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The Calgary Flames have signed tough guy Brian McGrattan to a two year, $1.5M contract extension yesterday - One less person to worry about signing for Flames GM Jay Feaster as he moves into the free agency market.
It’s nice to see the Flames signing guys who want to play for the city and team, having guys like McGrattan and recently acquired TJ Galiardi is great for team morale. Keeping guys like that around potentially sends a message to other UFA’s who are debating where to sign – Calgary must be a great place to play!
“We’ve acknowledged we’re in a re-build, but the re-build doesn’t have to take forever when you get a group of guys who are committed to the program,” Feaster said.
“Any time you have a building that is full every night the way the Saddledome is, any time you have an ownership group that is willing to commit the money and spend to the salary cap, any time you’re in that kind of hockey market and a market where the game matters, I think it’s an easy sell.”
Today should be a fun day, filled with plenty of good, bad, and terrible signings as teams do their best to entice free agents to join their club. Feaster has already made it clear that while he has his eye set on a few centres who hit the market today, he is not prepared to overpay in terms of salary or terms.
With that being said, should Flames fans expect a slow day? I don’t think so. The Flames may not be ready to pay out contracts like Tyler Bozak and David Clarkson are allegedly demanding, but they have other options in which they could be players.
We’ve already discussed several names, but one name that has come up a lot over the last 24hours with respect to the Flames is that of Valtteri Filppula of the Detroit Red Wings. Coming off his best season of his career in 2011-12 with 66pts (0.81ppg), Filppula followed up with a rather weak season where he produced but 17pts in 41 games (0.41ppg) in 2012-13. That is basically a 50% drop in productivity for the centerman. Much of the talk is that the Wings would love to keep Valtteri on, however youngters Joakim Andersson and Gustav Nyquist are proving ready to take on full responsibilities with the team.
Perhaps 30 year old Filppula doesn’t appeal all that much to the Flames and maybe they look towards Damien Brunner, also from the Wings. Brunner has only played one NHL season in his career so far, a short one at that. Last year he posted 26pts in 44 games with Detroit and did well in the playoffs with 9pts in 14 games.
While slightly better than Valtteri, one season in the NHL is very tough to judge. If you look at the last two years played as a part of the National League A, he registered 57 and 60pts in 33 and 45 games played, respectively. In fact, he led the NLA in points and was named the league’s best forward during his 2011-12 campaign.
Is Filppula or Brunner a good plan B or C for the Flames, or do they possibly present a Cervenka 2.0 situation with coach Bob Hartley? Bringing in either player would certainly add depth to the destitute centerman position for the Flames, but neither are top line centermen which Calgary is seeking...among other clubs. There is expected to be some real battles for the top 3-4 centres available on the market today and I can’t confidently say that Feaster will be a big player for any of them, unless he’s willing to overpay.
While some may feel it would be the worst decision in the world to overpay for players, what you also need to keep in mind is that the Flames intend on staying competitive through this rebuild and have cash available to them. Players once desired to play in the biggest hockey markets and with the teams who had the best chances at Lord Stanley’s cup in previous open markets, however of late it seems they can be easily convinced with a few extra bucks per season. Take Nathan Horton as an example who made it known he would prefer playing in a non-traditional hockey market.
I am still not convinced that Feaster would in fact over pay unless it were for a guy who could be part of a long-term commitment in addition to the short term rebuild plan. Worst case scenario, nothing happens other than the Ramo signing and a minor UFA pickup.
That’s all for now folks, there should be tons more to read and discuss in the upcoming hours! Enjoy!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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