Top 15 UFAs of 2015

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Yes, but as I said above, some players stepped up and showed they can fill a bigger role (press box to big minutes), some players were added, some young D have developed more (and by all accounts, done very well) ... and you almost always have to overpay for a UFA unless its a reclamation project, see: Engelland.

Unless you mean that UFA is Doug Murray of coarse...

Our young d prospects have developed well but have a long way to go. Other than Wotherspoon I don't see any other prospect knocking on the door in the near future. Yes our dman have stepped up but if an injury comes early in next season, asking them to play 27+ minutes for the rest of the season is asking a bit much.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Our young d prospects have developed well but have a long way to go. Other than Wotherspoon I don't see any other prospect knocking on the door in the near future. Yes our dman have stepped up but if an injury comes early in next season, asking them to play 27+ minutes for the rest of the season is asking a bit much.

Agreed... but look at the list. If Johnny Boychuk were still avail, then I would say absolutely go after him.

But overpay for Green, Petry, Erhoff or Martin? Nah... I'd rather see them stay status quo, and see if Wotherspoon can push Engelland or Smid down the roster. I'm also kind of intrigued by Schlemko too. If those fail, I would maybe rather see if their is a 2nd or 3rd pairing young RFA that might be feasible to target for <$3.3M on a cap-strapped team (Tyson Barrie next year?) .... all of those options, to me, seem better then overpaying and getting another Deryk Engelland.

Then there is always Douglas Murray...

[GreenLantern]

Martin is coming off a 5 mill salary, what do you think he gets in the open market? Is it going to be similar, slight downgrade?

He looks to be having one of his best seasons stat wise with a great +/-. I haven't seen a lot of him though.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Agreed... but look at the list. If Johnny Boychuk were still avail, then I would say absolutely go after him.

But overpay for Green, Petry, Erhoff or Martin? Nah... I'd rather see them stay status quo, and see if Wotherspoon can push Engelland or Smid down the roster. I'm also kind of intrigued by Schlemko too. If those fail, I would maybe rather see if their is a 2nd or 3rd pairing young RFA that might be feasible to target for <$3.3M on a cap-strapped team (Tyson Barrie next year?) .... all of those options, to me, seem better then overpaying and getting another Deryk Engelland.

Then there is always Douglas Murray...

Personally I think Smid has played his last game as a calgary flame. Him and Engelland together were a brutal pairing. Can't see flames trading Engelland over Smid. Need a good skating, good outlet pass dman for bottom pairing. I do agree that flames should explore getting a young dman at the draft through trade. If that does not happen I see them going after one of the expensive ufa dmen. Also all those dmen you just mentioned are far better than Engelland. Until Engelland signed with flames he was a 6/7 d man. Those other guys are far better than that.

As I mentioned before I don't see the flames brass waiting around to see if Wotherspoon can push Engelland/Smid down the roster. If he can't then what? They tried all year to improve the D through trade and prices were to high. Don't see the prices dropping next year.

[KOgear]

Let's just sign the best d-men not in the nhl.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Personally I think Smid has played his last game as a calgary flame. Him and Engelland together were a brutal pairing. Can't see flames trading Engelland over Smid. Need a good skating, good outlet pass dman for bottom pairing. I do agree that flames should explore getting a young dman at the draft through trade. If that does not happen I see them going after one of the expensive ufa dmen. Also all those dmen you just mentioned are far better than Engelland. Until Engelland signed with flames he was a 6/7 d man. Those other guys are far better than that.

As I mentioned before I don't see the flames brass waiting around to see if Wotherspoon can push Engelland/Smid down the roster. If he can't then what? They tried all year to improve the D through trade and prices were to high. Don't see the prices dropping next year.

I think the question that has to be asked is, is Mike Green or Paul Martin (or anyone else in that list, Jeff Petry lol) better than Denis Wideman to push Wideman (and his big UFA dollars) to a bottom pairing role so you can sit Engelland in the press box? I'm not convinced that any of those guys are even better than Wideman, so I don't see why you would commit ~$15M to your bottom 3 defenseman... just seems crazy to me.

