Miikka Kiprusoff(notes) — or any other living soul with a vested interest in the fate of the Calgary Flames — need not fret over the depleted state of the defence.So says general manager Jay Feaster, who is fully aware of the gaping hole created by the departure of Robyn Regehr(notes) via trade to Buffalo.
The puck drops for the regular season in 98 days against the Pittsburgh Penguins, so there’s still plenty of time for work to be done.
“There are players being traded,” Feaster said. “There are players being put on the market. There are still some things we’re looking to do as far as shoring up our blueline.
“But for the first time, we have cap space.”
And that cap space is needed to fill in the gaps on the back end.
Jay Bouwmeester(notes) ($6.67 million) and Mark Giordano(notes) ($4.02 million) are No. 1 and No. 2 (not necessarily in that order.)
Then comes veteran Cory Sarich(notes) ($3.6 million), the newly acquired Chris Butler(notes) ($1.25 million) and the relatively inexperienced Brett Carson(notes) ($575,000.)
Adam Pardy(notes) signed in Dallas on Friday for $4 million over two years. So he’s gone.
Unrestricted free agent Anton Babchuk(notes) remains in the picture, although he’s clearly looking for a raise on his salary of $1.4 million.
“We’ve always been interested in him,” Feaster said. “We tried to sign him. We like him. We think he’s a guy who can do a heck of a job for us on the point on the power play.
“He’s a defenceman we think is capable of scoring 50 points in a season. So we like him a lot. We made an offer.
“We’re continuing to talk to his people, and we’ll see where it goes.”
The Flames traded Ian White(notes) and Brett Sutter(notes) to Carolina last November for Babchuk and forward Tom Kostopoulos(notes). In 65 games with the Flames, Babchuk registered eight goals and 27 points.The Flames continued Saturday to add depth, signing three players including the son of former NHLer Ryan Walter. Agreeing to two-year (two-way) deals were centre Ben Walter(notes) and defenceman Clay Wilson(notes). The Flames also re-signed Jon Rheault(notes) to an AHL deal. Walter, originally a fifth-round pick of the Boston Bruins, played last season for the Lake Erie Otters, the farm club of the Colorado Avalanche. Wilson, meanwhile, played a total of 17 games for the Florida Panthers over the past two seasons. Rheault returns to Abbotsford, for his third season with the Heat.
calgaryherald
The puck drops for the regular season in 98 days against the Pittsburgh Penguins, so there’s still plenty of time for work to be done.
“There are players being traded,” Feaster said. “There are players being put on the market. There are still some things we’re looking to do as far as shoring up our blueline.
“But for the first time, we have cap space.”
And that cap space is needed to fill in the gaps on the back end.
Jay Bouwmeester(notes) ($6.67 million) and Mark Giordano(notes) ($4.02 million) are No. 1 and No. 2 (not necessarily in that order.)
Then comes veteran Cory Sarich(notes) ($3.6 million), the newly acquired Chris Butler(notes) ($1.25 million) and the relatively inexperienced Brett Carson(notes) ($575,000.)
Adam Pardy(notes) signed in Dallas on Friday for $4 million over two years. So he’s gone.
Unrestricted free agent Anton Babchuk(notes) remains in the picture, although he’s clearly looking for a raise on his salary of $1.4 million.
“We’ve always been interested in him,” Feaster said. “We tried to sign him. We like him. We think he’s a guy who can do a heck of a job for us on the point on the power play.
“He’s a defenceman we think is capable of scoring 50 points in a season. So we like him a lot. We made an offer.
“We’re continuing to talk to his people, and we’ll see where it goes.”
The Flames traded Ian White(notes) and Brett Sutter(notes) to Carolina last November for Babchuk and forward Tom Kostopoulos(notes). In 65 games with the Flames, Babchuk registered eight goals and 27 points.The Flames continued Saturday to add depth, signing three players including the son of former NHLer Ryan Walter. Agreeing to two-year (two-way) deals were centre Ben Walter(notes) and defenceman Clay Wilson(notes). The Flames also re-signed Jon Rheault(notes) to an AHL deal. Walter, originally a fifth-round pick of the Boston Bruins, played last season for the Lake Erie Otters, the farm club of the Colorado Avalanche. Wilson, meanwhile, played a total of 17 games for the Florida Panthers over the past two seasons. Rheault returns to Abbotsford, for his third season with the Heat.
calgaryherald
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