Buyout Candidate: Troy Brouwer
With the buyout window opening up on Friday, teams are going to have to make some important decisions in the days to come as to whether or not it’s time to cut bait with some of their underachieving players. One of those is Calgary winger Troy Brouwer.
Two summers ago, Brouwer was one of the better power forwards available on the market. His offensive consistency (he had scored between 17 and 25 goals in seven straight years) made him a safe bet to step in onto someone’s second line and give them a bit of grit with some scoring touch. The Flames eventually won out over several other suitors and gave him a four-year, $18MM contract, a deal that didn’t seem particularly outlandish at the time.
His first season in Calgary saw his output dip to 25 points but that, in theory, could have been the by-product of playing on a new team in a new system. At least, that’s what the Flames were hoping and that he could still rebound for 2017-18. Suffice it to say, that didn’t happen.
The 32-year-old struggled mightily this past season, scoring just six times in 76 games, the lowest goal total in his ten-year career. He also spent most of his time in the bottom six which caused his ice time to dip to just under 14 minutes per game, well off the 17:30 he had averaged over the past six years. As a result, Calgary now has a $4.5MM player that looks to be finished as a top-six winger which isn’t a great spot to be in.
With two years remaining on his contract though, a buyout isn’t necessarily automatic. While that would free up $3MM on their salary cap for the next two seasons, it would also add $1.5MM for both 2020-21 and 2021-22 as they would be paying out $1.5MM for each of the next four years. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a player that they’ve already given $9MM to for a total of 19 goals.
The short-term savings would certainly be beneficial, however. As things stand, Calgary has a little over $62MM committed to 15 players for 2018-19, per CapFriendly. Adding another $3MM to their budget would allow them to be a little more active in free agency or in the trade market as they look to add some scoring help.
Over the next couple of weeks, there are some players where it seems fairly obvious that they will be bought out. Brouwer’s case is a little less certain because of the extra year remaining on his contract. With the buyout window ending on June 30th, it seems likely that Calgary will delay making a call on this situation until late in the month but there’s a pretty good chance Brouwer will be returning to free agency a lot earlier than he expected when he joined Calgary just two years ago.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames
Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Calgary’s free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agents: F Mark Jankowski – Heading into the 2017-18 season, there’s no question that fans were frustrated with waiting for Jankowski. He had just turned 23 and was more than five years from being drafted with just a single NHL game under his belt. Sure, he’d impressed in his first full season in the AHL but after waiting so long Flames fans wanted impact, and they wanted it now.
After starting in the minor leagues once again he was given a chance with the NHL club and didn’t look back, recording 17 goals and 25 points in 72 games. Those numbers were inflated some by the four-goal game he had at the very end of the season, but regardless Jankowski has found a full-time roll on the club going forward. The question is how much is that role worth, as the first-round pick heads into free agency for the first time. With less than a full season of games under his belt there isn’t a ton of leverage from his side, but they may not want to lock him into a long-term deal before really showing what he’s capable of. It seems like a one or two-year bridge deal is in order here, limiting the risk on both sides.
G Jon Gillies/David Rittich – The Flames have to make a decision on who their backup goaltender is going to be next season, and it might as well be one of Gillies or Rittich. Both were inconsistent when given the chance to help out at the NHL level, and have Tyler Parsons and other goaltending prospects chasing them down from behind. With Mike Smith set to come back as the starter, we’ll get a good indication of who will be behind him from the contracts that Gillies and Rittich receive. Both would become Group VI unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2019 if not given an NHL opportunity this year.
Other RFAs: F Nick Shore, F Garnet Hathaway, D Brett Kulak, F Hunter Shinkaruk, F Austin Carroll, F Morgan Klimchuk, F Hunter Smith, F Emile Poirier
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Kris Versteeg – The Flames lucked out when Versteeg decided to sign with them in the fall of 2016 despite being in training camp with the Edmonton Oilers, and were rewarded with a 37-point season. That earned the journeyman forward another contract for the most recent season worth $1.75MM, but he was unfortunately limited to just 24 games because of injury.
Even if Versteeg were willing to come back for a reduced price, it’s not clear if the Flames have room for him any longer. With the emergence of young players like Jankowski, Hathaway and Curtis Lazar, there might not be any reason to re-sign the 32-year old winger. Still, depending on what happens this summer they may bring him back as a veteran option to fill out their top-nine and give them a little more secondary scoring, provided he’s healthy enough to contribute.
F Matt Stajan – It’s amazing that Stajan is still just 34, despite seeming to have been in the league for two decades. The veteran pivot celebrated his 1,000th game in the NHL this season, but is clearly slowing down as he enters his mid-thirties. With just 12 points in 68 games, Stajan put up the worst offensive numbers of his career and saw the ice for fewer than 11 minutes a night. Though he’s still a positive veteran presence on a team that needs a bounce-back season, there likely isn’t much room on the roster going forward.
