Quote:
Originally Posted by madmike
It sort of sucks to see him doing so well, but at the same time he's going to be a UFA and frankly with Tkachuk's deal coming up, the Flames likely wouldn't be able to afford a UFA Ferland contract.
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While Ferland probably was a necessary add for acquiring Lindholm in that specific trade, I don't see how this is a valid statement. The Flames signed 3/4C Derek Ryan and 3RW James Neal to a total of $8.875M/Yr (equivalent to the cap hits owed to of each of Crosby, Stamkos, and Draisaitl). Keeping Ferland would have impacted the ability to liberally make these depth signings, not Matthew Tkachuk. You could afford Tkachuk and Ferland, but you'd have to have found another avenue to find a right handed shot forward for the power play to fill the gaping Versteeg hole (though I can't help but wonder if Czarnik would presently be doing pretty well with Tkachuk, Monahan, and Gaudreau on PP1 while Ferland lit it up at ES).