[Signing] Flames and Bouma settle on arbitration case (3 yrs, $2.2 mil AAV)

[saillias]

Personally I think Bouma is worth about 2.15 million so this contract makes me furious. With that 85k you could hire like 4 more beer guys at the Dome. RIP in pieces the 2015-2018 availability of dome beer.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

You always have cap space until you don't. Our cap situation next summer doesn't look too great in my opinion, and I don't think we can count on the cap going up either. The goal is to have underpaid player, if you overpay another guy because you're underpaying a player, there is no gain.

As soon as the Flames qualified him knowing he would likely take the arbitration route, their hands were tied.

They likely knew he was going to get around $2 million from arbitration.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

2 million makes a difference and so does 200k. If you add up the amount that Raymond Bouma and Engelland are overpaid by you get ~3 million. That is a significant amount

If you are so upset about our cap situation then why aren't you talking about the fact we have 3 goalies on 1-way contracts?

Suddenly that 3.9 mil for Ramo may be better spent elsewhere. That's a far more crippling number than 2.2 for Bouma..

Next season Ramo + Jones are off the books. There is your 8 mil for Gio extension.

[Oling_Roachinen]

There's no way a competent team would be forced to trade away one of their top tier players over 100K difference.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

If you are so upset about our cap situation then why aren't you talking about the fact we have 3 goalies on 1-way contracts?

Suddenly that 3.9 mil for Ramo may be better spent elsewhere. That's a far more crippling number than 2.2 for Bouma..

Next season Ramo + Jones are off the books. There is your 8 mil for Gio extension.

Those 3 goalie contracts are all expired at the end of this season.

[tvp2003]

This contract also shows that the Flames wanted to keep Bouma -- it would have been easy for them to take the one year deal (worst case scenario $2.5M), and then trade him at the deadline for a draft pick so that a cheaper version could fill that role (what some of you call "asset management"). Instead, they obviously valued the player and were willing to pay market value (IMO) to keep him for another three years.

[wingmaker]

I would have liked it at 2 million even but people on here are way overstating the consequences of 200k. Adding Bouma to Engelland and Raymond's contracts is meaningless. The flames have one really bad contract and it is Raymond. Remove that and the Engelland and Bouma overpayments add up to less than a million dollars, which is not a meaningful number. There are very few teams in the league that have zero bad contracts, and luckily for the Flames their one bad contract is only for two more years and a little more than 3 million per.

What will determine Calgary's cap future is not shaving off a couple hundred thousand here and there, it will be how much they can save on Gio's contract and how much they can convince Monahan and Gaudreau to take contracts that fit within the team's structure. Period.

[PeteMoss]

Likely being paid based on his career year. I like the guy and he's obviously willing to put his body on the line but I suspect he's a 4th line player getting paid 3rd line money.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

If you are so upset about our cap situation then why aren't you talking about the fact we have 3 goalies on 1-way contracts?

Suddenly that 3.9 mil for Ramo may be better spent elsewhere. That's a far more crippling number than 2.2 for Bouma..

Next season Ramo + Jones are off the books. There is your 8 mil for Gio extension.

All 3 goalies contracts expire this summer. 1 way contracts don't affect the cap hit. 2015/2016 cap doesn't matter. Those are the reasons I'm not upset about the goalie contracts. Is Ramo a 4 million dollar goalie? No. Is he getting paid that when it could go to a better option? Also no. So it's irrelevant. Whereas Raymond, Engelland and Bouma are all getting paid when Monahan Gaudreau and Gio need extensions

[Yamer]

I voted 2.2 in the arbitration thread, and I was hopeful they could settle on a 3 year term.

Bouma's attitude, heart, and hustle are worth $1.7 million alone, so the extra $500K is for the position he put himself in production wise the past season.

All in all, that is very fair value on a likeable term.

[Caged Great]

Bouma would only have to look at the type of contract that Brandon Prust signed to get a comparable (2.5 Mil X 4)

2.2 x 3 is not bad considering the Prust deal was signed 3 years ago.

Plus that is a contract that is movable if the Flames get in a real cap crunch (like Chicago did after their first cup)

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by codynw

Those 3 goalie contracts are all expired at the end of this season.

Right, and we only have to re-sign 2 of them (one to a cheap RFA contract). My point is that we aren't as strapped on the cap as it may appear. This 200k overpay is nothing to get worked up over.

We may not even have Hiller's 4 mil at the start of this season.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I like the term, but feel the AAV is a bit high. Thought he would come in around 1.75 or so. With that being said, he definitely can out-perform that contract, and I hope he does. He is not so easily replaceable as a number of people feel he is. Guys like him help teams win. Sometimes you have to pay a bit of a premium on certain role players, and I am fine with that.

When the cap becomes an issue, there will be lesser players coming off the books anyways. You keep a guy like Bouma around for as long as reasonable, and though the AAV is a bit high, it isn't unreasonable either. Fair what we he brought last season. Hopefully he continues to grow as a player and does even better. I don't think his contract will be considered dead-weight at all throughout the entire term. Not a bargain, but in no way will he be thought of as a whipping boy of any sorts on this forum.

[SofaProfessor]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

That AAV would make the contract worth $16.5M-$18M over three years. Pretty sure you mean $5.5M-$6M over the three years, which would be an AAV of $1.83M-$2M AAV.

Yup! I meant total contract value. Clearly I shouldn't be trying to balance my sacred duties as a CP commenter with my work because that's the quality level of post that comes from it.

[bubbsy]

not calling this a bargain, but not overpriced either. I was really worried he was going after leo komarov money ($2.95 x 4 year) and that's from a guy who loved what komarov brings every night.

Both play a gritty, hit everything, strong in your own zone, and chip in when you can type of function.

Bouma (199 NHL games)
NHL PPG: 0.27
NHL hits/game: 2.54
+/- : even

Komarov (104 NHL games):
NHL PPG: 0.34
NHL Hits/game: 4.1
+/- : -1


think this is a good deal for the flames.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

2 million makes a difference and so does 200k. If you add up the amount that Raymond Bouma and Engelland are overpaid by you get ~3 million. That is a significant amount

Ya and if you take Bouma out of the equation you have 2.8. So again whatever Bouma is "overpaid" doesn't make a difference.

[Gaudreau]

A couple extra 100k's for a heart and soul player never hurt any team no matter how anyone wants to twist it.

[Lanny_McDonald]

So shaving $200-300k off of Bouma's salary doesn't mean anything, but shaving $200-300k off of Monahan, Gaudreau, or Giordano's salary is important? I think you have that a little backward. Overpaying guys on the lower lines set expectations where the players you hope to keep your salary cap under control are contributing to salary cap problems. You would think that Flames fans are old know how important a couple hundred grand is, watching the team play short handed to end a season because the team ran out of cap space. Every dollar matters.

[Knut]

Honestly, even if overpaid slightly it is not some un-moveable contract. 2.2 M for a guy that can slot into most teams 3rd lines. IF he has injury issues/cant perform he can go down to the farm/be dealt.

This is not going to wreck the cap in 2 years time. Giordano's deal...maybe

[Lanny'sDaMan]

I like it. Great term, good value. Rewards Booms for clearly playing for the Crest on the front.