Whether Stajan gets another shot elsewhere in the NHL is still very much in doubt. Unfortunately he’s just slightly too young to qualify for a contract that includes performance bonuses, meaning he’ll likely be looking at offers near the league minimum. If that’s acceptable, perhaps he continues his career as a part-time fourth-line center for a contender. If it’s the end, he’ll have a long successful career to look back on even if he didn’t get to the playoffs very often.
Other UFAs: F Tanner Glass, F Chris Stewart, F Marek Hrivik, D Matt Bartkowski, F Luke Gazdic, D Tyler Wotherspoon, D Cody Goloubef, D Dalton Prout
Projected Cap Space: The Flames project to have around $17MM in cap space this summer, depending on where the upper limit lands, and without any premiere restricted free agents could go after some big fish on the free agent market. They do have to worry about extensions for Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk past this season, but still should have some room to play with if they want to add.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see the team let all of their unrestricted free agents go, as none of them figure to be long-term contributors to the Flames success. Even if they do sign some of the minor ones, the biggest impact this summer will likely come through trade or big ticket shopping. Calgary struggled this season and doesn’t have a pick in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft. Things have to change, and they have to change fast for them to see any success in the near future.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Draft Day Trade Rumors: O’Reilly, Hoffman, Coyotes, Maple Leafs
Given the last-place finish of the Buffalo Sabres and the comments made by veteran leader Ryan O’Reilly at the end of the season, it would come as no surprise if the team was to trade away their best player not named Jack Eichel in an effort to build around Eichel and his fellow promising young players. Earlier today, TSN’s Darren Dreger spoke on the extensive demands that Buffalo GM Jason Botterill has for any return in an O’Reilly deal and, while he admitted that a deal is beginning to seem more likely, felt that it would take a lot of work for any team to make a fair offer in Botterill’s eyes. Dreger’s TSN colleague and The Athletic reporter Pierre LeBrun seems slightly more optimistic about the likelihood of a deal. LeBrun admits that O’Reilly likely wouldn’t mind returning to Buffalo, what with Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin likely in the fold next year and beyond, and the Sabres may not mind keeping him. However, LeBrun opines that if John Tavares re-signs with the New York Islanders prior to the NHL Draft, the top center on the free agent market will be Paul Stastny and many teams would prefer to search the trade market instead, where O’Reilly appears to be the top prize down the middle. Given the Sabres’ desire to add young pieces – picks and prospects – to develop alongside their new, young core, the draft would be the ideal time to strike on an O’Reilly trade. LeBrun goes so far as to say that the Montreal Canadiens have already discussed such a deal.
- Another player who LeBrun feels is primed to be dealt during or around the upcoming draft is Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman. Hoffman was a frequent member of the rumor mill through the most recent NHL Trade Deadline, but remained in Ottawa, at least for the time being. LeBrun says that those rumors are back in full swing and that he feels Hoffman will be traded at the draft. The Senators are not trending in the right direction and could benefit from both the multi-piece return that Hoffman would command and a reprieve from his $5.18MM salary over the next two seasons. LeBrun notes that the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames were the top suitors for Hoffman at the deadline, but the St. Louis Blues and Florida Panthers were also among a plethora of teams pursuing a player who has flirted with 30 goals and 60 points for three years in a row.
- The Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks have already been rumored to be listening on offers for their top ten picks in the upcoming draft; add the Arizona Coyotes to that list as well. LeBrun states that the team has contemplated offers and would consider moving up or down on draft day, depending on how the picks fall. LeBrun believes that GM John Chayka has already spoken with the Montreal Canadiens about a swap involving picks #3 and #5, in case the Habs feel they can get the top center in the draft, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, later on and if the ‘Yotes have a preferred choice between potential second overall picks Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina. He also feels that there is a strong chance that they could trade down, given the depth of defensemen in the first round versus the desire of other teams to move up for top forwards. Look for Arizona to be busy on the draft floor later this month.
- Another team that could be making moves on draft day are the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a mailbag for The Athletic, Jame Mirtle says to expect new GM Kyle Dubas to trade down, perhaps even multiple times, during the draft. When Dubas ran the draft for the Leafs in 2015 he employed this strategy, seen far more often in the NFL than NHL. Dubas traded down twice in order to collect multiple picks in later rounds. In a draft that many feel has a significant drop-off in talent after the first 20-odd picks to a tier that encompasses the next 60 or so picks, if Toronto feels that they don’t have a surefire option at 25th overall, they could swap with a team who has a specific player in mind and potentially grab multiple player of similar caliber later on.
