Iginla Wants To Remain A Flame

[pylon]

Originally Posted by CrumpyGunt

3 years 15m, sounds about right upon further consideration..
maybe 4 for 21m max..
He's been overpaid for a while (by about 1-1.5m), now he should be ok with being underpaid around that much..

Statistically he is one of the most underpaid NHLers of the last decade if you go by his raw stats. And he has done that without ever ONCE, having a legit #1 centre. His numbers in his prime would have been insane, if he had that elusive centreman. He also brings the intangible that so many players cannot provide. That being he is impossible to hate, and the face any owner would want to represent his team. In the worst of times, he has never been anything but composed, professional, and accountable.

I believe he will get slightly overpaid on his final contract to make up for the home town discounts he has given up over the years, as he deserves. If Jarome retires anything but a Flame, that should be entirely his decision. He has been loyal to, a very mediocre franchise, fan base, and management group (with the exception of 2 or 3 seasons). On his last deal, he probably left 5-7 million over the contract on the table.

[Captain_Obvious]

<removed>

Yes, that is one of the weaker areas in his game. But if it wasn't he would probably be a top 3 player in the game.

How many players in the NHL bring what Iggy does to the table and are completely rounded? I'm sure guys like that grow on trees. Why not just ship Iggy out and just acquire one of them?

The day Iggy leaves this franchise is the day some people around here are up for a rude awakening how rare it is to have a player of that ilk and caliber.

He is the most prolific goal scorer of his generation, the quintessential power forward, and one of (if not 'the') most respected players in the league among his peers.

He's the face of this franchise and those kinds of players don't grow on trees. They are very few and far between. We are so lucky to have had him for his entire career, and at this point (with his fitness level) he has a good four to five years left of being a vital part of this team.

<removed>

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

The tiny handful of dim witted Iginla detractors on this site are really a peanut gallery.

I think you will find in any team forum disagreements on all topics, coaches, players, GM's etc. It's the nature of being fanatics. However posts like this simply don't belong. You can disagree but don't be an ass.

[RedMileDJ]

https://twitter.com/FAN960Jason/stat...08851091607552

Feaster says he and Iginla will both address his contract status right off the bat @ camp, and not again until it's resolved. #Flames

https://twitter.com/FAN960Jason/stat...11697463750657

#Flames captain Jarome Iginla calls in to the Morning Show around 8:25am on @Sportsnet960.

Good. Lock him up so we can stop all the speculations and such, and let's play some hockey!

[Bertuzzied]

Feaster says he and Iginla will both address his contract status right off the bat @ camp, and not again until it's resolved

What does that mean? how can it be resolved if it's not addressed again after camp?

[TurdFerguson]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Feaster says he and Iginla will both address his contract status right off the bat @ camp, and not again until it's resolved

What does that mean? how can it be resolved if it's not addressed again after camp?

I assume Feaster means it will not be addressed publicly until its resolved. As in, don't ask us about it again...

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by TurdFerguson

I assume Feaster means it will not be addressed publicly until its resolved. As in, don't ask us about it again...

It's a short season and the Flames don't want any distractions. I'm sure that's not going to stop other teams media from asking Jarome when the Flames are on the road but they are essentially telling local media that they don't want to talk about it during the season.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

6% drop off is nothing especially considering three of those years were spent in "dead puck" Brent Sutter era.

Nice work digging up those numbers. Sure points towards Iggy continuing to be a fairly productive player.

Ah, yes, the dead puck era in which the Flames finished 5th overall in league scoring in 2010/11. Granted they were bottom 5 the other two years, but 10/11 proved that you can score under Sutter's system. Perhaps the blame lies with the players at some point for the lack of offensive production?

And I'd say a 6% drop-off is significant considering how the rest of his game eroded turning that time frame. A small drop-off in scoring combined with a large drop-off in the rest of his game just goes to show how he isn't worth anywhere near $7m anymore. And that's right now - you can't expect him to be the same guy at 39 or 40 and that's why a deal like 4 years/22.5 million could be a disaster down the road.

