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Trade Deadline Primer: Calgary Flames

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With the trade deadline now less than a month away, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?  Next up is a look at the Calgary Flames.

It has been an interesting first half of the season in Calgary.  Their big offseason trade (James Neal for Milan Lucic) hasn’t really worked out, their top line has sputtered offensively, and there was plenty of off-ice controversy surrounding head coach Bill Peters which eventually led to him leaving the team.  Despite that, they sit one point out of first place and after freeing up some cap space with the recent trade of Michael Frolik to Buffalo, they’re likely to be heard from between now and next month’s trade deadline.

Record

26-19-5, tied for second in the Pacific Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$4.791MM in a full-season cap hit (using LTIR), 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 44/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2020: CGY 1st, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, EDM 3rd*, SJ 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th
2021: CGY 1st, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, CGY 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th

*- Calgary will receive Edmonton’s third-round pick as part of the Neal/Lucic swap if Neal scores 21 or more goals and Lucic has at least ten goals less than him at the end of the season.  Neal is currently at 19 so he will likely get to 21 while Lucic is at four goals.

Trade Chips

While teams looking to contend don’t typically subtract an impact player from their roster, it certainly seems like that could be the case with defenseman T.J. Brodie who is believed to be available going back to the summer.  The pending UFA doesn’t appear to have a place with Calgary beyond this season and while he’d certainly give their playoff hopes a push, he’d also garner a strong return in a trade as well.  This wouldn’t be a typical ‘sell a rental for a pick or prospect’ situation but rather dealing from one hole to fill another.  They’re known to be looking for another forward in the hopes of replacing Frolik with someone that’s more productive offensively and Brodie could be the player that yields that type of return.

Center Mark Jankowski has had an abysmal season with just a single goal and assist in 39 games.  Instead of looking like a future core player, he could be a non-tender candidate in July with a $1.75MM qualifying offer.  If they’re leaning in that direction, they’d be wise to try to get something for him now and there may be a rebuilding team that’s willing to take a cheap flier on him.  Austin Czarnik, a pending UFA, has been productive with AHL Stockton and if he’s unlikely to get another look with the Flames after he cleared waivers earlier in the year, he’s someone that another team may want to give a chance to down the stretch.  Sam Bennett has been in trade speculation for years but unless they’re getting someone that’s signed for a few more years, he isn’t a strong candidate to be moved at this time.

In terms of prospects, center Ilya Nikolayev has seen his stock rise this season and teams are always looking for depth down the middle.  Winger Dmitri Zavgorodny has been dominant when healthy in the QMJHL this season and is already signed.  Blueliner Alexander Yelesin drew interest from several teams last year as a free agent and with him not getting any NHL action yet, those teams may circle back.  With four minor league goalies all eligible for restricted free agency next season, they may be willing to part with one of those to clear the logjam.  Jon Gillies and his one-way deal may be the one they want to move but Russian rookie Artyom Zagidulin will likely draw more interest.

Five Players To Watch For: D T.J. Brodie, F Austin Czarnik, F Mark Jankowski, F Ilya Nikolayev, W Dmitri Zavgorodny

Team Needs

1) Scoring Help: Of the top-55 forwards in the league in terms of points this year, Calgary doesn’t have any of them.  Their big four up front all range from 36-38 points and while that’s not terrible, they’re getting paid to produce more.  Obviously, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan getting back to last year’s form would be ideal but they may need a new running mate to help them get there.  GM Brad Treliving is known to prefer someone with term over a rental player but the price tag to acquire such a player is going to be high.

2) Defensive Depth: With Juuso Valimaki on LTIR, there’s already a need to have another blueliner that’s at least capable of playing some minutes on the third pairing.  If Brodie does wind up being dealt, that opens up another vacancy.  Yelesin is the top recall option in the minors and he’s a question mark having had no NHL experience.  Adding another player with some NHL experience for Stockton would be ideal on top of adding another depth defender like they did with Oscar Fantenberg at the deadline last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Flames Looking To Trade T.J. Brodie

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January 24: If the Maple Leafs are still interested, they’ll have to deal with another obstacle. James Mirtle of The Athletic tweets that Brodie has Toronto on his eight-team no-trade list. Mirtle explained himself further on TSN radio today, suggesting that Brodie changed his list to include Toronto after learning of their interest, in order to have some more control over his playing destination.

