The Continuing Chronicles Of Jay Feaster's Incompetence

[Toe]

I actually don't see a big market for Bozak, and expect the Leafs to do nothing. I would like to see a move or two, but won't be surprised if the trade deadline goes by with the Leafs standing pat.

[Plubby]

Standing Pat?

...Marleau or Kane then?

[Toe]

Through hell, fire, and brimstone! It's Kane!

[Maxx]

Why not? Great Khali was a wonderful defenceman in the EASHL.

[Gabriel]

I was thinking earlier about what would happen if Jarome Iginla wasn't moved at the deadline. What if Iginla wants to finish out his career in Calgary, but still wants the team re-built, just quickly?

I started thinking about who would be left as untouchable, what roster players would be kept on?

So I came up with a list of untouchables. The only one I would move this year anyways is Iginla, but if he wants to stay, I'm not going to be upset.

Jarome Iginla

Jiri Hudler

Roman Cervenka

Curtis Glencross

Mikael Backlund

Brian McGratton

Dennis Wideman

Mark Giordano

TJ Brodie

Miika Kiprusoff (because he won't report to a new team, anyways)

Joey MacDonald

That's 6 forwards, 3 defensemen and 2 goalies who I wouldn't move. McGratton and MacDonald mostly because they were acquired in-season, and I hate players having to move around too much. But it's also nice to have an enforcer and a veteran backup goalie... especially because, Kiprusoff likely won't play next year.

So it's actually 6 forwards, 3 defensemen and a goalie heading into next year.

For everyone else, move them for whatever can be brought back, but make sure that any deals seeing roster players come back include good picks or prospects.

Assuming that there aren't any roster players brought back through deadline deals, and that everyone else gets moved (yeah, not likely)... the roster the Flames ice the rest of the season looks like this:

Jiri Hudler - Roman Cervenka - Jarome Iginla

Curtis Glencross - Mikael Backlund - Sven Baertschi

Ben Street - Blair Jones - Roman Horak

Brian McGratton - Lance Bouma - Akim Aliu

Dennis Wideman - TJ Brodie

Mark Giordano - Brett Carson

Christopher Breen - Brady Lamb

Miika Kiprusoff

Joey MacDonald

I'm pretty sure that we would have to eat salary to stay cap compliant, but that's not an issue, especially if it's a defenseman and they're only a rental or have one year left after this season.

Cervenka has been good in spots, but needs confidence. Playing out the season with Iggy and Hudler could help continue his development. Jaromir Jagr, who knows him best, said that Cervenka needs ice-time to make the transition to North America. Bob Hartley has tried not to give him too much rope, but with a quick rebuild, would be forced to give him an opportunity. His skills are fantastic, and he shows good flare. He just needs to get more physical and get to open ice more.

The bottom six is essentially just a tryout to prove that they deserve to be on the team next year, and that management doesn't need to go crazy with free agents.

Defense is the weak link, but it has been all year anyways.

The idea is to gut the team of pieces we don't need moving forward. This season is the best time to do it too, because with the cap going down, there are going to be a lot of teams in the off-season who can't go after the free agents like they normally would, and a lot of teams being forced to move out salary to make room for free agents they want. Jay Feaster is in the driver's seat at that point, as gutting the team opens up a lot of cap space, and makes it easy for the team to take on a bad contract in order to get a coveted player.

There are a lot of good UFA's coming up on July 5th. Guys to talk about:

Mike Ribeiro

Brad Boyes

Jaromir Jagr (mostly to help with Cervenka's development)

Michael Ryder

Pascal Dupuis

David Clarkson

Tyler Bozak

Derek Roy

Clarke MacArthur

Viktor Stalberg

Mark Streit

Matt Cooke

Valteri Filppula

Ryan Clowe

Mike Kostka

Maxim Lapierre

Stephen Weiss

Ray Emery

Mike Smith

Jose Theodore

...and I know the Flames get Karri Ramo next season, but a quality tender to share the workload would be very helpful. If one of these guys can't be picked up, re-sign Joey MacDonald.

If the Flames only get one or two of those guys, that makes the lineup that much better. The young players get a chance to show what they're worth, and we still have trades to look forward to. So we probably end up with two or three young players who maybe wouldn't have had a shot at the NHL to start the season otherwise, but it's not so bad. Also, having to factor in the guys that we can't move in a firesale, and we're icing a pretty decent lineup to start next season.

Is it likely to happen? No. For better or worse, Jarome Iginla is probably being moved by Wednesday... but it's an option, and if Iggy can stick it out for another two or three years, if they go this way, he may get one more run at the playoffs in Calgary.

It's entirely possible to gut the team at the deadline, ride out the season and fill in some holes through free agency and the trades that cap problems are going to make necessary for some teams. It's entirely possible to do this and ice a competitive team in October, but it Jarome is in the driver's seat here. If he stays, do we gut the team or does Feaster try to fix things right now (...again)?

I don't want to see Iginla go... but the man deserves at least one more run at the prize. I don't trust that ownership is going to allow for a rebuild if Iginla stays, even one so quick as I've talked about. On the other hand, I don't trust that ownership is going to allow for a rebuild if Iginla goes.

So really, the question becomes, do we keep him and hope he re-signs, or do we do good by him and send him somewhere that he has a chance of winning the cup? Somewhere in Calgary, Jay Feaster is juggling conversations with ownership and other gms, trying to figure out just what he's allowed to do here.

