[News] Flames qualify 6 RFAs. Byron, Galiardi, Eddy, Martin, Roy do NOT receive offers

[Read Only]

No big deal about Byron. Nice to see him work hard last year but he just doesn't bring enough out there to care enough about whether he is here or not. Surprised he wasn't kept for the AHL but again not a guy that is good enough or showing enough that he would be here when the team improved.

Surprised Hanowski and Cundari were qualified as they are two other guys that didn't show much but I guess you do need bodies in the AHL and they didn't look too bad down there.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

It seems to me Byron was effective in the role he had, at the size he is.

Seems strange not to qualify him.

I think we have a bunch of "Byrons" on the farm.

[mrdonkey]

So much outrage over a tiny player with very little offensive talent. I appreciated his hustle but the guy is Dustin Boyd 2.0. Not worth losing sleep over.

Best of luck to him, I'm sure he will find a fit with another team.

[getbak]

Here is the Flames current contract situation prior to the start of the free agent signing period. The players whose names are green are the unsigned qualified RFAs (except for Billins, who is going to Russia). The players whose names are blue have ELCs that can slide next season -- Poirier can play in the AHL, but Klimchuk and Kanzig will be in either the NHL or WHL next season...


Full-Time NHL 2013-14 (16)

(LW - 3)
Hudler
Glencross
Bollig

(C - 5)
Stajan
Backlund
Monahan
Colborne
Bouma

(RW - 2)
Jones
McGrattan

(D - 5)
Giordano
Brodie
Wideman
Russell
Smid

(G - 1)
Ramo


Some NHL 2013-14 (12)

(LW - 4)
Baertschi
Gaudreau
Agostino
Van Brabant

(C - 4)
Reinhart
Granlund
Knight
Arnold

(RW - 1)
Hanowski

(D - 2)
Wotherspoon
Cundari

(G - 1)
Ortio


No NHL 2013-14 (11)

(LW - 4)
Wolf
Ferland
Elson
Klimchuk

(C - 1)
Jooris

(RW - 1)
Poirier

(D - 5)
Sieloff
Ramage
Culkin
Kulak
Kanzig



Lots of holes left to fill. Just to get to a 23 man NHL roster, they need to add 1 goalie, 2 d-men, and 4 forwards.

[JJ1532]

Why is everyone focusing on the lads size? Fact is, as a mostly 3rd line player, he averaged 0.5 PPG and had a +/- of +6. That for me is what people should focus on. The same people who are going "he is tiny" seem like the same ones who skate over Gaudreaus lack of size. Not comparing the skills levels of each player, but both are small players.

So I suppose if Byron was 6"2, then everyone would be outraged? I'll wait and see if we sign someone else who managed Byrons stats from last season, but I'm not too confident we will.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Cripes…Byron EARNED a chance at a full time spot. I didn't see many play with the same heart and intensity he did out there. He has a lot of qualities that are positive for any NHL team…he won't be on the market long if the Flames don't manage to re-sign him. Even if he is more likely a 'tweener, which I believe he is long term, he's a VALUABLE 'tweener.

I really can't wrap my head around this decision. At least qualify him and TRADE him if you don't see him in your plans long term. He has some value.

Trade him? To who? For what?

If the flames don't sign him as a UFA, he will not get a one way anywhere else in the league. You're way over valuing him here. If they qualified him, they risked a one way contract, and he's not a one way contact player

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Bouma, Granlund, Reinhart are all LW/C
Colborne is a C/W
Hanowski is a LW/RW
Hudler is a LW/RW

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by JJ1532

Why is everyone focusing on the lads size? Fact is, as a mostly 3rd line player, he averaged 0.5 PPG and had a +/- of +6. That for me is what people should focus on. The same people who are going "he is tiny" seem like the same ones who skate over Gaudreaus lack of size. Not comparing the skills levels of each player, but both are small players.

So I suppose if Byron was 6"2, then everyone would be outraged? I'll wait and see if we sign someone else who managed Byrons stats from last season, but I'm not too confident we will.

They'll try and re-sign him at a reasonable rate. Part of the reason why they don't want to go to arbitration will be that he has such a strong season. Arbitration might force the Flames to pay him a higher salary than he would sign for under normal circumstances.

I like Byron a lot and hope he returns. If he doesn't it's not a tragedy. I don't see how he could be part of the longterm plans of this franchise.

[Galakanokis]

A move made to give some younger talent a shot. Granlund, Reinhart, Sven and possibly Johnny all looking for spots. No problem with this. I liked his speed and tenacity and he is a good player but in the grand scheme of things he will not be misseed

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by JJ1532

Why is everyone focusing on the lads size? Fact is, as a mostly 3rd line player, he averaged 0.5 PPG and had a +/- of +6. That for me is what people should focus on. The same people who are going "he is tiny" seem like the same ones who skate over Gaudreaus lack of size. Not comparing the skills levels of each player, but both are small players.