The solution? I honestly think the answer is in Wotherspoon and Schlemko. I think we have the right mix right now where we have a few guys that can play up the roster to a 2nd pairing role, but they can be pushed down the depth chart without their cap hits being too paralyzing.

As for Wotherspoon.... I think the plan all along was to keep him playing big minutes, full season in the AHL rather then having him coming up and down. Conroy mentioned this earlier on the post-game show, it seems like they are fully confident if he comes up and plays in the top 6, but what they don't want is for him to be sitting. Conroy almost slipped to say this outright, but the Flames would rather the #7 guy be a vet and not a young guy..... so if Wotherspoon makes the team, he's playing. Based upon viewings from last year (and reports on how well he is doing) I think he plays up in Calgary next year, full season. Wouldn't surprise me to see him take the #4 spot from Wideman either..... I really like his hockey sense.

If all of that fails? Scouting reports on Schlemko are that he can play up the roster. Wouldn't surprise me to see Doug Murray get a 2-way contract to fill that depth either. So, I don't really see a hole there.

The only position I really want to fill is having a big strong RWer, but I'm not convinced anyone out there is better than David Jones besides Joel Ward, but it doesn't look like he'll make it to UFA.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I think the question that has to be asked is, is Mike Green or Paul Martin (or anyone else in that list, Jeff Petry lol) better than Denis Wideman to push Wideman (and his big UFA dollars) to a bottom pairing role so you can sit Engelland in the press box? I'm not convinced that any of those guys are even better than Wideman, so I don't see why you would commit ~$15M to your bottom 3 defenseman... just seems crazy to me.

The solution? I honestly think the answer is in Wotherspoon and Schlemko. I think we have the right mix right now where we have a few guys that can play up the roster to a 2nd pairing role, but they can be pushed down the depth chart without their cap hits being too paralyzing.

As for Wotherspoon.... I think the plan all along was to keep him playing big minutes, full season in the AHL rather then having him coming up and down. Conroy mentioned this earlier on the post-game show, it seems like they are fully confident if he comes up and plays in the top 6, but what they don't want is for him to be sitting. Conroy almost slipped to say this outright, but the Flames would rather the #7 guy be a vet and not a young guy..... so if Wotherspoon makes the team, he's playing. Based upon viewings from last year (and reports on how well he is doing) I think he plays up in Calgary next year, full season. Wouldn't surprise me to see him take the #4 spot from Wideman either..... I really like his hockey sense.

If all of that fails? Scouting reports on Schlemko are that he can play up the roster. Wouldn't surprise me to see Doug Murray get a 2-way contract to fill that depth either. So, I don't really see a hole there.

The only position I really want to fill is having a big strong RWer, but I'm not convinced anyone out there is better than David Jones besides Joel Ward, but it doesn't look like he'll make it to UFA.

With seeing how well Russel and Wideman have been together this season I'm not sure why they would want to break them up next year?

Maybe it's just me but in the last interview about Wotherspoon it sounded like he still had some work to do to crack the roster. They made it sound like he didn't show enough in pratice in his last call up to garner even one game. It's not like he was trying to beat out Gio, Brodie, Russel ect for one game. He had to show more than Diaz. Not taking anything away from Diaz who has been our best 7th dman in a long time, but beating him out to see even one game of action should not have been that impossible.

Schlemko has done alright but let's not forget he was a waiver pick up that a bunch of teams passed on that could have been for free. He was also option "b" with the prices being to high at deadline. This tells me that they were hoping for someone better than Schlemko.

[Bourque's Twin]

I think Gio - Brodie and Russell - Wideman is a great top 4 with good chemistry. Unlike a lot of people on CP, I like Engelland on the bottom pairing. He's done a great job stepping up in Gio's absence, and he can play really tough in front of the net. I think his speed is underrated as well. He's faster than Smid. He also keeps the other teams honest because he can fight.

