Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
Klapka becomes waiver eligible this year IIRC. He has never been through waivers thus far.
I will 100% agree that Mercer is the better player today. However, Klapka has some seriously good attributes and is trending towards being an absolute unicorn. For me, it is two things:
1) Klapka started playing like he was Tom Wilson last season. Small sample size, yes, but that's what he started looking like. I would hate to trade away Tom Wilson for a middle-six player.
2) Klapka had a great season in the AHL before last season - led the team in scoring.
I would say that based on these two consecutive seasons, I don't think that Klapka's scoring ability was simply luck or brushed aside as a heater that will never be replicated. Maybe that's all it was, but I know I would definitely hate to be the guy that traded that away. It is so damn expensive to get a big body with skill. Columbus just tied-up Olivier on a 6 year deal. If Klapka develops anywhere between Olivier and Wilson, that will really help the Flames down the road, especially in the playoffs.
I think NJ probably says no anyway to Klapka straight-up for Mercer - Mercer is the much more productive player, with room to grow yet. I just see him as a middle-six winger more than anything. Not a center, and definitely not a top-line player. I would rather keep my potential unicorn with lower trade value in my back pocket and see what happens, and if I do decide to go after Mercer, I would do it with other assets.
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I agree, if we traded Klapka for Mercer we would have to add quite a bit and it could burn us. Rasmus for Mercer we would need to add as well. We also need to move out forwards too. Zary to me makes sense and we could get a decent pick back in this scenario.
Zary to me could fit into the same category as Frost and Farabee. A couple years ago, Philly signed Farabee to a bigger deal and bridged Frost. Neither player progressed and the return on 2 good looking young players wasn't very much, and way less than you would have thought 2 years prior.
Zary might progress but I see him losing big PP time to Coronato moving forward. I see Sharangovich as a better PP option too. Unless we move Coleman or Frost or Farabee, I could see him being stuck. Could go either way, but his value would still be high right now.
I also see Klapka pushing his way up the lineup and his contract should be much less than Zary as well.
Manage Cap - keep Klapka
Manage assets - Zary brings the better return
Intangibles - can't teach 6 foot 8 and Zary is just not a great skater.
Flames twice since 2019 were a top team in the west. Both years, the team that beat them made them look bad. Not since the Iggy days have, they had an identity. Never a fast team, never a big team. We need to look at the physical play and speed of our depth guys, this matters in the playoffs.