January 21: Last offseason, the Flames had a deal in place with Toronto that would have seen defenseman T.J. Brodie go to the Maple Leafs as part of a package for center Nazem Kadri but Kadri admitted to using his partial no-trade clause to nix that deal.  It certainly seems as if this isn’t the only time that Calgary has made Brodie available as Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reports that they’ve been trying to trade him for a while.

The 29-year-old is having a quiet year offensively with just a single goal and 13 assists through 44 games this season.  However, he came into the year with at least 31 points in each of the past six seasons so there should be teams that think he could rebound for the stretch run.  He also is a fixture in their top-four and has been for several years now so as far as impact defensemen go, he certainly is one of the better ones available and should generate a fair bit of interest over the coming weeks.

Brodie is one of two prominent unrestricted free agents on their back end along with Travis Hamonic who Francis adds that Calgary views as untouchable.  With the Flames already having more than $64.5MM in commitments to just 13 players next season and the recent extension for Rasmus Andersson, it certainly seems unlikely that they will be able to keep both Brodie and Hamonic around.

To that end, GM Brad Treliving appears to have decided that moving him for something now is more desirable than keeping him for a potential playoff run and then likely losing him for nothing on the open market.  Calgary recently freed up $4.3MM off their books with the Michael Frolik trade and with Brodie carrying a $4.65MM AAV himself, they could certainly be a factor in discussions for just about anyone between now and next month’s trade deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2020 NHL All-Star Skills Participants Announced

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Before Saturday’s All-Star Game three-on-three tournament, the NHL’s best will take the ice on Friday night in the annual All-Star Skills event. There has been considerable hype around this year’s competition, given both the new “Shooting Stars” event, in which players will fire the puck at targets on the ice from platforms in the stands, and the participation of stars from the women’s game, including their own three-on-three scrimmage. Now, the league has announced who specifically will be taking part in each event, both new and classic. Below is the lineup for each event:

Fastest Skater

Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks

Save Streak

David Rittich, Calgary Flames
Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Accuracy Shooting

Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils
Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks
Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets

Hardest Shot

Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
John Carlson, Washington Capitals

Shooting Stars

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
David Perron, St. Louis Blues
Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
American Women’s Elite All-Star (TBD)
Canadian Women’s Elite All-Star (TBD)

Women’s Three-On-Three

Team Canada: Meghan Agosta, Mélodie Daoust, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Renata Fast, Laura Fortino, Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, Blayre Turnbull

Team USA: Kacey Bellamy, Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson, Annie Pankowski, Alex Rigsby Cavallini, Lee Stecklein

All the action kicks off at 7:00pm local time in St. Louis, with coverage from NBCSN in the U.S and CBC, SN, and TVAS in Canada.

Minor Transactions: 01/18/20

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The final Saturday before the All-Star break features a busy schedule with a dozen games on the docket which means there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day.  We’ll keep tabs on those here.

  • The Bruins have reversed yesterday’s goaltender flip, recalling Dan Vladar from AHL Providence while sending Maxime Lagace down, per the AHL’s Transactions page. It appears that Friday’s roster move was solely designed to get Vladar a start to keep him fresh as he made 24 stops in a 2-1 loss to Bridgeport.
  • With its defense numbers down with their extensive injuries, the Winnipeg Jets announced they have recalled defenseman Nelson Nogier from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. The 23-year-old played one game for the Jets last season and did make a 10-game appearance back in 2016-17. He has no goals and six assists in 42 games with the Moose.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have assigned defenseman Mark Friedman to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The 24-year-old blueliner has only played in five game for the Flyers, but has appeared in 28 games for the Phantoms, tallying two goals and 10 points there. He is expendable with the return of Justin Braun.
  • The Edmonton Oilers announced they have assigned defenseman William Lagesson to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. With the upcoming all-star break approaching, it’s likely the team wants Lagesson to get more work in. The 23-year-old has only appeared in two games for the Oilers since being recalled on Dec. 29. He has three goals and 18 points for the Condors in 21 appearances.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have assigned forward Mitchell Stephens and defenseman Luke Schenn to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. Neither are expected to report, however, as The Athletic’s Joe Smith writes that both are paper transactions to save the team some money over the All-Star break and the team’s bye-week.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have decided to shake things up in their forward corps, announcing the demotions of Max Jones, Daniel Sprong and Chase De Leo and recalling Blake Pietila. This will be Pietila’s Ducks debut if he draws into the lineup. The veteran has 14 points in  games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls this season.
  • Alexander Yelesin has been returned to the AHL’s Stockton Heat, the Calgary Flames have revealed. The young defenseman did not see any NHL action while on recall with the Flames, but has played well in the AHL in his first season in North America.

