Quote:
Originally Posted by Freeway
Expensive, old, or expensive *and* old?
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Yup...pretty much.
I implore those of you who can to listen to Friedman on the fan this morning as he laid it out pretty straight forward. Should be on podcast later.
Essentially what he is saying is that, there just isn't much available because everyone is still pretty much in it among those teams who may be interested in moving a guy.
Names like McHilleney, Reimer, Mrazek etc....all are options to a varying degree he thinks, but acquisition cost is the question. He said you can probably get Howard but he will cost you a 1st round pick.
One thing the Flames do have working in their favor is...time. With the start they have had and the deadline 7 weeks away yet, there is time to see what shakes out.
Im guessing BT has gone to his pro scouting guys and gotten all the info he can out of them and maybe has them watching a few specific guys in the ahl or other leagues to see if there is anyone who would be a clear upgrade on Smith and is available at a price he comfortable with.
This looks to be a very tricky situation unfortunately. Any deal for a current NHL G would have to include Smith going the other way as far as salary in and salary out works. So right there you truly limit the market. On top of that Smith has a limited no-trade which could limit you even further. And just to make it a bit more difficult, the Flames aren't the only team looking for a G.
This may really be a case of sit and wait and hope Smith can find some semblance of his confidence until they get much closer to the deadline. Give him every 5th or 6th game and pray he can squeeze a few wins out of them.
Something no one wants but what the situation simply dictates.