The best thing for everyone in Calgary, regardless of whether Iginla stays or goes, is to gut this team immediately. They're complacent and there's no drive. It comes from being in a culture of losing for too long. Move out as much as you can, give younger, more fired-up players the chance to play, and let's see what happens.

[caucasianheat]

Iginla is scratched tonight and Khokhlachev has been pulled out last-minute in Providence, so that picture is becoming a bit clearer.

[Ruki]

I do not like the idea of having Iginla on Boston.

....ALTHOUGH....the Leafs don't have to play them anymore (unless they meet in the playoffs, then in that case, God have mercy on our souls).

And it is sounding like Phoenix is going to be relocated. For reals this time.

[Gabriel]

Holy shit, it's Pittsburgh!

Thank god I don't have to feel dirty cheering him on for the rest of the season. It's not Toronto still, but at least it's not Boston.

The first rounder is non-conditional. Hanowski is taller than six feet and still filling out his frame, so he will be a sizeable prospect in the coming years. The other piece of the deal is another College player from Yale, that I've never seen anything of.

If this is a rental, and Iggy comes back on July 5th, it will be a steal of a deal. If he re-ups with the Pens, I wouldn't be too disappointed to see him on a winning team that I enjoy watching.

[Ruki]

That....holy crap, what a night!

All but confirmed that he was going to Boston, and then, out of nowhere....BAM! Pittsburgh. Holy shit. I can't wait to see him on Crosby's line...I expect 20 goals between now and the end of the season.

May God have mercy on whoever faces the Pens in the first round.

[Gabriel]

Turns out the other guy going to Calgary is Kenneth Agostino. 5 foot 11 inches and over 200 pounds. Both prospects are point-per-game players in College.

I doubt Iggy plays tomorrow night for Pittsburgh, but his first game with the team is going to be huge.

[munky]

Is Pittsburgh getting some sort of special dispensation on the salary cap? How can they afford all these guys?

[PatDaMan]

uuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[TGWL]

Is the league setting up these trades for the penguins? I find it hard to believe that nobody could beat that deal for Iggy, not to mention the other trades Penguins have made lately. Perhaps their GM should be nicknamed, Price negotiator

[caucasianheat]

It sounds like Boston did have the deal beat, but Iginla had to waive to finalize the trade and I'm guessing he dug in his heels to get to Pittsburgh because nothing else makes sense.

Great cap management in Pittsburgh. They add 14 million dollars in talent and don't even have to trade a roster player to shift salary.

[Gabriel]

Is the league setting up these trades for the penguins? I find it hard to believe that nobody could beat that deal for Iggy, not to mention the other trades Penguins have made lately. Perhaps their GM should be nicknamed, Price negotiator

The Flames had three teams to work with (as per Iginla). The LA Kings dropped out quickly because they didn't want to give up that much. The Boston Bruins presented a better offering of prospects, but with a conditional draft pick. The Penguins offered lesser prospects and a guaranteed first round pick.

Jay Feaster didn't have a whole lot of say in this. Jarome Iginla picked the Penguins. That's where he wanted to go. Having other teams in the mix was supposed to help drive up the price, but this is what we end up with: two college prospects who are point-per-game players, and a first round pick.

The other GMs knew that the final decision was Jarome's. Shero put in his offer, and didn't budge. He's possibly one of the best GMs of the post-lockout era.

So at the end of the day, Jay Feaster got what he could out of Iginla's chosen destination. But the more important part of all of this, is that our captain gets a chance to finally hoist the cup.

Now we wait to see if ownership gave Feaster the green light to gut the team, finally.

[caucasianheat]

http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2013/03/28/bruins-gm-peter-chiarelli-is-not-happy-with-losing-out-on-iginla/

Pete Chiarelli: bitter back-up date that gets ditched just before the prom.

[Pizza]

Toronto needs to be careful. Catching Ottawa would be bad news. Lets stick to 6th and play Winnipeg.

[Cactus Drags]

[Gabriel]

The If and When post.

The first piece moved, and word is that it's going to be a firesale. Maybe not a traditional "dump everyone for picks and prospects" type of firesale, but it looks like no one is really safe.

So here's my list of Flames and where I think they move if they move.

Jarome Iginla - Pittsburgh (DONE)

Jay Bouwmeester - Philadelphia

Michael Cammalleri - Toronto

Miika Kiprusoff - Tampa Bay

Dennis Wideman - Detroit

Mark Giordano - Ottawa

Jiri Hudler - Washington

Roman Cervenka - Dallas

Alex Tanguay - Montreal

Matt Stajan - New York Islanders

Curtis Glencross - Boston

Anton Babchuk - New York Rangers

Lee Stempniak - San Jose

Cory Sarich - Boston

Blake Comeau - Los Angeles

Chris Butler - New Jersey

Derek Smith - Phoenix

TJ Brodie - Florida

Mikael Backlund - Nashville

Tim Jackman - New York Rangers

Brian McGrattan - Philadelphia

Paul Byron - Carolina

Joey MacDonald - Buffalo

Steve Begin - Chicago

so that's my list of where and where I think they'll go if they move by the deadline. The untouchables I listed in an earlier post are still considered as such by myself. They definitely should be kept around so that there is some sort of base for the team. After the game against Colorado though, I might even add Cammalleri to that list, as he's a guy who is definitely a big time contender to be the new Captain of the team. Even with all the turmoil, he showed up, led the team, and we came out with a win. He's a character player who wears his heart on his sleeve. He may be worth building around, instead of sending away.

[Ruki]

Remember when you were hoping Iggy would return Letang?