Calgary, Edmonton Looking For Top-Six Forward

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Both NHL teams based out of Alberta, Canada are on the lookout for help in their top-six, according to the recent edition of TSN’s Insider Trading. Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger report that the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are both in the trade market for a forward, with the former pursuing only those of the right-handed variety.

The Flames have been looking for right-handed shots up front for some time, which was part of the excitement when they landed Elias Lindholm in 2018. The former Carolina Hurricanes forward is one of only two right-handed regulars up front for Calgary, with depth center Derek Ryan the other.  LeBrun suggests that Tyler Toffoli from the Los Angeles Kings could be a potential target.

After trading away Michael Frolik recently, the team also has a bit of flexibility when it comes to the salary cap. If they do decide to go after some offense, it will be interesting to see what they do with some of their own pending free agents. Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie will both be unrestricted at the end of the season, leading to obvious speculation with the team in Toronto to face the defense-starved Maple Leafs tonight.

Edmonton has specifically been linked to Toronto by Dreger, who says that they will pay close attention to the Maple Leafs’ situation and lists Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson and Alexander Kerfoot as names to keep an eye on.

The Oilers have been desperate for more scoring on the wings for years now, and the Maple Leafs do have a glut of forwards with enough speed to keep up with the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. There’s no direct report that the two sides have discussed anything or even considered a trade however, so we’ll have to wait and see what Ken Holland decides to do in Edmonton.

David Rittich Added To All-Star Game

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Another goaltender has been forced to pull out of the All-Star festivities planned for later this month, as Darcy Kuemper of the Arizona Coyotes will not be participating due to injury. In his place, David Rittich of the Calgary Flames will join the Pacific Division squad. No word yet on who will replace Gerard Gallant as head coach of the team, who was fired earlier today.

Kuemper hasn’t played since December 19th, and his recovery is paramount to the Coyotes’ long-term success. The goaltender is out with a lower-body injury that quickly brought speculation that the All-Star game would be out of the question.

His absence however means that the Coyotes will not have a representative at the game, unless someone else is put in as a replacement over the next few days.