So I suppose if Byron was 6"2, then everyone would be outraged? I'll wait and see if we sign someone else who managed Byrons stats from last season, but I'm not too confident we will.

Because our current management team doesn't believe a team full of tiny guys will be successful. Therefore in order to mold the roster into a bigger, tougher roster we had to know small guys could be on the way out.

People aren't ignoring Gaudreau's lack of size, we are all aware of it. He has a chance to be an exceptional player despite his lack of size. He has top line talent.

Byron probably could've been kept if we didn't have Hudler and Gaudreau and to a lesser extent Baertschi/Granlund. We have too many small or averaged sized guys who don't play hard games. Byron played the hardest game of the bunch but also has the lowest upside of the bunch. Bollig, Bouma ahead of him now with Reinhart, Agostino, Hanowski, Van Brabant and Wolf pushing from below. Not really enough skill to be a regular top two liner.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Bouma, Granlund, Reinhart are all LW/C
Colborne is a C/W
Hanowski is a LW/RW
Hudler is a LW/RW

I thought Granlund played mostly centre in Abbotsford. Has he played much wing? I'm sure he could be converted easily enough...

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

I thought Granlund played mostly centre in Abbotsford. Has he played much wing? I'm sure he could be converted easily enough...

He started the year at wing before moving back to centre.

I think he could convert to LW mostly because of our depth at centre but he certainly may stay at C long term.

[FBI]

A little bummed about Byron, he was pretty dang good for a bunch of games there.. But would prefer Johnny Hockey if there is only one slot available for the small guy..

[Rick M.]

We still don't know if Cammie will sign.

[Loyal and True]

The arbitration issue sounds like a legitimate explanation to me.

I like Byron for his character, but I don't expect another team to sign him up first thing on July 1. I still think his best chance is right here.

I expect Flames to make a fair offer to Byron as a UFA and it will be Byron's decision to stay or go.

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Because our current management team doesn't believe a team full of tiny guys will be successful. Therefore in order to mold the roster into a bigger, tougher roster we had to know small guys could be on the way out.

People aren't ignoring Gaudreau's lack of size, we are all aware of it. He has a chance to be an exceptional player despite his lack of size. He has top line talent.

Byron probably could've been kept if we didn't have Hudler and Gaudreau and to a lesser extent Baertschi/Granlund. We have too many small or averaged sized guys who don't play hard games. Byron played the hardest game of the bunch but also has the lowest upside of the bunch. Bollig, Bouma ahead of him now with Reinhart, Agostino, Hanowski, Van Brabant and Wolf pushing from below. Not really enough skill to be a regular top two liner.

I just think for a year we could have done worse than to keep him. Just a 1 year deal, nothing more. I appreciate that 2-5 years down the line, he will almost certainly become surplus to requirements.

It would just annoy me that Bouma and Jones will be around next year despite, on the face of it, worse seasons than Byron, and arguably are so because they are big guys. Would it be unfair to say that if you switched the size of Bouma and Byron round, then Byron would be the one getting the qualifying offer and not Bouma?

[Roof-Daddy]

Not qualifying Byron is a total head scratcher, that is until sureloss posted the tweet that referenced avoiding salary arbitration.

That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I know he's small.
I know he's not an "elite talent".

...but the guy worked his arse off and IMO has developed into a solid depth NHL player with some really useful skills, like his blazing speed and relentless tenacity. From all accounts the coaching staff loved him and really made use of him through the best part of the Flames season last year.

If he doesn't end up getting signed, it won't be the end of the world, I know.....but I will be really surprised.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Not qualifying Byron is a total head scratcher, that is until sureloss posted the tweet that referenced avoiding salary arbitration.

That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I know he's small.
I know he's not an "elite talent".

...but the guy worked his arse off and IMO has developed into a solid depth NHL player with some really useful skills, like his blazing speed and relentless tenacity. From all accounts the coaching staff loved him and really made use of him through the best part of the Flames season last year.

If he doesn't end up getting signed, it won't be the end of the world, I know.....but I will be really surprised.

Aribitration rights, see: Kris Russell

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Aribitration rights, see: Kris Russell

Yeap, that's what I said was the only thing that makes sense, in my eyes. Hopefully the case.

[mile]

It took nearly 4 years after junior for Byron to fully develop.

The result? An effective player who is capable of playing regular minutes in the NHL.

So why not take advantage of that? Playing him for the time being allows the Flames to put that same time and patience into guys like Reinhart, Granlund, etc. Byron's refreshing style of play certainly beats having a guy like David Jones in the bottom six.

If a guy with Byron's limited upside has managed to handle his own in the NHL with the amount of time he has been given, how good would our other prospects be with the same amount of time(minus a few exceptions like Monahan)? While a guy like Reinhart could step in our lineup this season and replace Byron, I don't necessarily think it makes our current team better - the long-term gain of having these players develop another year may be the better option.

The players the Flames have spent time developing (Backlund, Byron) have fully developed now into NHL players - why not use them in the lineup now and allow our prospects to develop in the same fashion they did?