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Just some perspective on "scoring" in the NHL might help people get a realistic value. I just compared Iginla's and Datsyuks scoring over the last 10 years, since 2001-02 season and was surprised to see who was the better performer since that point. Most people on these boards consider Datsyuk to be in the discussion as the best player etc., and seem to discount Iginla's abilities.

Since the 2001-02 season Iginla has more goals and points. He has outscored Datsyuk 6 of the 10 season with one being tied in points (last year) and this occured while playing with a far inferior cast of characters and much weaker powerplay. I think people need to realize that Iginla is still one of the top players in the game and he should be paid accordingly, which in my opinion is $5.5-$6M per year. ( I used Datsyuk as a comparible because of the consensus about how great he is and his closeness in age)

Datsyuk isn't really a good comparable because of how much he brings to the defensive side of the game, in addition to putting up good numbers. I'm not claiming Iginla's defensive game is as bad as some on here are claiming, but Datsyuk is a perennial Selke nominee and one of the leaders in take-aways.

[flamesaresmokin]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

6% drop off is nothing especially considering three of those years were spent in "dead puck" Brent Sutter era.

Nice work digging up those numbers. Sure points towards Iggy continuing to be a fairly productive player.

So I guess we're tossing out all we know about player production for players at Iginla's age in order to convince ourselves he's going to be the PPG/40 goal guy a 7M dollar 'sniper' should be into his 40's? Let's also ignore the fact that the Flames were 5th in the league in goal scoring during the 10/11 season under Sutter's "dead puck era" while we're at it as well.

Is it simply a coincidence that Iginla had nearly identically poor seasons the two other years under Sutter where the team was dismal offensively? A fair assessment would be that the teams best offensive option was not playing at his best two of the three years. None of this really instills any confidence that he's going to live up to his current salary this season or the years after if he's re signed.

[driveway]

It's totally reasonable to argue that Iginla is almost exclusively an offensive weapon. I believe it's a debatable point, however it's a difficult one to demonstrate statistically.

However, if we want to price Iginla as purely a weapon, that's an easier thing to do. The first thing we need to do is project our expectations. This is difficult, as finding comparable players to Iginla is difficult. If you could find a group of players who met the following requirements, they would be good benchmarks:

1. Have won a Maurice Richard and/or Art Ross trophy
2. Have been in the top 10 in scoring 3 or more times
3. Have been in the top 5 in goal scoring 3 or more times.
4. Have top-10 in scoring appearances separated by 5 or more seasons.
5. Have missed fewer than 25 games due to injury after turning 30. (note: Iginla has missed none)

Once you've compiled that group of players, calculate their drop in production from age 36-40. This would be the baseline. We'd then need to consider things like differences in training regimes, and Iginla's slavish devotion to fitness in deciding by how much we'd expect him to exceed this baseline.

I would be surprised if players in this group (if indeed, there are any other players in this group) dropped by more than 24% in production. In one of my earlier posts I showed that a 24% drop would result in Iginla scoring 236 points over the course of a four-year contract.

The second criteria to then establish is how valuable 236 points are over four years in terms of dollars. Looking at last year's division winning teams: Vancouver, NYR, Boston, Florida, St. Louis, and Phoenix, the amount of money these successful teams spent on players who scored between 50 and 70 points spreads between the bargain of Burrows ($38,462/point) up to the pricey Brad Richards ($101,011/point).

Now if we stick Iginla smack in the middle of that range - not a steal, but not an albatross - we'd pay him $69,736 for each of those 236 points or 16.5 million over 4 seasons.

Now, this is what I think is the bottom-end for Iginla's likely production. I believe he will produce much closer to 300 points over 4 seasons which would either turn a 4 million/season contract into an absolute steal, or make the much more likely 5 - 6 million dollar contract entirely reasonable.

I apologize if this post is overly pedantic; I've been marathoning Big Bang Theory while I write report cards. I think I'm turning into Sheldon.

