I've already stated elsewhere that I think Sutter has two primary objectives remaining this off-season: addressing the forward depth issue and ridding the team of bad contracts. The post below takes aim at the first issue. This one is concerned with the second.
By my count, Calgary currently has 5 contracts in the organization that are good bets to be poor value deals next year. They are, in order from worst to least-worst:
Rhett Warrener (2.35M)
Anders Eriksson (1.5M)
Wayne Primeau (1.4M)
Marcus Nilson (1M)
Adrian Aucoin (4M)
Total - 10.25M
Four of the five could be replaced internally right now without too much fuss. Only Adrian Aucoin's departure might require some sort of addition to the roster to cover his contributions (Paul Mara or Marek Malik for instance). This is because Aucoin is the only real *regular* roster player of the bunch.
As everyone is no doubt aware, Warrener, Eriksson and Nilson have already passed through waivers with nary a bite. The buy-out deadline has come and gone, meaning the only way to get rid of their dollars is to either send them to the minors once the season rolls around - an expensive and therefore not ideal solution - or find them a new home somewhere else. It seems a daunting task, although this is a league where Jeff Finger landed a 3.5M/year long-term contract, so anything is possible.
In terms of trade value, one need only invert the list above, although one can never know how these players are perceived elsewhere. Maybe Lindy Ruff wants Warrener back? Perhaps there's someone who thinks Anders Erik...no, I can't even finish that one.
Two things may work in Sutters favor as he peddles his unwanted-s around the NHL:
Firstly, the relatively high cap floor. Right now, there are 5 teams below the minimum total salary of 40M - NYI, PHX, CLB, ATL and LAK - and many of them are in desperate need of both forward and defensive depth (just take a gander at the Islanders "team"). If clubs like LA and ATL continue to strike-out out in the UFA game, they'll be needing a few "salaried player for nothing" deals. Which works perfectly for the Flames.
Secondly, there are organizations like OTT that have failed to address specific needs with the free-agent market gradually draining down to the dregs. The Sens lost Commodore and Redden to free agency and have yet to replace either of them, for example.
With these things in mind, here's my list of clubs that will be looking to take a dump with the Flames...so to speak.
Los Angeles Kings -
LA currently has just 27.756M committed to next season. They have a handful of RFA's yet to sign (Stoll, Moulson, O'Sullivan, Richardson, Harrold) so let's bump them to 35M, assuming they get all the kids under contract. That means the Kings will likely have to add a minimum of $5M to the roster by October.
With Blake deciding to retire a Shark, LA is tragically thin on the back-end. As Rudy Kelly from Battle of California notes:
The Kings are really, really boned. According to Rich Hammond, the Kings had 3 targets this off-season and were expected to acquire 2 of them. Those men were Rob Blake, Brad Stuart, and Brooks Orpik. Because of this, Lubo became expendable and we traded him. (Whoops!) Blake boned us, Brad Stuart signed with the Red Wings (who are just going to fuck everyone next year), and Orpik signed a really long deal to stay with the Penguins. So, basically, the Kings are boned on defense. Here's what we have right now, not assuming prospects:
( )-Johnson
Greene-( )
Preissing-Gauthier/Harrold
LA has impressive kids in the fold, including Hickey, Teubert and Drew Doughty though none of them can be expected to step in and be difference makers next year (I believe they're all still teenagers in fact). Also, take note that newly acquired Denis Gauthier is listed - somewhat erroneously - as an NHL defenseman. The ex-Flame was buried by Philly in the minors and has only seen 60 NHL games in the last 3 seasons. At 32, it's probably generous to list him in the top 6.
Candidates to go to LA? Pretty much every Flame listed, although one would think Adrian Aucoin would be particularly attractive to a team whose only PP capable blueliner is Tom Preissing. Hell, even Warrener and Eriksson might start looking good to Lombardi if he still hasn't picked anyone else up by last call.
Atlanta Thrashers -
The Thrash have about 31M committed so far. They also have a terrible GM, dreadful depth and aren't exactly a desired destination for most UFAs. Behind the newly inked Ron Hainsey, Atlanta has the likes of Niclas Havelid, Garnet Exelby, Ken Klee and Tobias Enstrom on the back-end. Like LA, Eriksson and Aucoin would probably be a welcome addition to that blueline, although I doubt Adrian would waive that troublesome NTC to join the woeful Thrashers.
Marcus Nilson and, yes, Wayne Primeau might also be useful to ATL, with their forward lines boasting guys like Jim Slater, Brad Larsen, Bryan Little and Chris Thorburn. The Thrashers have 10 "NHL" quality skaters under contract, plus Jordan Lavallee and Colin Stuart (?) knocking on the door. If Waddell fails to plumb the depths of the UFA pool he'll be in desperate need of any kind of NHL-capable skater he can get his hands on.
New York Islanders -
Are almost exactly like the Thrashers in their dearth of NHL quality players, although they are actually right at the salary cap floor (39.6M). They do, in fact, have 6 defensemen already signed, although the list looks more like an AHL depth chart after Mark Streit (Sutton, Witt, Martinek, Campoli, Meyer).
The forwards ranks are even more laughable: with the departure of Fedotenko, Jon Sim looks to be their top-line LWer as of today. New York only has 9 forwards signed so far, with first-rounder Kyle Okposo poised to make the squad out of camp and RFA Sean Bergenheim needing to be re-inked. I think Marcus Nilson, who can still be an effective bottom-6 presence, would be a welcome addition to this roster.
Ottawa Senators -
The Sens would really only need one of the Flames anchors: Adrian Aucoin. They have just 3 NHL caliber defensemen signed (Volchenkov, Phillips, Schubert) with RFA Andrej Meszaros looking to score a big contract. They lost their primary PP option to free agency (Redden) and failed to attract the better UFA options. In time, Aucoin's 10 goals and 20 PP points may start to look mighty tempting to Bryan Murray, especially since the Flames won't be asking for much in return.
Did I miss anyone?
