Flames Entry Level Contracts & RFA's

[Roof-Daddy]

Players currently on ELC's with the Flames:

G - Leland irving

F - Mikael Backlund
F - Greg Nemisz
F - Mitch Wahl
F - Lance Bouma
F - Bryan Cameron
F - John Armstrong
F - Ryley Grantham
F - Hugo Carpentier

D - John Negrin
D - TJ Brodie
D - Josh Meyers
D - Keith Seabrook

Of these players, I believe Nemisz, Wahl, Bouma, Cameron and Brodie will making the jump to pro next season. Correct me if I'm wrong on these.....and either way, it should be a fun year for Flames fans who get to watch the Heat on a regular basis. Will be interesting to see how these prospects handle the rigors of the proffessional game.



RFA's:

G - Matt Keetley

D - Ian White
D - Matt Pelech
D - Gord Baldwin
D - Brad Cole

F - Kris Chucko
F - JD Watt
F - Brett Sutter

Of these players, I almost certainly expect White, Pelech and Sutter to be retained.

How about the rest though? Do the Flames qualify any of them?

Baldwin, from what I have heard, has really progressed well this season.

Keetley? Has he been essentially replaced by Shantz? ..and should we expect Shantz to be given a contract in the coming months?

Chucko? Will he get another year to prove himself seeing as he was injured half of this last season?

What about Watt & Cole? Will they be pretty much replaced by some of the players making the jump to pro next year? (Bouma and Brodie come to mind)

Also, who should we expect to be given a contract from last years draft class? Erixon, Howse and Ortio?

...or do they have another year before they need to be signed to avoid re-entering the draft?

Thought this might make for a decent discussion during a slow off-season.

Any insight is much appreciated.

[jeremywilhelm]

Expect Cole, Carpentier and Keetley to say buh bye. I expect the rest will be retained. Those three had their chance and didn't do a whole lot with it.

[jeremywilhelm]

I'm also betting Howse, Ortio and Erixon do not recieve a contract for another year. Patterson should get a contract soon as well since he is ready to make the jump to the Heat.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

Expect Cole, Carpentier and Keetley to say buh bye. I expect the rest will be retained. Those three had their chance and didn't do a whole lot with it.

Carpentier has a contract for next season though.....can the Flames terminate it if they so choose?

[Swayze11]

I would hope they keep Keetley. Too many times we see teams give up on a goalie and they flourish somewhere else (Anderson, Kipper, Thomas, Huet, Vokoun, Bryzgalov, C. Mason, Theodore, and many more in the AHL).

edit: I am not saying Keetley will ever turn out to be a NHL starting goalie, it just scares me way too much to just let him walk away at the age of 24 when goalies start to mature at 26-32.

[flamesrule14]

What is up with Carpentier anyways? Is he injured or something? He's not even on the Heat playoff roster.

I'd hate to see us give up on Keetley as well. I guess it'll depend on what happens with Shantz and if the flames decide to give him a contract or not.

[Ren]

Originally Posted by flamesrule14

What is up with Carpentier anyways? Is he injured or something? He's not even on the Heat playoff roster.

I'd hate to see us give up on Keetley as well. I guess it'll depend on what happens with Shantz and if the flames decide to give him a contract or not.

Pretty sure Carpentier is injured.

[jeremywilhelm]

Originally Posted by flamesrule14

What is up with Carpentier anyways? Is he injured or something? He's not even on the Heat playoff roster.

I'd hate to see us give up on Keetley as well. I guess it'll depend on what happens with Shantz and if the flames decide to give him a contract or not.

He's not very good anyways.

[Vulcan]

Unless things have changed we don't have to sign our Euro picks such as Erixon or Ortio until we want to. We could leave them for a few years until they start tearing up their leagues and still retain their rights.

Another list to look at is the UFA where a number of Heat players may not be reuped so we have space on our 50 man protected list.

F Carsen Germyn »UFA (0.5) F Garth Murray »UFA (0.5) D Andy Delmore »UFA (0.5) D Brett Palin »UFA (0.5) F David Van Der Gulik »UFA (0.5) F Cam Cunning »UFA (0.5) F Colin Stuart »

[Roof-Daddy]

I'm pretty excited about having three very offensive minded junior players make their way to the AHL next year. Add to that Bouma and Brodie and it's quite an influx of excellent junior players all at once.

In the past it's been more of a slow leak of these type of prospects making their way to the pros.

[Canada 02]

4 college kids as well (Marvin, Fulton, Severyn, and Larson)

Last summer, Darryl sounded rather optimistic about Marvin and Severyn. Said their junior years were pivotal in deciding whether they get pro contracts.

In two subsequent FAN960 interviews, he sounded rather dissapointed with the college players and the college scouts.

[Tilley]

Just to clarify, only Fulton is graduating this year while the others have years of eligibility remaining. Marvin and Severyn will be seniors, while Larson has three years left.

As Canada 02 stated, both Marvin and Severyn had less than stellar junior seasons, so they will really need to impress to earn a contract. While Marvin has all the tools, he hasn't been able to put it all together and has had younger forwards move ahead of him on the depth chart and PP time.

The lack of prospects in the U.S. college system and the lackluster performance of current college prospects, doesn't speak well for the U.S. scouts. I can see why Sutter would focus on CHLers and Europeans at the draft.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

4 college kids as well (Marvin, Fulton, Severyn, and Larson)

Last summer, Darryl sounded rather optimistic about Marvin and Severyn. Said their junior years were pivotal in deciding whether they get pro contracts.

In two subsequent FAN960 interviews, he sounded rather dissapointed with the college players and the college scouts.

I personally feel that Larson is the only one of our college guys that may have a chance to play pro....