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I have now been writing for Hockeybuzz covering the Calgary Flames for about a year now, and have been part of many interesting debates and arguments with respect to the Flames organization. I have to say the past year has been fun and I would like to thank Eklund and his staff for giving me this opportunity as I continue into the 2013-14 season.
With that being said, I have noticed a degree of variation in conversations toward our Calgary Flames team - a positive change, to be specific. Despite noticing a higher respect for the Flames throughout many comments from opposing fans, I can’t help but wonder just how many of you out there feel the Flames are legitimately moving in the right decision, or not.
In order to get a full grasp of what this team is doing, exactly, I will begin by summarizing what management has done over the past three years to get to where they are today. To begin, I must stress this point, because there are still too many uneducated fans out there who seem to miss this fact – Jay Feaster has taken over as GM for the Calgary Flames on May 16th 2011. That’s right; Feaster has been GM of this franchise for 2 years and 2 months.
Although Feaster took over just over two years ago, I decided to summarize the past three years for the Flames as there is still much relevance to the players who were part of this club during the previous season which he took over.
So, what did the Calgary Flames look like in 2010? Let’s take a look!
Centers: Mikael Backlund, Lance Bouma, Craig Conroy, Olli Jokinen, Daymond Langkow, Brendan Morrison, Greg Nemisz, Matt Stajan, Brett Sutter
Wingers: Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross, Niklas Hagman, Jarome Iginla, Raitis Ivanans, Tim Jackman, Tom Kostopoulos, Ales Kotalik, Stefan Meyer, Fredrik Modin, Dave Moss, Alex Tanguay
Defensemen: Anton Babchuk, Jay Bouwmeester, T.J. Brodie, Brett Carson, Mark Giordano, Brendan Mikkelson, Adam Pardy, Robyn Regehr, Cory Sarich, Steve Staios, Ian White
Goalies: Miikka Kiprusoff, Henrik Karlsson
Average age of team: 27.7
List of notable prospects: Bill Arnold, John Ramage, Nick Larson, Max Reinhert, Michael Ferland, Patrick Holland, Ryan Howse, Spencer Bennett, Tim Erixon, Joni Ortio
So there you have it, essentially what the team looked like when Jay Feaster came in and started to put his own stamp on the franchise with respect to trades, free agent signings, and most importantly, drafting.
The picture of the franchise displayed above should really open a lot of eyes to the fact that Feaster didn’t really have a whole lot to work with. Given that many draft selections were traded away by his predecessor, it took him awhile before he really had the chance to make any impactful decisions. So, what did Feaster and company accomplish with said draft selections since he took over? Let’s take a look.
2011 (Five selections)
1 13 13 SVEN BAERTSCHI
2 15 45 MARKUS GRANLUND
2 27 57 TYLER WOTHERSPOON
4 13 104 JOHN GAUDREAU
6 13 164 LAURENT BROSSOIT
2012 (Seven selections)
1 21 21 MARK JANKOWSKI
2 12 42 PATRICK SIELOFF
3 14 75 JON GILLIES
4 14 105 BRETT KULAK
5 3 124 RYAN CULKIN
6 14 165 CODA GORDON
7 5 186 MATTHEW DEBLOUW
2013 ( Eight selections )
1 6 6 SEAN MONAHAN
1 22 22 EMILE POIRIER
1 28 28 MORGAN KLIMCHUK
3 6 67 KEEGAN KANZIG
5 14 135 ERIC ROY
6 6 157 TIM HARRISON
7 6 187 RUSHAN RAFIKOV
7 17 198 JOHN GILMOUR
Alright, here are the last three years worth of draft selections which the Calgary Flames have made. Notably, the Flames were short two draft selections in 2011, however acquired two extra first round selections in the 2013 NHL draft. Now let’s move on to the trades and free agent signings completed by the Flames since 2010 which brings us to today’s roster and group of prospects.
2012-13
Traded LW Alex Tanguay and D Cory Sarich to the Colorado Avalanche for RW David Jones and D Shane O'Brien.
Signed G Joey MacDonald to a one-year contract.
Signed C Corban Knight to a two-year, entry-level contract
Traded F Blake Comeau to Columbus for a 2013 fifth-round draft pick
Traded D Jay Bouwmeester to St. Louis for a conditional first-round draft pick, 2013 fourth-round draft pick, D Mark Cundari and G Reto Berra.
Traded a 2014 fifth-round draft pick to St. Louis for D Kris Russell.
Traded F Jarome Iginla to Pittsburgh for the rights to LW Kenneth Agostino, F Ben Hanowski and a 2013 first-round draft pick
Signed C Steve Begin to a one-year, two-way contract.
2011-12
Signed F Jiri Hudler to a four-year contract
Traded D Jordan Henry and a 2013 fifth-round draft pick to Washington for D Dennis Wideman and signed him to a five-year contract.
Traded their first-round pick in the 2012 draft to Buffalo for their first-round pick and a second-round pick in 2012
Signed C Roman Cervenka to a one-year contract
2010-11
Acquired F Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond from New Jersey for a 2012 fifth-round draft pick
Traded D Robyn Regehr, RW Ales Kotalik and its 2012 second-round draft pick to Buffalo for D Chris Butler and C Paul Byron.
With all the trades, free agent signings, and draft selections since Jay Feaster took over as GM of the Calgary Flames, we can now take a look at the current NHL roster and group of prospects which the franchise currently holds. We can then begin to assess how much the team has either improved, remained about the same, or is slightly worse off over the course of three years. I’ll let you be the judge!
Centers: Mikael Backlund, Matt Stajan, Blair Jones, Paul Byron, Carter Bancks, Max Reinhart,
Wingers: Sven Baertschi, TJ Galiardi, Curtis Glencross, Mike Cammalleri, Ben Hanowski, Roman Horak, Jiri Hudler, Tim Jackman, David Jones, Brian McGrattan, Lee Stempniak.
Defensemen: Dennis Wideman, Derek Smith, Kris Russel, Shane O’Brien, Mark Giordano, Mark Cundari, Chris Butler, TJ Brodie.
Goaltenders: Karri Ramo, Joey MacDonald
Average age of team: 26.6
List of notable prospects: Jon Gillies, Laurent Brossoit, Greg Nemisz, John Gaudreau, Ken Agostino, Ben Hanowski, Michael Ferland, Ryan Howse, Max Reinhart, Mark Jankowski, Markus Granlund, Corban Knight, James Martin, Ryan Culkin, Patrick Sieloff, Tyler Wotherspoon, Brett Kulak, Lance Bouma, Mark Cundari, Matt DeBlouw, Sean Monahan, Emile Poirier, Rushan Rafikov, Keegan Kanzig, Morgan Klimchuk
There you have it. The full list of roster players and notable prospects for the current Calgary Flames franchise. I have to say, the list of prospects are notably larger than was displayed in 2010.
This entire blog should provide each of you enough detail to make an educated assessment of how the Flames have fared over the past three years as they try and reestablish their name as a competitive team. Please take a few minutes and provide me with your overall rating for the team.
Below I have provided a rating scale from A to F. Please take all factors listed in this blog into consideration when selecting. Feel free to add a few comments in the comment section too (positive or negative criticism is welcomed, within reason)!
As always, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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