Joining a team that is built to 'win now', with a potential spot in the line-up, with a bunch of Swedes that will help him transition, with a legend in Loob in the organization.... suddenly the Flames start looking like a much more attractive landing spot than Ottawa, even if it looks like he has to work a bit harder to earn a spot.
Frolik will most likely be traded this upcoming off-season, and though you can't expect a guy like Nygard to come in and fill that hole completely (Frolik is so underrated and effective at smothering the other team on the forecheck and backcheck), at least he is a strong step in that direction to filling it. Losing Frolik will hurt the team speed as well, not to mention the consistent shift-by-shift effort/tenacity he brings.
Flames can also dangle that carrot explicitly, saying he will get a shot playing with Backlund, and point to how Backlund has helped many players over-achieve (Bouma, Colborne, arguably Bennett and Tkachuk in their respective rookie seasons, though it is obvious that Tkachuk and Backlund are more symbiotic right now than anything). Czarnik chose to sign here when the Flames dangled the Johnny Gaudreau/Sean Monahan carrot (as well as taking the time to meet him face-to-face).
Calgary has had a fairly strong track record of signing FAs lately that were at least somewhat highly touted with multiple teams showing interest. Calgary is an attractive market to play in at the moment.
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