[Signing] Flames re-sign Stone (3 yrs, $3.5 mil AAV)

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by driveway

One million too many dollars and two years too long. Not a great move, we'll regret this.

how can a 3 year contract on a 27yr old player be two years too long?

People might not think the signing is 'great', but its a virtual certainty that he'd have gotten a contract longer than 1 year at 2.5 million somewhere.

[Mister Yamoto]

I really like this.

In 23 games with the Flames he has fit in very well. Seems better than giving a multi year deal to a player and hope that he fits in.

[Geeoff]

3.5 million for a 5th defenseman is a bargain compared to the 5.5 million the Flames were paying for their 7th defenseman/penalty magnet last year.

[SeanCharles]

We went from having one of the best group of top 3 dmen in the league to one of the best group of top 5 dmen in league right after expansion. That is pretty impressive I'm not going to lie..

The best part is, as Treliving mentioned as his vision on radio months ago, young defenseman can play in the 6/7:

Gio-Hamilton
Brodie-Hamonic
Kulak-Stone
Wotherspoon

Bartkowski-Andersson
Kylington-Ollas Mattsson
Falkovsky-Healey

Valamaki-Fox

Hard not to like the looks of the above!!

[Mister Yamoto]

Originally Posted by Mony

This. So much this.

Also, where is the room for kids to play now? We have an abundance of kids that look like they're trending great to fill those bottom D spots and now one of the spots is plugged. I get that people are afraid of playing kids but it has to happen at some point. 3 years blocks that for a sizeable chunk of time. One year would've been fine. But 3?

I don't usually fall for the college player scare the way some people do but you have to wonder if a guy like Fox looks at this now and thinks he'll find better opportunity somewhere else.

Oh, and we bled another pick.

I'll see how this turns out but right now I don't like it very much.

But OMG, what about the "kids"???

If Kylington, Andersson, Kulak, Fox or whoever come into camp, or get a call up due to an injury and force Flames management to make a tough decision that is a good problem to have.

Right now the "kids" are middle pairing guys on a pretty average AHL team. Why should they have spots left open for them? Did the Flames leave a spot open for TJ Brodie? No they didn't. He went in and stole it.

As of now Bartkowski is #6. The way to make the Flames D is simple. Be better than Matt Bartkowski. When you look at it that way maybe the Flames should even bring in one more vet.

[SeanCharles]

Originally Posted by Mister Yamoto

But OMG, what about the "kids"???

If Kylington, Andersson, Kulak, Fox or whoever come into camp, or get a call up due to an injury and force Flames management to make a tough decision that is a good problem to have.

Right now the "kids" are middle pairing guys on a pretty average AHL team. Why should they have spots left open for them? Did the Flames leave a spot open for TJ Brodie? No they didn't. He went in and stole it.

As of now Bartkowski is #6. The way to make the Flames D is simple. Be better than Matt Bartkowski. When you look at it that way maybe the Flames should even bring in one more vet.

Prospects will fill out 6/7, we've committed enough salary to the d core. This was probably a big reason why they spent big on 5 guys.. They figured they had some good cheap contract prospects that could fill in the gaps for the next3 yrs while they have this group together.

Hard to argue as I see Kulak, Andersson, Kylington and Fox as players highly likely to contribute at the next level, not to mention any dark horses or Valamaki who we just drafted!

[dying4acup]

Love it

Bold prediction:

Brodie-Hamilton
Gio-Hamonic
Kulak-Stone
Wotherspoon

PK
Gio-Hamonic
Brodie-Stone

PP
Gio-Hamilton
Brodie-Stone
(Dependant on fwd combination/units obviously)

First call ups (left-right)
Bartkowski-Anderson

[Jimdon]

Nhl complaint libmne

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Jimdon

Nhl complaint libmne

Well said.

[sureLoss]

News Update

CapFriendly @CapFriendly
Michael Stone's 3 yr / $10.5M deal with #Flames, also includes a Limited NTC in which he can provide the club with a 15 team no trade list.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

News Update

CapFriendly @CapFriendly
Michael Stone's 3 yr / $10.5M deal with #Flames, also includes a Limited NTC in which he can provide the club with a 15 team no trade list.

