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

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by troutman

Pinder right. Boomer wrong.

Haha yup, I'm surprised that took until page 5 to be brought up

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

200k in your opinion. In mine it's closer to 500k. I'll bet he doesn't score 10 goals or hit 30 points again over the life of this contract. Overpaying is overpaying, and it does make a difference

Not sure about your projection, but even if true, he might still be properly paid. Consider these similar forwards which will be UFA in the next few years:
Eric Nystrom $2.5
Brandon Prust $2.5
Blake Comeau $2.4
Nick Spaling $2.2
Matt Calvert $2.2

I don't think any of the above are particularly bad, and I think I would take Bouma and his deal over all of them.
Edit: And if you think he should be at $1.7, then you have almost entirely ELC types, plus Jared Boll or Chris Stewart as comparisons.

[Enoch Root]

What were Pinder and Boomer saying?

[Gaudfather]

Ha ha - Bouma says he is finding Vancouver is full of Flames fans!

[ThisIsAnOutrage]

Whatever we think of the terms, this would be more fun if there was a "Let's Make a Deal" moment where once the matter is settled, a giant curtain goes up and, "Show em' what they could have had at arbitration, Monty!"

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by codynw

Who knows. Saad was traded because of Bickell.

Flames aren't that tight to that cap yet, but you have to be careful about giving money to bottom 6 players.

I would not mind having first world problems like the Chicago Blackhawks. You need quality players on all 4 lines to win a Stanley Cup.

[Vulcan]

He's been the replacement for Glencross so I don't see this contract as being out of line. Unless someone beats him out such as Ferland, he'll probably be the second line LW centred by Backlund. If he isn't, he can still play down the lineup and be a good contributor.

[Antithesis]

I was sure that Cheerio was the guy hoping to sign Schlemko to a huge contract and am glad to see I was remembering correctly. Good stuff there.

Congratulations to Lance, glad to see him continuing with the Flames. Love what he brings to the team.

[GreenLantern2814]

I was a little hesitant with the $2.2 AAV, but Brandon Prust makes $2.5 and has been full value for it for Montreal. Bouma is better than Prust in every way. 3 @ $2.2 is great for both sides.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

[hockey.modern]

Does anyone have the link to the interview?

[getbak]

The Avs are paying Blake Comeau $2.4 million for the next three seasons. I know who I'd rather have.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by hockey.modern

Does anyone have the link to the interview?

http://www.sportsnet.ca/960/the-big-...me-to-improve/

[Icon]

I was originally hoping for 2yrs @ 2mil/yr... Until I read the UFA part, good deal with that factored in.

[FlameZilla]

If he replicates his goal numbers from last season even once during this contract then this is a steal.

[FiveSeven]

Personally I find it more likely that he scores 30+ points again than him not doing it. - at least once during this contract.

Yeah he's a 3/4 line player and he's very physical, but I think there is some slight silliness that goes through some people's mind that equates his style of play to a lack of offensive ability. Bouma is actually a pretty good offensive player. Saying he won't get over 30 points over the next 3 years actually boggles my mind. His defence I guess can overshadow his offensive capability but from watching last season, he's got great hands, a good shot and great hockey iq. He will also next season or the one after be playing with better players because our depth will be that much better.

I'll predict that next season he gets 34 points.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I will take that bet. Name the terms.

Careful. According to some posters saying "I bet" doesn't mean they actually bet, and they might ridicule your use of the English language and insult you for attempting to accept such an offer.

[Hackey]

A lack of a response shows how confident he was in the statement anyways.

[wingmaker]

Originally Posted by Parallex

IMO that is not correct...

Stajan
Smid
Engellend
Raymond

... those are all flat out bad contracts relative to what they provide. There are a few others that I would call slightly bad but not flat out bad.

For me, to be a bad contract the player has to be overpaid significantly compared to what they bring, or be signed to a number of years that extend far beyond what most people would think would be a realistic playing career for that player.

Engelland is probably overpaid by 400k. He was signed as a number 5 defenseman. Look around the league and that really isn't out of whack with the cap hit of a 5 defenseman, especially one who managed to play in the top 4 last year and did a decent job. He is only signed 2 more years. That is hardly a bad contract. He isn't a value contract, but he really isn't significantly overpaid in any rational scenario.

Smid is likely done, from everything that I have read, so you can't say it is a good or bad contract because he can't play. If he doesn't come back this year he will probably be on IR for the remainder of his career. The cap number is high so it does have a small affect on the team's cap during the off season. However, it is still under 4 million and since the team can go over the cap by 10% in the off season, it really won't affect the ability of the team to do business. So it is an unfortunate situation because he can't play, but it is hardly a cap drag.

Stajan will probably be pushed out of the lineup within the next couple of years, but he isn't massively overpaid. You could argue this is a bad contract because he has three more years on it. He still has value to the team, and I personally don't think him much overpaid if at all, but this is the one you could argue is a bad contract.

So I'll give you Stajan. But otherwise Raymond is really the only obviously bad contract on the Flames roster. There are a few players —Engelland, Bouma, Frolik, Widema, Jones— that are not value contracts. These players are being paid market value, which means that they need to perform to their abilities to justify their cap numbers. That doesn't make them bad contracts, they just aren't team friendly. For the Flames, these contracts are more than mitigated by Brodie, Russell, Hudler, and the ECL contracts that the Flames have on their roster that generally balance out the cap.

It seems to me that some fans want every contract on the roster to be a value contract. This is great in a perfect world, but different situations make it impossible for any team to always get the best value. Whether it be signing players in free agency, trading for players that come with the contract they come with, or even through the negotiation process, the team isn't always going to win on value. Sometimes the player will win. But just because a contract isn't a value contract doesn't make it a bad contract. A bad contract is when a player cannot perform relative to the cap number and/or term of the contract. From that perspective, I really think Raymond and maybe Stajan stand out on the Flames, and both players are making less than 4 million dollars. The Flames have a good cap situation. What will determine their ability to keep their players are the contracts they give to Gio, Monahan, and Gaudreau. If they can get good value on those deals, they will be fine. If not, the band will not be together long. Bouma, Stajan, Engelland and the like are not going to make or break the Flames' cap, because you have to pay players to take their spot, and the difference between their number and the replacement number is not that significant. Not every position can be filled by and entry level contract.

[saillias]

Good article from Darren Haynes about why Bouma is worth the contract : http://flamesfrom80feet.blogspot.ca/...t-to-team.html

Some highlights:

Blocked Shots - Past Two Seasons:

1. Ryan Getzlaf ANA, 182
2. Lance Bouma CGY, 169
3. Boyd Gordon EDM, 168
4. Drew Miller DET, 162
5. Nick Bonino VCR, 158

Blocked Shots Per Two Minutes of PK time - Past Two Seasons:

1. Lance Bouma CGY, 0.37
2. Logan Couture SJ, 0.31
3. Michal Handzus CHI, 0.30
4. Michael Raffl PHI, 0.30
5. Tommy Wingels SJ, 0.28

Hits per Minute of Ice Time (minimum 1,000 minutes, 13+ mins per game) - Past Two Seasons:

1. Cal Clutterbuck NYI, 0.299
2. Adam Lowry WPG, 0.235
3. Blake Comeau CBJ/PIT, 0.229
4. Lance Bouma CGY, 0.211
5. Matt Hendricks NSH/EDM, 0.206