[News] Flames extend qualifying offers to 9 players

[1qqaaz]

I would definitely go for Lehner

26 years old, over 200 games played.
His career 91.5% is higher than ever Flames goalie ever.

Plus the Flames need to address the goaltending situation as is. In my eyes, it's either Petr Mrazek or Robin Lehner. There's a good chance Smith doesn't play over 40 games. It's a huge gamble to expect Rittich to play that much.

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

I would definitely go for Lehner

26 years old, over 200 games played.
His career 91.5% is higher than ever Flames goalie ever.

Plus the Flames need to address the goaltending situation as is. In my eyes, it's either Petr Mrazek or Robin Lehner. There's a good chance Smith doesn't play over 40 games. It's a huge gamble to expect Rittich to play that much.

No to Mrazek. There's a reason he failed to displace Jimmy Howard on multiple occasions despite being given every opportunity.

[shadowlord]

Which ones are vulnerable to offer sheets?

[Fire]

The only player on the qualified list I expected not to be qualified was Shinkaruk. I think it's pretty obvious he will never be a full-time NHL player. Maybe they need the forward depth on the farm.

Probably didn't qualify Shore because they wanted to keep their options open in free agency (ex. Derek Ryan).

[FireGilbert]

Good riddance to Hunter Smith. What a waste of a 2nd rounder.

I was hoping Poirier would be given another chance though but understand he may not be worth the roster spot. Hopefully Klimchuck keeps progressing to change the Iginla trade from horrible to just bad.

The 2013 and 2014 drafts were a major fail for the Flames.

[dammage79]

I figure Shore will get a deal. I figure Poirier may get an AHL contract or move on.

Overall I think that was right on the money of what to expect. We knew Pribyl was already going back to the Czech.


No real shocks.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Fire

The only player on the qualified list I expected not to be qualified was Shinkaruk. I think it's pretty obvious he will never be a full-time NHL player. Maybe they need the forward depth on the farm.

Probably didn't qualify Shore because they wanted to keep their options open in free agency (ex. Derek Ryan).

No doubt.

They have 13 guys under contract at this moment who you would think are Heat players.

BT has lots of work to do this summer yet.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by shadowlord

Which ones are vulnerable to offer sheets?

all of them except Jankowski, Rittich, and anyone who files for arbitration.

edit:
and Gillies maybe ineligible for an offer sheet, I am 95% confident that his first season where he played 8 pro games doesn't count towards a year of pro and therefore he has less than 3 years pro experience

[Calgary4LIfe]

I can see Poirier getting snapped up - may just need a change of scenery now, and hopefully he is still on the wagon. He had so much potential, and I really figured he was a 'can't miss' prospect.



Surprised Shinkaruk got qualified. I don't see an NHL'er in him. I guess the Farm needs experienced AHL'ers though.


Will be interesting to see Stockton take shape over the summer.

[Enoch Root]

I would think Montreal will jump all over Poirier. I would have qualified Poirier before Shinkaruk.

[Geeoff]

So Wotherspoon is a UFA?

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

So Wotherspoon is a UFA?

Yeap.

[Strange Brew]

So they think $900k or so is too steep for Shore? Seems odd to me.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

So they think $900k or so is too steep for Shore? Seems odd to me.

Likely just avoiding the arbitration possibility.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Likely just avoiding the arbitration possibility.

15 goals in 236 NHL games. Doesn't seem like there is much to fear in arbitration is there?

I'm guessing he's not coming back.

[Icon]

My guess is Shore is still a plan B or C if they don't acquire who they're hoping to on July 1.

[Cheese]

Updated Prospect Tracker

[TheIronMaiden]

Have the Flames given up on Nick Shore then? Can they still sign him before July 1?

[Grimbl420]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

So they think $900k or so is too steep for Shore? Seems odd to me.

Any RFA who's last contract was under 1mil needs to be qualified at a minimum of 105% of their last contract. Shore's minimum QO would have been a 1 million. He's also arbitration eligible so probably a factor in him not getting an offer.

[getbak]

Today at 3:00pm MT was the deadline for RFAs to accept their qualifying offers. A few players around the league did so, but it would appear that none of the Flames did.

Klimchuk was signed just after 3:00pm (or at least that's when it was announced), but he signed for less than his QO, which likely means he took a better AHL salary in the exchange.


This leaves Hanifin, Gillies, and Shinkaruk as the remaining unsigned RFAs without scheduled arbitration dates.

• Hanifin is presumably looking for a significant raise over what his QO would have been, and a multiyear deal.
  
• Shinkaruk is likely looking for an AHL raise as well, and is also likely to take a little less on the NHL portion to make a call-up more appealing to the team.
  
• Gillies will probably ultimately sign a similar deal to whatever Rittich signs. Rittich might get a one-way deal while Gillies will probably sign something with a larger guaranteed NHL+AHL total.

The other five RFAs have all filed for arbitration, so their deals will get finalized, one way or the other, in the next couple of weeks.