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Jarome Iginla “Selective” In Continuing Team Search

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Many have fairly assumed, in a very quiet off-season, that there has simply been no interest in 40-year-old Jarome Iginla. However, if Iginla’s agent, Don Meehan, is to be believed, the future Hall of Famer is actually just being very “selective” with where he signs next. Meehan told the Calgary Sun’s Michael Traikos:

“I think after his lengthy career he can afford to be very selective. It’s having the independence to choose where you want to be and look for a perfect situation for yourself.”

The only problem with that, despite Meehan’s insistence that Iginla has received offers this off-season, is that beggars can’t be choosers. Iginla’s “wish” list is thought to include a return to the Calgary Flames, where he spent much of his illustrious career, a return to the Pittsburgh Penguins, now two-time Stanley Cup champions, or a return to his hometown of Edmonton to play for the Oilers. It makes sense that Iginla would want to play for any of those three teams. But what do up-tempo, high-powered offensive clubs like those want with an old, slow power forward who scored just 27 points last year. Sure, Iginla’s experience and leadership is invaluable in the locker room, but could he really make the Flames, Pens, or Oilers any better on the ice?

Only time will tell as the waiting game continues for Iginla. Traikos too doubts Iginla’s plan to wait for the perfect opportunity, but as training camp wears on, there are bound to be openings that he may have interest in. However, the likes of Brian Gionta, Jiri Hudler, and numerous others on PTOs are also looking to jump on those spots. Iginla has earned the right to choose how he ends his career, but if he really wants to end it with another season of NHL hockey, he may need to be more open to other opportunities.

Former Leafs CEO Chimes In On Flames Arena Situation

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  • Former MLSE president and CEO Richard Peddie chimed in on the ongoing Calgary Flames arena saga yesterday. Peddie—who once ran the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, and the AHL Toronto Marlies—tweeted that Toronto’s arena was 100% privately financed. Not only did Peddie state that the arena  fully privately-funded, but MLSE paid full property taxes and infrastructure costs. The Flames are looking for a substantial public investment in any new arena, and have implicitly threatened longterm consequences if they cannot reach some sort of agreement.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Calgary Offers To Pay One-Third Of Arena Costs

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12:40pm: King and the Flames held a press conference to address the offer. He said that the Flames will reveal their counter-proposal next week, and that they’re not going to hide anything any longer. King revealed that the two sides had not even met since July 31st, and that was when they “surrendered” that a deal would not happen. He reiterated that the Flames ownership group has never wavered in their goal of keeping professional sports in Calgary, and that they would “already be gone” if they were only going for a “money grab.”

11:12am: In the latest battle over who will pay for an NHL arena, the Calgary Flames front office announced this week that they were “no longer pursuing a new facility” and that the negotiations with the city over public funding were going nowhere. The Mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi shot back at the Flames, saying that the city had always been negotiating in good faith but still things were left at something of an impasse.

Now, the Canadian Press is reporting that the city has offered to pay for one-third of the proposed $555MM building costs, though that still doesn’t seem good enough for the Flames. The report states that the team wants public funds to cover “closer to half” of the cost. The public war of words will likely continue, with both Flames President Ken King and Nenshi using the issue politically, heading into the civic elections next month.

It’s tough to see how this doesn’t end up with the Flames somehow getting their new building and remaining in Calgary, though NHL commissioner Gary Bettman didn’t mince words when speaking about how poorly the negotiations had gone:

The city is nowhere close to embracing [the proposal]. So there was no point in continuing. It’ll play out the way it’ll play out. In the short-term, no one should doubt the Flames or their ownership’s commitment to this community, but at some point I envision without a new building there will be consequences that everyone will have to deal with.

This public battle comes after a report that Seattle would be unveiling a plan for a new $600MM arena, though that announcement was put on hold due to new sexual assault allegations laid against Mayor Ed Murray. The announcement hasn’t yet been rescheduled, but the deal shouldn’t be in jeopardy even with the scandal. Seattle would be a potential relocation option for Calgary, though the league is obviously still quite a distance from a decision like that.

Calgary has been in the NHL since 1980, when the Atlanta Flames moved north. In 1983 the Saddledome, where the team still plays, opened its doors and just a few seasons later saw the franchise’s lone Stanley Cup victory. With a team poised to take another run at the playoffs, this arena news can only be a distraction in what should be a promising season.

Calgary Flames Hire Brian McGrattan As Development Coach

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Noted NHL enforcer Brian McGrattan is back with the Calgary Flames organization, joining the team today as a player development coach. The veteran of 317 games actually played last season for the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League in England, where he registered 19 points and 138 penalty minutes in 47 games.

Calgary Flames Sign Dylan Olsen To PTO

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  • Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the Calgary Flames have invited Dylan Olsen to training camp on a professional tryout, bringing him back to the NHL for at least a short while. After being selected in the first round and playing 124 NHL contests, Olsen spent last year in a Senior A circuit away from professional hockey. The left-handed defenseman is now 26, and could potentially earn a minor league deal if shows any semblance of his former self. It’s hard to imagine he’ll ever see the NHL, but stranger things have happened in the past.

Calgary Flames No Longer Pursuing New Arena In Calgary

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Calgary Flames President and CEO Ken King told media today that the organization is “no longer pursuing a new facility” in Calgary (audio link).  King stated that the city and the organization have reached an impasse and that the organization sees no point in continuing talks. The Flames currently play out of the Scotiabank Saddledome which was built in 1983. It remains the second oldest arena in the NHL after Madison Square Garden, but the Garden received a recent billion dollar renovation.

