Rarely has an NHL club experienced such crushing losses in one summer as the Calgary Flames have experienced in recent weeks, writes Urheilu’s NHL editor Tommi Seppälä.
Jarmo Kekäläinen actually knows very well how Calgary-GM From Brad Treliving feels right now. There’s nothing that can be done when a player wants out—especially if he happens to be an unrestricted free agent.
Kekäläinen, who leads the sports side of Columbus Blue Jackets, has had important players taken from him on a couple of occasions. The Russian stars wanted to leave first with the opening of the door Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Later, the Canadian striker left Pierre-Luc Duboiswho by the way has now informed Winnipeg that he wants out of Manitoba as well.
Calgary’s fate could still have been even tougher.
First reached 115 points in the summer of free agent status Johnny Gaudreau informed the club that he is not ready to sign a new contract. It is ironic that the Yankee forward decided to move specifically to Kekäläinen’s Columbus.
The domino effect started when Gaudreau’s pier Matthew Tkachuk announced right after that he was also unwilling to commit to Calgary.
The top hockey player of the second generation probably made his decision because a superstar-level sidekick was taken from him.
Last season, Calgary was the third best team in the Western Conference in the regular season. Gaudreau and Tkachuk scored a total of 82 goals and 219 points.
The hits taken by the team are crushing, although they will certainly receive moderate compensation for Tkachuk moving through the player trade.
And it’s not really appropriate to blame the club management for the players’ departures.
Treliving did everything to keep Gaudreau in Calgary, offering him a longer and more valuable contract, which he and Kekäläinen finally signed.
However, family values took precedence. Both Gaudreau and the couple’s spouse, who is expecting their first child, are from the New Jersey area and now wanted to be closer to their families.
The crazy days continue
Otherwise, after the booking event and the subsequent opening of the free agent market, the market for players turned out to be quite a flurry.
The first reason is, of course, the desire of clubs trying to strengthen their ranks to acquire better players. Another theme is related to the salary cap.
The brake on the NHL’s economic growth caused by the corona pandemic has been reflected in the frozen salary cap ($82.5 million). Many have had to move players purely for salary cap reasons.
Therefore, on minimum wage Sakari Manninen caught Vegas had to trade a quality striker Max Pacioretty To Carolina really cheap.
For a couple of weeks, the doors opened really hard here and there. Once again it was seen that the market of free agents is the market of players: when the auction for players reaches, the club will easily pay more than the optimal market price for the player.
And the crazy days are still not over.
There are numerous clubs in the NHL that have to do so-called write-off sales before the start of the season in order to fit under the salary cap.
For example, Kekäläinen will have to remove an estimated five million dollars from his salary cap, if this is to make the new deal of Patrik Laine, who is without a contract, fit under the salary cap.
And we shouldn’t forget that the clubs know each other’s situations, which gives it its own spice. If the club has to give up money in the face of an escape, it is easier for the receiving end to raise the price. As a result, there are bound to be some interesting twists and turns.
Tough names still available
There will be plenty of movement in the market in the future also because there are still tough names available.
Among the unrestricted free agents, the hottest names are Colorado’s Stanley Cup winner Nazem Kadri and Dallas’ Swedish defender John Klingberg. There is a taker for both and big numbers are screwed into the contract for both.
However, the salary cap should not be forgotten here either. If you look at the current situation, 20 clubs can’t afford either of the two.
On the other hand, clubs with space under the salary cap are not necessarily the most attractive options from a player’s point of view.
The restricted free agent market is also still full of tough names.
In addition to the loan, Pierre-Luc Dubois, who played brilliantly in Dallas, is still without a contract Jason Robertsonscored 35 goals for Calgary Andrew Mangiapane and of course Jesse Puljujärvi – just to name a few. So there are still many twists and turns before the puck hits the ice in October.