Flames Extend ECHL Affiliation With Kansas City
The Kansas City Mavericks announced that they have extended their affiliation with the Calgary Flames and the Stockton Heat of the AHL through the 2018-19 season. This will be the Mavericks’ fifth season in the ECHL and their second with Calgary as an affiliate. Mavericks President and GM Brent Thiessen issued the following statement:
“We’re thrilled to continue building our relationship with the Flames and Heat. Partnering with the Flames’ organization allows us to maintain our momentum within the affiliation and work with a top-notch franchise with a build-from-the-bottom philosophy. The Mavericks and I look forward to year two of what we believe will be one of the premier partnerships in all of professional hockey.”
Not all NHL teams actively utilize their ECHL affiliates but that wasn’t the case in for Calgary as they had six different players suit up in both the AHL and ECHL in 2017-18 headlined by goaltending prospects Tyler Parsons and Mason MacDonald. With one of David Rittich or Jon Gillies expected to be back in the AHL next season, at least one of those two netminders is likely earmarked to spend a lot of time in Kansas City again in 2018-19.
Calgary Flames Hire Cail MacLean As AHL Head Coach
The Calgary Flames have found a new bench boss for their AHL affiliate, announcing Cail MacLean as the next head coach of the Stockton Heat. Stockton lost their previous head coach to the NHL squad when Ryan Huska was promoted to serve as one of Bill Peters‘ assistants last week. MacLean has experienced a similar promotion, as he had previously been working under Huska with the AHL club.
MacLean, 41, is an up-and-coming coaching prospect that has registered a 158-96-35 record during four years as an ECHL head coach. Once a star in the OHL, he spent a decade in professional hockey as a player, bouncing around the minor leagues without ever getting a shot at the NHL. MacLean notes Jared Bednar and Bruce Cassidy as influences on his style, two coaches that both received Jack Adams support this season as some of the best in the league.
Stockton missed the Calder Cup playoffs by just a few points this season, and will look to get back to postseason contention under MacLean. He already knows the players and organization, but will now have to work with Peters and his staff to create a system that will allow young players to transition seamlessly between the AHL and NHL during the season.
Flames May Still Offer Adam Ollas-Mattsson Another AHL Contract
- Although the Flames opted not to sign 2014 sixth-rounder Adam Ollas-Mattsson by Friday’s deadline, they may still offer him an AHL deal down the road, reports Postmedia’s Eric Francis. The 21-year-old has actually spent a bit of time with their minor league affiliate already, having played in 23 games over the last two seasons.
Exclusive Negotiating Rights Of 33 Draft Picks Expire
The deadline for signing draft picks has come and gone, and unless more deals come in after the fact, 33 players—the same total as last year—will see their exclusive negotiating rights expire. With it they will either re-enter the 2018 draft for the final time or become free agents, depending on their age. Adam Mascherin is the highest picked player among those who will be headed back into the draft, selected 38th overall by the Florida Panthers two years ago. Below is the full list of players:
Anaheim Ducks:
F Tyler Soy (7th round, 2016)
Arizona Coyotes:
F Anton Karlsson (3rd round, 2014)
D David Westlund (6th round, 2014)
Buffalo Sabres:
D Vojtech Budik (5th round, 2016)
F Brandon Hagel (6th round, 2016)
D Austin Osmanski (7th round, 2016)
Calgary Flames:
D Adam Ollas Mattsson (6th round, 2014)
Carolina Hurricanes:
C Hudson Elynuik (3rd round, 2016)
D Noah Carroll (6th round, 2016)
Chicago Blackhawks:
D Andreas Soderberg (5th round, 2014)
Colorado Avalanche:
G Maximilian Pajpach (6th round, 2014)
Dallas Stars:
D Miro Karjalainen (5th round, 2014)
Detroit Red Wings:
D Jordan Sambrook (5th round, 2016)
F Julius Vahatalo (6th round, 2014)
Florida Panthers:
G Hugo Fagerblom (7th round, 2014)
C Adam Mascherin (2nd round, 2016)
Los Angeles Kings:
D Jacob Friend (7th round, 2016)
Minnesota Wild:
D Pontus Sjalin (6th round, 2014)
D Brayden Chizen (7th round, 2016)
New Jersey Devils:
G Evan Cormier (4th round, 2016)
Philadelphia Flyers:
C Anthony Salinitri (6th round, 2016)
Pittsburgh Penguins:
D Connor Hall (3rd round, 2016)
San Jose Sharks:
D Mark Shoemaker (6th round, 2016)
Tampa Bay Lightning:
C Christopher Paquette (5th round, 2016)
Toronto Maple Leafs:
D Keaton Middleton (4th rond, 2016)
F J.J. Piccinich (4th round, 2014)
D Nicolas Mattinen (6th round, 2016)
Vancouver Canucks:
D Cole Candella (5th round, 2016)
F Jakob Stukel (6th round, 2016)
C Brett McKenzie (7th round, 2016)
Washington Capitals:
F Kevin Elgestal (7th round, 2014)
D Dmitri Zaitsev (7th round, 2016)
Winnipeg Jets:
C Jordan Stallard (5th round, 2016)
Calgary Flames Name Geoff Ward, Ryan Huska Assistant Coaches
The Calgary Flames have a new coaching group for the 2017-18 season, with Bill Peters at the head. Today, the team announced that Geoff Ward and Ryan Huska have been hired as Peters’ assistants.
