Yesterday's post included the potential '07 UFA's at right wing, center and defence positions. Following are the left wingers and the goaltenders:
LW: Potential Salary
Ryan Smyth: 5.5M
Paul Kariya: 4.5M
Ladislav Nagy: 4.0M
Jason Blake: 4.0M
Keith Tkachuk: 4.0M
Vycheslav Kozlov: 3.5M
Brendan Shanahan: 3.0M
Kyle Calder: 2.0M
Taylor Pyatt: 1.5M
Richard Zednick: 1.5M
Gary Roberts: 1.5M
Ruslan Fedotenko: 1.5M
Jan Bulis: 1.0M
Kirk Maltby: 1.0M
Chris Simon: 1.0M
Marcus Nilson: 0.9
Jeff Cowan: 0.9
Denis Arkhipov: 0.9
Martin Gelinas: 0.9
Vladamir Orszagh: 0.8
Dean McAmmond: 0.8
Pascal Dupuis: 0.8
Jeff Friesen: 0.7
Antti Laaksonen: 0.7
Brad May: 0.7
Bates Battaglia: 0.7
Jon Sim: 0.7
Ville Nieminen: 0.6
Brad Isbister: 0.6
Josh Green: 0.5
Peter Sejna: 0.5
Dan LaCouture: 0.5
Eric Boulton: 0.5
Brad Larsen: 0.5
Noah Clarke: 0.45
Mathieu Darche: 0.45
Matt Ellis: 0.45
Ramzi Abid: 0.45
Todd Fedoruk: 0.45
Boyd Kane: 0.45
Riley Cote: 0.45
As with the other positions, take the "potential salary" with a grain of salt. It's basically just an easy method for me to order the players from "top tier" to "bottom tier". I mean, I think Ryan Smyth's going to be getting between $5 and $6 million this summer - but predicting the frenzied chaos of free agency is a bit of a fools errand.
The Flames have 2 top notch LWer's who I am very satisfied with (Tanguay and Huselius). With the impending departure of Marcus Nilson, Calgary may have to dip into the market for a bottom 6 guy, although that gap may be filled by a youngster anyhow. From a "buy low/sell high" kind of mindset, Kyle Calder and Ruslan Fedotenko might be worth a look, assuming you believe their terrible seasons last year were aberrations. If they come at the prices listed, they would probably be worthy gambles. Calder in particular has the potential to be a capable top 6 forward.
Next...the 'tenders
Goaltenders: Potential Salary
J.S. Giguere: 5.5M
Niklas Backstrom: 3.0M
Curtis Joseph : 2.0M
Dominik Hasek: 2.0M
David Aebischer: 1.9M
Mathieu Garon: 1.5M
Kevin Weekes: 1.5M
Johan Holmqvist: 1.5M
Robert Esche: 1.0M
Jocelyn Thibault: 1.0M
Jussi Markkanen: 0.9
Sean Burke: 0.9
Ed Belfour: 0.7
Jamie McLennan: 0.5
Ty Conklin: 0.5
JS Aubin: 0.5
Scott Clemmensen: 0.5
Mike Dunham: 0.5
Wade Dubielewicz: 0.5
Wade Flaherty: 0.45
Brian Boucher: 0.45
Karl Goehring: 0.45
Giguere is the undisputed crown jewl of this crop, although Im guessing Backstrom will conjure some significant interest as well. Course, there's a high probability that both of these guys will be re-signed by their current squads, so...
The Flames might be shopping for a back-up goaltender if they don't think McElhinney can make the jump (or if they think sitting behind Kipper for 70 games would be bad for his development). Unfortunately, back-up goalies are kinda like socks - you know you need 'em but you don't want to spend money on 'em anyways. With that in mind, none of the possibilities really get me very excited. Should the Flames go with a proven, but older and possibly injury prone guy like Burke? Maybe fellow Fin Jussi Markkanen would work behind Kipper? Or, should Sutter just admit the guy he gets isn't going to play much and sign a cheap, warm body like Dunham? It's a tough tightrope to walk - finding a player who's cheap, doesn't mind working the bench most of the season but is still effective when called upon. Personally, I hope one of the kids gets a shot, myself.
The next step will be to fully assess the Flames roster needs and cap space and start plugging the holes with the most appropriate names. Expect that to follow later in the week.
This 'n That:
Ansar Kahn, beat writer for the Detroit Red Wings recently slammed Jim Playfair in an interview. The offending quote was as follows:
The only reason the Calgary series deteriorated in Game 5 was because Flames coach Jim Playfair lost control of his players, not that he ever had much control to begin with. I've seen a lot of lousy coaches over the years and Playfair has to be near the top of the list. Calgary's abysmal road record alone indicates this guy's inability to manage his bench properly.
Nice to have an outsiders perspective on Nervous Jimmy. the entire thing can be found over at the Sharkspage. Hattip to Colin S over at Duncan's blog for the link.
Jarome Iginla's half-sister, Theresa Iginla, is apparently kicking some butt at the College level of female hockey. Considering her pedigree and his rapid rate of decline, I would suggest Theresa and Tony Amonte are on about the same level these days.
