Flames RFA's - Who should be qualified/signed?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Yeah, neither was Bouma. I'm not sold on Bouma being a consistent offensive threat, are you?

Nope, but I'm willing to give them both another season to find out.

One thing I am sold on though is the idea of Backlund never being a 40 point player.

You can bookmark that one if you'd like

[dammage79]

I love Backlund but for the first time I can see him being traded.

Jooris, he had a break out year but his break out was 12 g and 12 assists. Not that I expected more but in the grand scheme of things the Flames need better production throughout their line up. Can he be more than a 20 point RW/C? Are people happy with a 20 point player?
I just don know if there's more.

Byron, he's plucky, he is fast, but I just do not see a fit long term in CGY for him. Haven't for a while. He has top line speed, heart and determination that goes on for days but doesn't produce.

You have to sign Shore. There's something there, just didn't get enough consistent minutes to show it in his short stint. I really like the kind of game he brings. Hasn't produced many points as a Flame but I really feel with his size and faceoff ability, he adds a couple of intangibles that a Byron does not.

I don't think you can give up on Ramage yet, he really has a longer development curve than other D men.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Nope, but I'm willing to give them both another season to find out.

One thing I am sold on though is the idea of Backlund never being a 40 point player.

You can bookmark that one if you'd like

Yeah, so am I. But I'm not willing to ship out other guys yet. Don't think our depth is great enough to warrant that. That's what I've been saying.

Bookmark it, huh? You're confusing me with Tinordi.

As for Backlund never getting 40. Sure, maybe, he had 39 last year so it's not out of the realm of possibly. Not something I'm expecting either though.

[Enoch Root]

Sell high on Jooris?

What do you people think you would get for him? I would guess a 3rd or 4th round pick.

That is not selling high.

Jooris' production fell off after he hurt his wrist (just like Colborne). is he ever going to be a big point producer? Very unlikely. But he has speed, decent physicality and size, and was pretty decent in the dot for a rookie (again before the wrist injury).

Lots and lots to like there as a bottom 6 utility player that can play C or wing and be effective.

Trading him for a later round pick is a futile move IMO.

[Kobasew7]

Backlund is such an interesting case for me. I'm not in love with him as our 2nd line centre. However, when I think of him as our 3rd line centre when Bennett takes over the 2nd full time, it fits him perfectly. You don't expect tons of scoring out of a 3rd line centre, nor tons of faceoff wins. You expect puck possession, great 2-way play and back-check.

This is Backlund in a nut shell, the perfect 3rd line centre. Pay him as such, 3 years in the 2.9-3.3M range is correct for all parties.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Sell high on Jooris?

What do you people think you would get for him? I would guess a 3rd or 4th round pick.

That is not selling high.

Jooris' production fell off after he hurt his wrist (just like Colborne). is he ever going to be a big point producer? Very unlikely. But he has speed, decent physicality and size, and was pretty decent in the dot for a rookie (again before the wrist injury).

Lots and lots to like there as a bottom 6 utility player that can play C or wing and be effective.

Trading him for a later round pick is a futile move IMO.

Selling high in this particular case is recouping picks for an unsigned free agent rather than losing him for nothing on waivers. Have to make room for guys like Shore, Granlund, and Poirier somehow as at least two of them or possibly three will be full time with the team next season. Shore IMO has a lot more upside than Jooris and I really liked what I saw from him in limited duty. If you believe Treliving he was the Flame prospect most teams were interested in at the deadline so while they could trade him I think it would be wise to keep him as he could be useful in the event Backlund isn't long term with the team. Nothing against Jooris but he's not a guy that is going to be overly significant to success going forward.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Granlund - I had hopes for a little more out of him. He needs to up his physical game, work on faceoffs and be a bit better on puck distribution. I think he plays a decent positional defensive game, but lacks the physicality to win pucks.

I have nothing against Granlund as such, but I have trouble seeing a future for him here. He's smallish, not that great on the forecheck and even though he's skilled and not at all bad on the defense, he doesn't really add anything special either way.

I wouldn't be surprise to see him have a career elsewhere, but he's pretty much the opposite of what the Flames need.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Itse

I have nothing against Granlund as such, but I have trouble seeing a future for him here. He's smallish, not that great on the forecheck and even though he's skilled and not at all bad on the defense, he doesn't really add anything special either way.

I wouldn't be surprise to see him have a career elsewhere, but he's pretty much the opposite of what the Flames need.

Granlund was drafted the same year as Baertschi and unlike Sven actually had the trust of Hartley and played more. You can't just give up on all your young, self-developed players. I don't think he's going anywhere as he's got good skills, hockey smarts, and there isn't a team in the league that can't use a player like him. Never make the mistake of writing off players because they don't impress in their first playoffs as Datsyuk was horrible in his first few playoff series and he turned out pretty good.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Selling high in this particular case is recouping picks for an unsigned free agent rather than losing him for nothing on waivers. Have to make room for guys like Shore, Granlund, and Poirier somehow as at least two of them or possibly three will be full time with the team next season. Shore IMO has a lot more upside than Jooris and I really liked what I saw from him in limited duty. If you believe Treliving he was the Flame prospect most teams were interested in at the deadline so while they could trade him I think it would be wise to keep him as he could be useful in the event Backlund isn't long term with the team. Nothing against Jooris but he's not a guy that is going to be overly significant to success going forward.

I look at it as Jooris vs Raymond, Granlund and Byron rather than Jooris vs Backlund. No reason Jooris can't be our 4th line RW who can move up and play C as needed. He's a great utility player. Certainly better than the other players mentioned at that role. Honestly I really like Jooris and think he can be great here if we keep our expectations in check.