Ward had spent the last three seasons with the New Jersey Devils, but had interviewed for the Flames head coaching job in 2016 before the team eventually hired Glen Gulutzan. The 56-year old will likely be in charge of fixing the team’s powerplay, a unit that ended up 28th in the league last season with just a 16% success rate. With players like Johnny Gaudreau and Dougie Hamilton that number should easily be much higher, and Ward will be tasked with developing the new strategy.
Huska on the other hand is a homegrown coaching talent that had been the head coach of the Stockton Heat/Adirondack Flames for the past four years. The 42-year old was a third-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1993, but ended up playing just a single NHL game in his short career. After finding great success in the WHL as the coach of the Kelowna Rockets, the AHL was a tougher assignment. Huska will end his AHL coaching career (for now) with a 135-118-27 record, and only one playoff appearance (that ended in first round exit).
He’ll be asked to run the penalty kill this season and help the defensemen, though Peters is obviously expected to also be a big part of fixing the Flames blue line. Going into the season Calgary looked to have one of the deepest and most talented defensive groups in the NHL, but many failed to live up to expectations and struggled to find any consistency. Peters has been known for some time as a defensive guru, though his results on that front are far from conclusive during his days in Carolina. That will be the key to turning everything around in Calgary, and it starts with Huska who will step in to a group that needs to live up to expectations in 2018-19.
Flames Looking To Acquire More Draft Picks, Closing In On Hiring Geoff Ward As An Assistant Coach
The Flames have explored trying to get back into the first round of the draft and have even spoken with the teams holding the top picks, Assistant GM Craig Conroy acknowledged during an interview with Sportsnet 960 (audio link). However, the indication that they have been given is that none of the teams at the top are interested in dealing their selections. Calgary has just four picks next month and the earliest is 105th overall so they will be continuing to try to add to what they have. When asked about the likelihood that they’d be able to do so, Conroy handicapped their odds as 60/40 that they would be able to add another pick, though not necessarily a first-rounder.
- Still with Calgary, Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg reports (Twitter link) that Devils assistant coach Geoff Ward has emerged as a candidate to fill a similar role with the Flames. Ward has spent the last three seasons in New Jersey while doubling as an assistant for the German National Team for the past four years. He also spent seven seasons as an assistant with Boston. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds via Twitter that Ward is likely Calgary-bound. Steinberg also notes that Ryan Huska, the head coach of Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Stockton, is a candidate to be promoted to work under new bench boss Bill Peters.
Snapshots: Vrbata, Snow, Calgary
Radim Vrbata had already announced that he would be retiring from the NHL after this season, and in an excellent piece by Craig Morgan of AZ Sports he goes into just why he made the decision. Vrbata plans on coaching his son’s hockey team in the Czech Republic, before deciding where his hockey career—whatever that entails—will take him next.
Vrbata will end his career having played 1,057 games in the NHL, scoring 623 points in the process. Though he never won a Stanley Cup, he did get to the Conference Finals with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2011-12, the same year he scored a career-high 35 goals. The seventh-round pick from 1999 proved to be an excellent offensive producer throughout his career, cracking 50 points on four occasions and scoring 30+ goals twice.
- Garth Snow and the rest of the New York Islanders front office were apparently caught off guard by the hiring of Lou Lamoriello recently, as Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports. Snow and Islanders’ head coach Doug Weight were at the IIHF World Championship scouting in Denmark when the team hired Lamoriello to run their hockey operations, and were “kept out of the loop.” While Brooks doesn’t expand on what that means, it does add a little awkwardness as Snow is currently still listed as GM and Alternate Governor of the team, though many reports have Lamoriello with full control of the team.
- Just as Ottawa falls into disarray again with the recent comments of Daniel Alfredsson over the desire for a new owner, Calgary gets some good news on their future. The Flames have been embroiled in a battle with the city over a prospective new arena, with both sides walking away from the table late last year. Now, city council has voted to open talks again with the team to try and get some progress towards a new home for the Flames. Several times team President Ken King has hinted that staying at their current home for much longer isn’t financially feasible, with some taking that to mean that possible relocation would happen down the road without a new arena. While this is extremely preliminary, it is at least a step in the right direction.