Flames d-man Clay Wilson to KHL

[handgroen]

Rob Kerr is reporting that Clay Wilson has accepted a contract in the khl. Now this may actually be a good thing given the log jam at the blue line.
No terms have been released but i believe this means that his rights still belong to the flames when his contract expires.
If it's one year in the khl and he has a good year this might be a very good thing for the flames next season.


oh and hey one less contract

[vilzeh]

Lets hope he blossoms.

[ComixZone]

Yeah, this is a good move for Clay and good news for Calgary. Best of luck to him over there, and hopefully he can improve his game and keep close ties with the Flames organization.

[kirant]

Good move for Wilson, decent new for the Flames, bad news for the Heat.

He was a tweener for the NHL, but he drove a lot of the Heat's offense (from what I remember).

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by kirant

Good move for Wilson, decent new for the Flames, bad news for the Heat.

He was a tweener for the NHL, but he drove a lot of the Heat's offense (from what I remember).

yeah sucks for the heat, but we gotta think about the mothership here in calgary, i'd rather have a better wilson next year.

Seems like quite a few of these bubble nhl players have had good success using the khl as a development league

[Heavy Jack]

So that leaves us with:

Bouw
Gio
Wideman
Butler
Sarich
Brodie
Babchuk
Smith
Carson

With Brodie being the only two-way contract. I think if Feaster can move Babchuk he will do it otherwise I could see Brodie starting in the AHL this season even though I think he's ready for the big club and would like to see him start with the Flames this year. I can't see Bouwmeester getting moved at this point in time, it just doesn't seem like an option.

Starting D looks like:

Bouwmeester - Wideman
Giordano - Butler
Sarich - Smith
Babchuk

Brodie - minors
Carson - minors/waivers

[kirant]

Eliteprospects lists the team he signed with as Donbass Donetsk.

[miraisoup]

It is with Donbass

Sportsnet 960 ‏@Sportsnet960
Former Calgary Flames defenseman Clay Wilson has signed one-year deal with Donbass Donetsk of the KHL. Wilson appeared in 5 games for the Flames last season. He played in 66 games for the Abbotsford Heat scoring 16 goals and adding 27 assists. He was also a plus 9.

[Canada 02]

oh and hey one less contract

not sure this is true. Nilsson, Kronwall and Ortio, for example all counted when they left for Europe

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

not sure this is true. Nilsson, Kronwall and Ortio, for example all counted when they left for Europe

well damn....they said it on the fan though.... oh dear

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

So that leaves us with:

Bouw
Gio
Wideman
Butler
Sarich
Brodie
Babchuk
Smith
Carson

With Brodie being the only two-way contract. I think if Feaster can move Babchuk he will do it otherwise I could see Brodie starting in the AHL this season even though I think he's ready for the big club and would like to see him start with the Flames this year. I can't see Bouwmeester getting moved at this point in time, it just doesn't seem like an option.

Starting D looks like:

Bouwmeester - Wideman
Giordano - Butler
Sarich - Smith
Babchuk

Brodie - minors
Carson - minors/waivers

wrong thread

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by handgroen

well damn....they said it on the fan though.... oh dear

there is a situation where a player can be released, and the team free of the contract. This happened to JD Watt two years ago. Perhaps Wilson asked for unconditional release. simply going to Europe does not necessarily cancel the contract

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by handgroen

well damn....they said it on the fan though.... oh dear

It all depends if the Flames have given him permission to play in the KHL. If they haven't and he refuses to report to camp they have 2 options.

1. Suspend him without pay and file a request to force him to play out his contract if he ever returns to the NHL
2. Place him on unconditional waivers and when he clears terminate his contract with a mutual agreement like the Wild did to Petr Sykora and we did to JD Watt

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

there is a situation where a player can be released, and the team free of the contract. This happened to JD Watt two years ago. Perhaps Wilson asked for unconditional release. simply going to Europe does not necessarily cancel the contract

If that were the case, he would have had to pass through $125 waivers first, and he would have been made an unrestricted free agent, so we'd lose his rights.

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

It all depends if the Flames have given him permission to play in the KHL. If they haven't and he refuses to report to camp they have 2 options.

1. Suspend him without pay and file a request to force him to play out his contract if he ever returns to the NHL
2. Place him on unconditional waivers and when he clears terminate his contract with a mutual agreement like the Wild did to Petr Sykora and we did to JD Watt

Route 2 is known as "$152 Waivers," after the amount of money it costs to nullify a contract.

[bubbsy]

Not sure i understand why this is "good news"?

Wouldn't it have been better to have one of the better dmen on the heat back?

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

Not sure i understand why this is "good news"?

Wouldn't it have been better to have one of the better dmen on the heat back?

His deal becomes one way this year, so certainly this gives the Flames some budget relief (and perhaps cap relief - I don't know how that all works when a signed player decides to go overseas).

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

His deal becomes one way this year, so certainly this gives the Flames some budget relief (and perhaps cap relief - I don't know how that all works when a signed player decides to go overseas).

And perhaps frees up a contract from our 50 contract max.

[868904]

If he has a contract, how does he sign another one with another team?

[Heavy Jack]

I am probably way off on this but since he decided to sign with a KHL team does that nullify his current contract with the Flames?