The best news coming out of last night, aside from the 5-4 win over the Sharks of course, was the suggestion that Dion Phaneuf is close to signing a new contract extension. I wouldn't take a "sources say" rumor very seriously, except TSN tends to get this stuff right (I believe they scooped the Keenan and CuJo stories as well).
I assume it's good news because, given Sutter's prior work with Regehr, Iginla and Kiprusoff, it implies a relatively cheap, long-term deal is on the horizon. What's cheap? I'd say anything 6M or under per year (Matt agrees). Once the actual numbers are revealed it will clarify the Flames cap position going forward and make the fates of Damond Langkow and Kristian Huselius a little more predictable (noticed I didn't include Alex Tanguay?).
The talking heads at TSN also went on to resuscitate the old "Flames need a #1 center for Iginla" meme during the intermission last night. Forsberg, Sundin and, of course, Jokinen were the names tossed around.
Look...every team in the league could use one of those guys to some degree. They're great players. But I dont see why the Flames are unique in that position nor why it would be considered an urgent need...
Calgary is amongst the top 10 offensive teams in the league. Jarome Iginla, the last 8 games notwithstanding, is having a career year without the likes of Forsberg or Sundin playing with him. This type of theorizing was fine when the Calgary couldn't score and Iggy was "Jarmoeing" his way to a 60 point season. But none of that is true anymore, and hasn't been for a couple of seasons. The Flames are hip deep in centers as it is (Lombardi, Boyd, Langkow, Primeau, Yelle) and can score pretty regularly. What about that screams "FLAMES NEED A FIRST LINE CENTER"?
Do they want one? Perhaps, like just about everyone else. But need? Nah. A top 4 defender, on the other hand...