I think the Flames should go after the best D-man they can on July 1, but not for the hope of cracking the top 4. Instead, to be paired with Engelland/Smid and chew up more minutes, so Gio, Brodie, Russell, and Wideman don't have to play 25+ mins a night.

Unless Worherspoon makes massive strides this offseason, I hope he plays as "the guy" in Stockton. When a d-man gets injured in Calgary, I'd like to see him play. Hopefully he can get 20-30 games under his belt.

[FlameZilla]

Would it be insane to wish for a D corps of:

Giordano Franson
Russell Wideman
Brodie Engelland

and play them fairly even minutes over the course of the season?

[AC]

Yes, it would be insane to give Brodie #5 minutes IMO.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Call me crazy, but I think if Wotherspoon is ready to step up next year, that bottom pairing is solved. Schlemko is a good 6/7 guy too. I can't see how anyone can argue against the top 4 remaining as is. Highest scoring top 4 in the league - tough to upgrade that. They are all pretty good defensively as well - including Wideman.

It would be nice to sign another 5/6 guy who can play top 4 minutes in case of injuries though, especially since shot-blocking is a way of life for the Flames (seeing Russell and Wideman both get hurt on the same shift almost gave me a heart attack after all). I just don't think it is crucial - just a 'nice to have' since Smid and Wotherspoon I think are very capable depth guys, and Engelland has shown himself to be able to step up.

With Engelland, the signing was an over-payment. However, though I actually liked the signing to start with, I also felt it was just a 'necessary overpayment'. However, since Giordano has gone down, one could argue that he is actually earning his salary now, no? Didn't think I would ever think that, and I didn't mind the signing to start with at all.

[heep223]

Don't see what Green brings that we don't already have. Yes they've said they were looking to improve their D but with the emergence of Russell and Wideman as a legit #2 pairing, and the way Engelland is playing, I wouldn't be surprised if they stayed put.

What we really need are D prospects.

[Hackey]

Exactly. Why waste a huge cap hit on Green and play him on the bottom pairing? A one dimensional player with injury concerns who will likely want dollars and term...no thanks. Seems like a very short sighted move. A contract like that could really hinder us down the road. Our top 4 is fine as is right now and hopefully Wotherspoon can crack the line up next year to round out the bottom pairing. I just don't see a need to go overpay for a free agent when the crop this year looks terrible. We should always be trying to improve the team but not at the expense of the future.

[Vulcan]

I like Engelland. He provides the muscle and some size on a small defensive core. The problem comes when he is paired with another defensive player like Smid. Wotherspoon might make a good partner next season. He has a pretty good first pass, doesn't panic and it would be good to pair him with a vet, but staying on topic, Franson would be good or perhaps another youngster for a 2nd.

[dissentowner]

There is nothing worth signing this off season.

[HOWITZER]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

There is nothing worth signing this off season.

None the least is Ribeiro. How in the world is that guy top of the UFA list? He's been more places in his career than all the places in that Johnny Cash song.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by HOWITZER

None the least is Ribeiro. How in the world is that guy top of the UFA list? He's been more places in his career than all the places in that Johnny Cash song.

1. He is a center.
2. He leads Nashville in points.
3. He is tied for 31st in the NHL in points.

[saillias]

I'd take a run at Dubnyk over all of those, despite our ok goalie situation I think he immediately improves our goaltending from good to elite, plus always hilarious to stick it to the Oilers.

[FlamesAddiction]

I'd take a flyer on Frolik. He a pretty young RW that probably has a few more 20 goal seasons in him.

I wonder if he would sing a Hudler kind of deal.

[Funkhouser]

Oduya for the bottom pair, and he can move up in the event of injury.
Pair him with Wotherspoon, deal Smid and keep Engelland for the 7th d.