[joe_mullen]

Only way it makes sense to re-sign him is at a significant discount. The last 3 years have shown that your team will not make the playoffs if he is your top forward.

[Vedder]

Originally Posted by joe_mullen

Only way it makes sense to re-sign him is at a significant discount. The last 3 years have shown that your team will not make the playoffs if he is your top forward.

The only thing the last three years have demonstrated is that poor asset management and drafting will eventually catch up with you. You can argue that trading Iginla would have been prudent asset management but to put sole blame on him for the team's recent failures is ridiculous. This franchise hasn't developed another franchise skater since Iginla entered the league.

[joe_mullen]

Originally Posted by Vedder

The only thing the last three years have demonstrated is that poor asset management and drafting will eventually catch up with you. You can argue that trading Iginla would have been prudent asset management but to put sole blame on him for the team's recent failures is ridiculous. This franchise hasn't developed another franchise skater since Iginla entered the league.

Poor asset management definitely has something to do with it. However, continue to build our team around him would simply be a continuation of that trend. That being said, management does seem focused on cementing this team in mediocrity. It's simply time to move on unless he refuses a trade.

[Freeway]

When I spoke to him at development camp, Sven Baertschi went on for awhile about how great Jarome Iginla is - as a leader, as a guy and as a hockey player. How many guys have his resume and his reputation? If he wants to stay in Calgary (or leave), nobody should begrudge him for it.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Freeway

When I spoke to him at development camp, Sven Baertschi went on for awhile about how great Jarome Iginla is - as a leader, as a guy and as a hockey player. How many guys have his resume and his reputation? If he wants to stay in Calgary (or leave), nobody should begrudge him for it.

Of course Sven said that; what else would you expect him to say? "Great player, but I found his anti-Semitism really off-putting, and it came right out of left field"?

I don't think the majority of people who don't want Iginla extended for more than 5M per season dislike what he brings to the table. They question if he will justify the expense as time catches up to him (which it does to everyone not named Lidstrom, and even that's a stretch).

The reality of the situation is that Iginla is 35, and any contract he signs is going to count on our cap until it runs out. Now if he has another good year, say a 70 point pace or better, I would give him 2/12. He is paid more or less market value under the new CBA, and he doesn't hamstring the team if he actually nose-dives. There's actually not a lot to suggest he wouldn't be amenable to that sort of deal, as it's the sort he signed multiple times before agreeing to his last extension.

And let's be honest; the Flames have been very good to Jarome Iginla. Even in the dark days, this team gave him as much cash as they could afford, and paid him market value. If both sides want Iggy retiring in a Flaming C, that's fine. But the dollars and the cap hit have to be right. Anything longer than 3 years should be a total non-starter from an organizational standpoint.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by joe_mullen

Only way it makes sense to re-sign him is at a significant discount. The last 3 years have shown that your team will not make the playoffs if he is your top forward.

As long as Feaster doesn't give him a retirement contract based on past performance I'd be okay with resigning Iginla.

[PeteLFan]

I love the drive by attacks from NHLPA supporters like tinordi and eddy always destroying and assassinating Iginla and his character. Don't compare him to Sakic don't compare him to Yzerman lol. Of course not he's a freaking right winger not a center men. They have very different roles, defensively a center man has much more responsibility.

Iginla is the greatest flame of all time, and I'm sure he will sign a fair deal with us.

[rayne008]

6 more seasons and a movie!

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by PeteLFan

I love the drive by attacks from NHLPA supporters like tinordi and eddy always destroying and assassinating Iginla and his character. Don't compare him to Sakic don't compare him to Yzerman lol. Of course not he's a freaking right winger not a center men. They have very different roles, defensively a center man has much more responsibility.

It's the people who have an emotional investment in Iginla retiring a Flame who keep bringing up Sakic and Yzerman. Somehow that intangible glow is supposed to be worth more to the franchise in the long run than the assets the team could get for him in a trade.