With the addition of The Brute, the Flames look to be tight to the salary cap ceiling. NHLnumbers has Sutter in the red by 1.429M (58.129). That total includes 14 forwards (from Iginla to Prust), a 5M estimated cap-hit for Langkow's new contract, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies (Kipper and McElhinney). Excluded is Mark Giordano, whose contract is still a mystery.
Now that the top 6 is all but set, Sutter has a single off-season objective staring him in the face: cut the fat. With all the money the Flames will be spending next year, I think it's safe to say that:
1.) The Flames have too many players.
2.) The waiver-wire guys (Eriksson, Warrener and Nilson) will have to be traded rather than buried in the AHL. For the simple reason that the Calgary Flames organization must be nearing their budgetary ceiling and saving real dollars - as well as the cap space - has likely become a priority.
3.) Chances are good that Adrian Aucoin will be dealt. Aucoin is the only bad value player the Flames have who might be worth a damn elsewhere in the league. Let's face it: dealing just one of the other anchors will be a challenge. Getting rid of all of them in a single summer would be a miracle. If Sutter fails to shake lose, say, Warrener and Nilson, trading Aucoin goes from a "preferred" move to "necessary" one.
If things go down as I've sketched out above, I'll think it'll be another indictment of Sutters management. I've been an unabashed supporter of dealing Aucoin all summer and his departure wouldn't be grave. However, assuming the above scenario accurate, it would be another example of dealing good money before bad (or in this case, not-as-bad money before bad). Another example of losing muscle to fat.
Nothing is certain however and Sutter has the rest of the summer to complete the scramble. I should hold off on all condemnation** if and until some of my forecasts come to pass.
**(for the positive-minded, consider this my preemptive cheer for Sutter should he somehow prove me wrong and lipo the rosters love handles).