The roadblock between the City and the Flames seems to center on public funding. King would not get into specifics, but he sighted differences in opinion on contributions as the main impediment. It is reasonable to assume—given the proclivity of public stadium financing—that the Flames want the city of Calgary to provide some sort of substantial funding and a specific location. Calgary’s mayor, however, has repeatedly indicated that he will do what’s best for the city.

The timing of this announcement is peculiar for two reasons. One, the current Calgary mayor just started his re-election campaign yesterday, and two, Seattle just announced an agreement to build a $600MM arena. The first means that the NHL may lobby for a mayoral candidate that supports a new arena. King even mentioned the mayor’s re-election campaign numerous times during the press conference. The second—the new Seattle arena—presents an implied and unspoken Plan B for any city who cannot agree on a new stadium.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman weighed in as well, stating that the city and team needs a new arena (audio link). He does state that the Flames are not immediately going to move, but that no new arena will have long-term consequences. Both King and Bettman stressed that they are not trying to pressure the city to build a new arena, but the conversational undertones seem to imply otherwise.

Flames Re-Sign Sam Bennett To Two-Year Deal

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The Flames announced that they have agreed to terms on a two-year deal with center Sam Bennett.  The deal carries a cap hit of $1.95MM.

Apr 17, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett (93) skates with the puck against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY SportsThe fourth overall pick back in 2014 is coming off of his second career professional season and his sophomore campaign didn’t go as well as his first.  Last season, Bennett posted 13 goals and 13 assists in 81 games which checked in below his 2015-16 output (18 goals and 18 helpers in 78 contests).  He did, however, pick up a pair of goals in Calgary’s first round sweep at the hands of the Ducks back in April.

The fact that he was coming off of a down year and has yet to realize his potential made a bridge deal like this a much more likely outcome than some of the larger contracts that have been handed out to young players this summer.  The breakdown of salary by year has not yet been announced but it will be interesting to see if the contract is back loaded as whatever his 2018-19 salary is will represent his qualifying offer that summer.

Bennett will likely begin the season as Calgary’s third line center behind Sean Monahan and Mikael Backlund.  That will give him time to continue to work on his game without too much extra pressure being put on him right away.  With Backlund eligible for unrestricted free agency in July, the 21-year-old could be in line to slide up into his spot one year from now if the Flames can’t get Backlund re-signed.

After re-signing defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon yesterday, Calgary has all of their players left under contract for the upcoming season.  They have a little over $5MM in cap space remaining, per CapFriendly.  League-wide, there are now just eight remaining restricted free agents left to re-sign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Signing Sam Bennett Before Camp Still A Priority

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Calgary Flames’ GM Brad Treliving was on Sportsnet radio this morning, and spoke at length about the continued negotiations with restricted free agent Sam Bennett. While there was a report yesterday that Bennett and the Flames still had a “sizable gap,” Treliving was very positive that a deal would be done before the start of the season. Bennett isn’t skating in Calgary yet, but Treliving does speak to the importance of getting it done before training camp starts.

Our goal stays the same as it was when the season end. That’s to get Sam signed, and to get him signed prior to us starting [training camp]. History has shown that missing time—or people that don’t get there on time—usually is not a good thing. To get ready for an NHL season is difficult; you’ve got to get the reps, you’ve got to get playing at NHL pace, you’ve gotta get doing it every day prior to the start of the season.

Treliving reiterated that they still have time for the contract to to be signed before training camp starts in just over a week, and that this isn’t that unusual for restricted free agents. There are nine such free agents still unsigned around the league, including Bo Horvat in Vancouver and David Pastrnak in Boston.

It’s clear that there is still a divide between the two camps, but there doesn’t seem to be any animosity brewing. Both sides “want to get something done” and in time for the season. Coming off a disappointing second season in Calgary, Bennett is a tough subject to negotiate on. His potential is still very high and the Flames sunk quite a bit of draft stock into him by picking him fourth-overall in 2014. He’s only scored 63 points at this point in his career, and hasn’t found that offensive breakout just yet.

The Calgary front office should be used to these late negotiations, as Johnny Gaudreau waited until October 10th to sign his contract extension last year. Gaudreau was already going to miss training camp because of his appearance at the World Cup of Hockey, meaning signing just before the season didn’t change much in his preparation. Still, the Flames would like to get this done long before October and get Bennett back on the ice with a team that is poised to compete for the Stanley Cup this season.

Flames Hope To Sign Bennett Before Training Camp

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  • In an update to the ongoing Sam Bennett contract negotiations, Calgary Flames beatwriter Kristen Odland of Postmedia reports that the Calgary Flames hope to have something done before training camp. Flames GM Brad Treliving told Odland that he is not focusing on threats of Bennett playing overseas until he receives a contract. Bennett is currently a restricted free agent without a contract as training camp approaches.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Tyler Wotherspoon Signs With Calgary Flames

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The Calgary Flames have locked up one of their two remaining restricted free agents, inking Tyler Wotherspoon to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650K at the NHL level. The team now has just Sam Bennett left to sign, with the latest report indicating that there is still quite a gap between the two sides.

Wotherspoon played just four games for the Flames last season has yet to reach his second-round draft potential, but remains an interesting young option for the team. In 30 career NHL games he has just five points, but has proven himself a capable two-way player in the AHL. The 24-year old defenseman gives the Flames some nice depth behind a defense corps that should be among the best in the NHL.

There is still a chance that Wotherspoon cracks the roster out of camp, but at this point it seems more likely that Brett Kulak and Matt Bartkowski will fight for the final spot next to Michael Stone, sending Wotherspoon back to Stockton this year. Should he falter at the AHL level the Flames have several prospects ready to jump over him on the depth chart, making this a very important year for the young defender.

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