Minor Transactions: 01/12/20

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The Dallas Stars dropped their first game of 2020 with a loss on Joe Pavelski’s return to San Jose, but the team still owns a one-point lead over the Colorado Avalanche for second place in the Central Division. As we get close to the upcoming all-star break, several teams will be making roster moves to get that extra advantage. Check in throughout the day to see what moves teams are making today:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks announced they have assigned forward John Quenneville to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. The forward’s first stint with the Blackhawks wasn’t a great one as he went scoreless in nine games, while spending some of that time on the first line. The 23-year-old will return to Rockford where he already has eight goals in 19 games.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have announced they have swapped forwards. The team has recalled forward Connor Bunnaman from Lehigh Valley of the AHL, while assigning David Kase to the Phantoms. Bunnaman has already appeared in four games for the Flyers, but hasn’t registered a point.
  • While not an NHL transaction, the Buffalo Sabres promoted one of their top propsects as goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been assigned to the Rochester Americans of the AHL from the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, according to Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News. While the team did promise the 20-year-old netminder some playing time in the AHL, it looks like he’s earned it as Luukkonen was named and ECHL All-Star with a .917 save percentage in 20 appearances. The goalie has been impressive, especially considering he spent all summer and the start of this season recovering from hip surgery.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled goaltender Calvin Pickard under emergency conditions from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. No word yet on which netminder might be forced to sit out Sunday’s game against Buffalo.
  • CapFriendly reports that after recalling forward Lukas Radil Saturday, the team has re-assigned the forward to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. He did not play last night.
  • The Florida Panthers announced they have recalled goaltender Sam Montembeault from the Springfield Thunderbird of the AHL on an emergency basis. It looks like he will step into a backup role with Chris Driedger getting the start against Toronto after starter Sergei Bobrovsky left practice early on Saturday. Montembeault was originally the backup for the Panthers, but struggled in seven appearances with a 3.31 GAA and a .891 save percentage. He is currently boasting a .917 save percentage in Springfield through nine games. Due to their limited cap space, Florida also was forced to place defenseman Mackenzie Weegar on LTIR, according to CapFriendly.
  • The Calgary Flames announced they have recalled defenseman Alexander Yelesin from the Stockton Heat of the AHL. The 23-year-old was signed in the offseason out of the KHL where he was used as a shutdown defender. No word on whether a Flames’ defender is injured after Saturday’s game against Edmonton, but it’s likely Yelesin will serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. He has one goal and four points in 29 games.
  • The New York Rangers announced they have recalled forward Phillip Di Giuseppe from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. The 26-year-old Di Giuseppe has plenty of NHL experience as he has already appeared in 150 NHL, mostly with the Carolina Hurricanes, but has not appeared in a game with the Rangers yet. He has 11 goals and 22 points in 39 games in Hartford. The team also assigned Steven Fogarty to Hartford as well. The 26-year-old Fogarty has no points in six games with New York.

Oilers’ Zack Kassian To Face Player Safety Hearing

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It’s one thing to stand up for yourself after taking a big hit from an opponent. It’s another thing to take retaliation to the next level by endangering that opponent, especially after a clean hit. Edmonton Oilers forward Zack Kassian overreacted to the nth degree on Saturday after taking a hard check from Calgary Flames star Matthew Tkachuk and now the league has stepped in to review the situation. The Department of Player Safety announced this morning that Kassian will sit for a hearing on Monday and a suspension is likely.

The incident in question occurred late in the second period of Saturday’s rivalry clash (video). Tkachuk lays a powerful, but legal hip check on an unsuspecting Kassian behind Calgary’s net. Kassian gets up from the hit, immediately looking for revenge. It is worth noting that Tkachuk hit Kassian with a not-as-clean check to the head earlier in the game, so it is understandable that the veteran might be looking to put the youngster in his place. However, the way about which Kassian handled the matter was over the top. With Tkachuk still trying to work the puck out from behind the net, Kassian drops his gloves and goes right to the face of the unaware Tkachuk. Kassian proceeds to throw Tkachuk to the ice, deliver a punch to the back of his head, pull him back up, and then deliver several more punches before Tkachuk again falls to the ice and the referees are able to separate the pair. All the while, Tkachuk was merely trying to protect his face while being rag-dolled, never even given the chance to defend himself, nevertheless the opportunity to truly match up with Kassian in a fair fight. Kassian was handed a four-minute double minor for roughing and a ten-minute misconduct for the play.

However, that is unlikely to be the end of the discipline for Kassian. The physical forward is a repeat offender, which will make it very difficult to escape this incident without another suspension. Kassian’s first encounter with Player Safety occurred in 2013 with the Vancouver Canucks, when he was suspended for the first five games of the 2013-14 season as part of an eight-game ban that included three preseason games, stemming from an intentional high sticking penalty. He received another suspension that same season, a three-game ban for a hit from behind. Unrelated to Player Safety, Kassian also sat for 32 games in the 2015-16 season as a member of the Montreal Canadiens for substance abuse issues. Kassian has a long history with NHL discipline and it is likely to lengthen after Monday’s hearing, as he again has shown a lack of restraint, awareness, and self-control that cannot be tolerated in the NHL.