[saillias]

If Shore had a future with the Flames he would've seen more action down the stretch... Treliving said nice things about him when he made that trade, sure. He also said nice things about Setoguchi when he banished him to the AHL.

He occasionally cracked the 4th line of our injury depleted roster. He won't be anything more than a 13th forward.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by saillias

If Shore had a future with the Flames he would've seen more action down the stretch... Treliving said nice things about him when he made that trade, sure. He also said nice things about Setoguchi when he banished him to the AHL.

He occasionally cracked the 4th line of our injury depleted roster. He won't be anything more than a 13th forward.

So I guess Poirier's fate is also sealed seeing he didn't see a lot of action down the stretch? Piorier spent a lot of time in the press box.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Itse

I have nothing against Granlund as such, but I have trouble seeing a future for him here. He's smallish, not that great on the forecheck and even though he's skilled and not at all bad on the defense, he doesn't really add anything special either way.



I wouldn't be surprise to see him have a career elsewhere, but he's pretty much the opposite of what the Flames need.

Agree with this. Tbh I've never really seen what others do in him.

[browna]

I listened to the full Treliving interview from garbage bag day in the car later that night. He was asked about RFA's, and he was more guarded in his words about Backlund than certianly Bouma, whom he gushed about.

I think Backlund's going to want to get paid like a second liner, when he's barely that (outside of faceoffs) on this team. The Flames have been pretty patient with him over the years, but the constant injuries, and production (especially the 2nd PP unit which he was a part of, that didn't score on the PP for the last 3 months) doesn't quite match 2nd line numbers or pay.

As for Colborne, not a fan of his regular season play, but his playoff play was noticeably better as far as using his size and hitting guys. A rough last 4 periods against ANA (and part of that is Beauchemin likely bit his lip on the way to the bench to draw 4 mins), but he was value in the playoffs.

Bouma and Ferland of course, and Jooris is a no brainer...from pre-season through to his last game, he was noticeable out there as an energy guy, and certainly earned another look.

[GranteedEV]

FWIW I think Granlund's got a great release, it's almost poor man's camalleri tier. I could see him sort of being Hudler 2.0 in many years. But he's wasted centering plugs, he should be the trigger wingman for some playmaker like Bennett..

[Husky]

From the NHL team, anyone not named gadreau, monahan, hudler, Bennett, Giordano, Brodie, Russell, bouma and ferland should be tradebait for legit upgrades.

[FBI]

Yeah I've heard that about Granlund's release but certainly haven't seen it much in the NHL.. I think he doesn't have enough time to do anything yet.

[Monahan23]

I don't think there's a reason to trade Backlund unless we can upgrade. We need a 2nd line centre until Bennett is ready. Colborne's better as a wing, Granlund, Jooris and Stajan can't produce enough offence.

I'd keep Jooris. Doubtful that a 3rd or 4th could become a very solid bottom 6 player that's fast, strong and can play wing or centre

I'd like to trade Granlund for either a similar young defence-man or Granlund + Backlund + 2nd for a top 6 forward.

[#-3]

Backlund, Bouma, Ferland, Jooris, Shore, Arnold. Easy Qualifies

Wolf & Agostino both need more time/opportunity, they'll should get qualified.

Hanowski should get qualified for sure. He had a pretty good first half of the year.

Elson is the only guy I could see them completely washing their hands of.

I think BVB gets an AHL only offer.

Acolatse, Reinhart, Ramage, and Billins are all probably on the fence of an AHL only deal. And I don't know the players well enough to weight in for sure. My guess is all 3 except Billins get qualified.

Byron is a really interesting one to me. He is not waiver exempt, and there might be better replacement options available to the Flames on the open market. I think unless you know you are going to move some established forward depth out this summer you let him go.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by browna

I listened to the full Treliving interview from garbage bag day in the car later that night. He was asked about RFA's, and he was more guarded in his words about Backlund than certianly Bouma, whom he gushed about.

I think Backlund's going to want to get paid like a second liner, when he's barely that (outside of faceoffs) on this team. The Flames have been pretty patient with him over the years, but the constant injuries, and production (especially the 2nd PP unit which he was a part of, that didn't score on the PP for the last 3 months) doesn't quite match 2nd line numbers or pay.

For the most part, Backlund is a second liner at the NHL and it's hard to argue otherwise.

His pro-rated PPG this year is good for 44 points, which would place him on the cusp of the top 100 forwards in the league. His point totals from last year put him at within the top 130-ish forward. Both years put him squarely within second line territory.

He has good possession numbers and two-way play, seems to be turning into a pretty good leader on the Flames, and competently logs first/second line TOI. Not to mention he's a good skater with above average speed, has above average hands, good hockey sense, and generally has an above average skill set outside of his terrible shot.

Here are some comparable contracts signed within the past two years:

Tyler Bozak - $4.2 million aav signed when he was coming off of a 49 point season (pro-rated)
Brooks Laich - $4.5 million aav signed when he was coming off of a 41 point season
Brandon Dubinsky - $4.2 million aav signed when he was coming off of a 34 point season
Kyle Turris - $3.5 million aav signed when he was coming off of a 50 point season (pro-rated)
Mike Fisher - $4.2 million aav signed when he was coming off of a 45 point season (pro-rated)

You guys are out to lunch if you don't think Backlund's fair market value isn't $4 million. If the Flames can sign him to a $3.5 million aav contract similar to Montreal's Eller, that would be great

[jemjey]

man our future is bright...

I think Backlund hits 40 in his career.