to sign Backlund. That's $68M spent on 15 players. So now you have $6M to spend on 8 players to fill out the roster. Pretty tight budget. But things get really ugly after that. You go into 2019-20 with just under $59M spent on 11 players, and you now have Ferland, Tkachuk, and Lazar to resign upfront, and no goaltenders signed. So that leaves $15M to sign a dozen players, including Tkachuk. He isn't going to sign or peanuts unless he completely shats the bed the next two seasons.

Budgets are complex and you can't start handing out $6M contracts to every guy that comes along, no matter how much you like them. There's some 3D chess involved in making them work, and young cost controlled players that can contribute throughout the lineup are crucial to the success of the team.

If our cap situation is as dire as you suggest, then should Bennett become a 6M player (after signing a one-year, for instance) then our cap structure would be broken anyways.

Nope, just means that Backlund is traded for futures this season or an up and coming player at a position of need. We'll need the younger cost controlled player moving forward. If Bennett becomes that $6M player, that is a great thing.

The way I see it our cap is structured with a bit of dead space that is projected to go to a Bennett raise (so that he doesn't outgrow our cap room) but the effect is that Bennett's effectively blocking off more cap space than his current performance warrants. As such, someone who might be closer to his ceiling could be a better fit.

Except you have to take into consideration succession planning. What does the depth chart look like and when do players step into given roles. Who are the guys you are investing in long term, and who are the guys you roll out of the system when the time comes. I see Bennett and Jankowski as the long term replacements for Backlund and Stajan. Lazar is a wild card as he could slide into one of those roles as well, depending on his performance. These are the guys that will step in and eat up the ice time of those older guys who price themselves off the team, or just start to fade away.

I don't see a trade for another expensive player because of the way the salary structure looks to be headed. The Flames have some excellent talent they are going to have to pay for in the very near future. You can't keep spending knowing your balloon mortgage is coming due. You need to budget right and prepare. I think Tkachuk and Bennett are core players in the Flames future and they will be treated as such. Treliving will have the budget laid out as to what it will likely cost to get them signed, and he will act on that. I just don't see how another $6M salary fits into the equation.

One last thing in acquiring Pastrnak, the system takes a pretty big hit. Treliving has already sold the next two drafts down the river. That is going to leave a fairly big hole in the pipeline and leave a gap in players that can step in and fill those cost control roles. Also leaves gaps in the depth chart that need to be addressed. You are going to lose two or three major future pieces to get Pastrnak, and then a roster player to cover salary before the end of the season. How is that all going to shake out? Do we have the players/prospects to make up for that gap? Or are we just begging Peter to pay Paul until the summer of 2020 and then beginning a very painful rebuild? We really need to continue developing our own top end young players or we will run into a situation where we can't back fill positions and crush our own longevity as a team.

I don't see the Flames being in on any big contract. If anything I see them dumping a player during the season, looking for a big contract, for a good young guy that will help keep the budget in control while contributing to the cause. Just the way I see it shaking out based on Treliving's work to date and his comments about our own players.