Flames Sign Rasmus Andersson To A Six-Year Extension

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The Flames have locked up one of their young defensemen for the long term as they announced that they’ve signed Rasmus Andersson to a six-year extension.  The deal will carry an AAV of $4.55MM.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:

2020-21: $5.05MM
2021-22: $4.05MM
2022-23: $4.55MM
2023-24: $4.55MM
2024-25: $4.55MM
2025-26: $4.55MM

The 23-year-old is in his second season as a regular on Calgary’s back end and has seen his role increase considerably from his rookie year.  After spending a lot of time on the third pairing a season ago, he has spent a fair bit of time inside their top four while averaging over 19 minutes a night in playing time.  He has also seen his production tick up slightly as he’s on pace to surpass the 19 points he put up a year ago as he already has three goals and nine assists on the season in 45 games.

This contract represents a significant raise on his current entry-level deal that carries an AAV of just over $755K with an extra $57.5K in performance bonuses.  He was slated to become a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer but this deal will buy out his remaining RFA years plus two seasons of UFA eligibility.

Andersson is now the fourth Calgary defender signed for next season, joining Mark Giordano, Noah Hanifin, and Juuso Valimaki (injured).  With now more than $64MM in commitments for next season already to just 13 players, it’s hard to imagine that they’ll be able to keep both of their notable pending UFA blueliners in the fold in T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic; the latter already indicated earlier back in October that he would not engage in any discussion regarding a contract extension during the season.

With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that Andersson should be a regular in their top four in 2020-21, something that certainly would have come into consideration during these talks.  This price tag may seem a bit high for the moment but if he continues to show improvement over the next few seasons, it has the potential to be a value deal as the contract progresses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Rumors: Calgary, Baertschi, Sandin

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The Calgary Flames recently opened up significant salary cap space by trading away veteran forward Michael Frolik and his $4.3MM cap hit. The move occurred on Thursday and by Saturday the word was out that Calgary GM Brad Treliving was already on the hunt to fill that space. The Flames would like help up front and now have nearly $5MM to make and addition or perhaps even two. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Treliving and company are not interested in the rental market. The team’s preference is to add a player with term as opposed to using up their newfound cap space on a short-term commitment, especially as they continue to sit outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Friedman feels that, if the Flames are comfortable with Elias Lindholm remaining at center, their trade focus will be on adding a right wing. While it is often hard to predict which term players may be available, some top-six right wing options that Calgary can afford and may be available could include New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri, Montreal’s Joel Armia, Anaheim’s Ondrej Kase, or the Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich. Of course, the team could also look into negotiating an extension with an available rental prior to making a deal, which would open up options like L.A.’s Tyler Toffoli or Florida’s Mike Hoffman or Evgenii Dadonov.

  • While one might assume that the Montreal Canadiens, currently in 13th in the Eastern Conference, would be sellers this season, the team proved otherwise this week by acquiring defenseman Marco Scandella and signing forward Ilya Kovalchuk. Friedman reports that the team was also considering Vancouver Canucks forward Sven Baertschi before pulling the trigger on Kovalchuk, although continued interest cannot be completely ruled out. It’s easy to forget about Baertschi’s availability, as the Canucks have kept him buried in the AHL for all but six games this season and have performed fine without him, currently riding the league’s longest winning streak in fact. Baertschi, who recorded 106 points in 216 games with the Canucks over the past four seasons, has been slowed by injuries in his career but productive when healthy. He has shown as much this year, scoring at an elite pace in the AHL. The risk-reward winger cleared waivers earlier this season, but as he continues to stay healthy and score in the minors, the Canadiens will not be the only team with interest. If Vancouver is willing to retain part of Baerstschi’s $3.367 cap hit through next season, that will only increase the likelihood that another team opts to take a chance on him.
  • While there has been some speculation that the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs could turn to the trade market to add depth on the blue line, especially in light of recent injuries, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston believes that the team may opt to fill the void internally instead. With Rasmus Sandin excelling overseas at the World Junior Championship, Johnston believes that Toronto’s opinion on playing the young defenseman this season has changed. Johnston does not believe that keeping Sandin under ten games of NHL action, so as to allow his entry-level contract to slide one more year, is a priority anymore for the team. He believes that when Sandin returns to Toronto, he will become a viable option for the remainder of the season. Sanin has already played in four games this season, so it would not take much time for him to burn the first year of his contract, but it may be worth it if the Leafs can solidify their back end.

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