Remainging UFA's

[Burke Salad]

We have to add depth to the blueline, Del Zotto and McBain are a no brainer for me.

[killer_carlson]

I would rather introduce Wotherspoon or another d prospect to the NHL this season than sign any more players.

I think part of the reason player development jumped last year was because there was a couple of spots on the roster free of veterans and dangled in front of these kids. I want to see it again

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by badradio

Setoguchi has an attitude problem and is a lazy player... I wouldn't want him anywhere near our young guys... Del Zotto is a risk, I'd rather just fill the 3-4 D with a stay-at-home Dman...

Source on Setoguchi?

[Read Only]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I would rather introduce Wotherspoon or another d prospect to the NHL this season than sign any more players.

I think part of the reason player development jumped last year was because there was a couple of spots on the roster free of veterans and dangled in front of these kids. I want to see it again

If addthe team adds a Del Zotto, while removing Wideman which I would expect to happen if MDZ is signed, there would still be a spot available for Wotherspoon he would just have to outplay Englland to earn that 6th spot and move Englland to the 7th spot.

I like Wotherspoon going forward but unless he has taken big steps in the offseason I would prefer he spend a larger portion of the season on the top pairing in the AHL getting a lot of ice time in different situations than playing 10 minutes on a bad team in the NHL.

[Burke Salad]

What about Keaton Ellerby, has his game gone in the toilet? Maybe the resident Jets fans can chime in on this kid?

[Fire]

I hope the Flames stay away from anymore forward UFAs. There is no need and I'm happy Vrbata didn't sign for the Flames. The Flames have a good mix of veteran and young players. Signing anymore UFAs will start restricting call-ups too much.

[Weitz]

"Not ranked this week: The Deryk Engelland contract.

All that talk about the worst contract of the day? Don't worry about it. Calgary, predictably, has it sewn up.

A team that was already slated to pay Brian McGrattan and Brandon Bollig a combined $2 million next season is now also going to pay Deryk Engelland $2.9 million — a raise of about 500 percent — on top of that. Right after they bought out Shane O'Brien, who in all honesty isn't much worse than Engelland, and would have been $900,000 cheaper against the cap, and would have been gone next summer.

This is very clearly a sign that Brian Burke's influence on the team's decision-making has not changed despite the fact that he is no longer GM.

Either that, or Brad Treliving has no idea at all what he's doing, and in either case, that's bad news for the Flames' chances going forward. On a day in which Brooks Orpik got five years and $5.25 million per, the fact that there was even a close second here — for a team still in search of “toughness” despite having too much of it already — tells you everything about what a disaster this franchise is. Good lord.

Treliving said in the wake of the signing that Engelland has been “undervalued” for a while, so one assumes he thought he'd make up for that by overvaluing him to a ludicrous extent.

Poor Sam Bennett. Poor Sean Monahan. Poor Johnny Gaudreau. Poor Flames fans."

Some may not like the source, from my scouring of the internet this seems to be the general consensus around the league.

Very bottom of this article:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...154852827.html

[Dentoman]

That writer has no concept of what the Flames are trying to do.
He lost all credibility when he said SOB could do the same job .... SOB would not buy into what the Flames were trying to accomplish last season and therefore couldn't do the job, and management is on the record in saying so.

[EldrickOnIce]

I think it's somewhat important to note that the Flames will not be in the playoff hunt this year, or in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you make decisions in the best interest of allowing your young players to develop. That's what this decision is. You can disagree with the need for it, but clearly the author has no understanding of much of anything.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by MisterJoji

It baffles me why almost every trade proposal includes Wideman. He is literally the only right handed defenseman we have, he can QB a PP and has a booming shot.

#fact.

It is very difficult to play on the right side as a left handed shot. Good luck getting out of your d-zone. PP is a lesser concern, it's much more common to have a right handed forward play on the point on the powerplay.

Trading Wideman means that McBain gets all of those D-zone faceoff starts. I don't think he's good enough to do that job.

Calgary tried this already in 2009. You need legit Right handed defensemen. This is exactly why I hated losing Sarich.

[Goodlad]

Oh, well if Ryan Lambert says it then I'm completely convinced!

[FlamesAddiction]

wrong thread

[Wolfman]

Weird how Byron, Butler and Galiardi have yet to sign contracts.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Byron is the only guy I'd consider signing again. I hope he finds a new place to sign, any team would be lucky to have a guy like him. Unfortunately, the size/lbs are going to fool a lot of GM's in not taking him.

[cannon7]

Not sure what to make of the Del Zotto situation, went from an amazing rookie season to...pretty much nothing. Similar case for Peter Mueller. Don't really want either of them.

When it comes to Del Zotto, don't know of it is a character problem, a conditioning problem, a confidence problem, or something else entire3ly. Certainly has displayed a lot of talent, but has basically disappeared.

What's left on the UFA market is very weak.

[Skaloper]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Byron is the only guy I'd consider signing again. I hope he finds a new place to sign, any team would be lucky to have a guy like him. Unfortunately, the size/lbs are going to fool a lot of GM's in not taking him.

Not in the discussion after signing Mason Raymond. Unless you want to bury him in the AHL.

[hummdeedoo]

Originally Posted by Skaloper

Not in the discussion after signing Mason Raymond. Unless you want to bury him in the AHL.

Not sure about that. Raymond is partially replacing Cammy's offensive and taking some time on the PK. I still see room for Byron in a bottom six/extra role. Could easily replace David Jones - points about the same last year, Byron is more consistent and versatile, He's younger. Might even be more upside.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Winnik stands out to me as a guy who seems to play great against us. Not sure we have a spot for him but he's a useful player IMO.

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Winnik stands out to me as a guy who seems to play great against us. Not sure we have a spot for him but he's a useful player IMO.

Big bodied crease crasher I remember that guy. He would fit in quite nicely I think.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Peckham and Engelland would be a solid 5/6 pairing. I imagine Theo is available for probably around 1.9 a season.

I'm sure Theo is available for 1.9 a season, too.

He was a 6/7 in Rockford (AHL) last season where he played 45 games and was on a deal that paid him $575,000/$200,000.