Oh my god no, what about all the young dmen, how will they ever get a chance to play?

I am worried about what this does to those kids, guys like Tim Ramholt? Very discouraging for those young guys. Now they know there are only 15 teams that Stone can be traded to? Treliving will never be able to trade him with those restrictions.

[Lanny_McDonald]

I can't believe the indignation over this signing. The Flames just signed a top four defenseman to a very average contract which will provide a hedge against injury to the top four. With Gio getting up there in age, this is a smart move. It also means the Flames are going to have a guy that can actually "play" along side one of the kids from the farm as they learn the ropes. If, at any time in the future, the Flames need to move a defenseman, that contract will be very easy to unload and the Flames should be able to recoup lost assets used to acquire our current defense. Finally, we're spending less on defense this year than we did last year! How can anyone not like this deal in the big picture?

[Karl]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

or Patrick Wiercioch who is much better at hockey than Michael Stone is.

Patently absurd.

That assertion you made there fully convinces me that you have no idea what the heck on planet earth you are talking about.

Boy was it ever dead wrong. Holy crap, what a stupid opinion. Yikes!

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Oh my god no, what about all the young dmen, how will they ever get a chance to play?

[Futzee]

Every time I see a "Flames sign..." headline I'm ready for disaster. But this looks great. Nice!

[heep223]

When teams are trying to match up against the flames D next season they're pretty much SOL.

Makes me tumescent.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by heep223

When teams are trying to match up against the flames D next season they're pretty much SOL.

Makes me tumescent.

The next 3 seasons.

[tkflames]

I love this deal! Would way rather see our kids develop beside Stone...a legitimate top 4 with the ability to clear the front of the net than a Bartkowski. There are also going to be injuries at some point and stone has proven chemistry with Brodie.

[driveway]

After thinking about this more, I still don't like it but I don't hate it as much. I clearly have a different opinion of Stone than most people on this board. I don't think he's a very good defenseman at all. Being better with Brodie than Engelland or Wideman is not something to brag about, and I think the statistics show that Brodie was not that much better with Stone than the other D he played with.

I completely disagree with anyone who says Stone is a "top four." He's a 5/6 at best and if injuries push him into our top four, we're in trouble.

All that said, I'm not as upset about the money and term as I was. 3.5 isn't a terrible price to pay for a 5th D, and he shouldn't get noticeably worse over the next three years.

I DO think it's money misspent, but it's not a tremendous amount over a long period of time. It's a mistake, but a small one, not a catastrophic one.

[868904]

This whole blocking kids thing is so ridiculous. If Andersson tears up the ahl this season, the Flames trade Hamilton at the draft for at least a first and 2 seconds.

Flames have a ton of flexibility and all of the contracts are movable.

Plus the fact is, of the young defenseman, only Kulak and Wotherspoon are "ready" for the NHL and neither are going to develop into top 4 guys.

Kylington is not ready, he can still be a disaster in the defensive zone, needs to get bigger and for an offensive defensemen sure doesn't produce much offense, which reinforces the point that he is not ready. He needs to put together a near ppg season in the ahl before you even consider him for regular time in the NHL.

Andersson is closer but again, for an offensive defenseman, I'm not seeing a whole lot of offense yet at the ahl level. Plus he need to continue to get quicker.

Both these guys are still incredibly young and need likely two more years in the ahl.

Fox isn't going to leave a school like Harvard early and he might even go Ufa. Until he signs with the Flames, I don't think he should be a huge consideration in current decisions.

Valamaki was just drafted and is likely two years away.

So really, by the time these young defenseman are legitimately ready, Brodie, Hamonic, and Stone will have a year left and will still have value in trades (in terms of draft pick currency, Brodie and Hamonic would be at least second rounders and likely firsts, while Stone is at least a third and maybe a second).

This is great asset management. Treliving has thought this all out very thoroughly.