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The Calgary Flames took on the New York Rangers last night in what was an entertaining game to watch with some big saves and big goals. The Flames played well against the Rangers as most felt that with Lundqvist in net and a few of their stars on the ice, it would have been a much closer game.
The final tally for the night was 4-1 for the good guys, and a few of the players who will be expected to step up their games this year, did. Matt Stajan, one of the players who I mentioned would need to take his game to the next level this season has been playing quite well throughout camp and preseason. In his last contract year before becoming an UFA, Stajan will need to impress his new coach and management staff if he’s going to receive an extended offer. Last night, he and his line mates did just that as they looked good together.
"I'm excited. I want to be a guy that you can count on and be a leader for the young guys. I want to take advantage of any opportunity I get," said Stajan
"Bob and his coaching staff gave me the chance to play key minutes and get my confidence back and they put trust in me right away where, for some reason, trust had been lost with the previous coaching staff. I just want to build on that and move forward and never be satisfied. I just want to get better and better."
At just 29 years old, Stajan still has time to improve upon certain aspects of his game, and given the lack of depth down the middle which the Flames currently possess, he should have every opportunity to earn the first line center role which was expected to be played by his younger counterpart Mikael Backlund.
I mentioned that there were a few players who needed to come out big this year for the Flames, and another is Karri Ramo who also had a very good showing in front of a home crowd. Though the game got off to a slower start with not a whole lot of offense from the Rangers, Ramo would eventually be tested with 16 shots in the second period as a result of some poor defensive play from the Flames.
Karri came out big allowing only one goal for the night, and won over not only most fans, but apparently his players and coaching staff as well.
"In the second we were very sloppy and he came up with some key point-blank saves…Those are the saves that change momentum and keeps our team in it and we were able to get that third one and take over the game again." - Stajan
"Karri gave us a very big game. He was solid. He came up with the big saves at the right time. I felt he protected the front of the net very well…The thing that I want to see from him is he felt confident on every shot that he faced." – Hartley
Reto Berra and Joey MacDonald will start the final preseason game for the Flames against the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday. If Berra is able to come out with a big game himself, the Flames could find themselves with a very good problem to have; three strong goalie options.
Mike Cammalleri was missing from last night's game as I mentioned he’s suffering from an injured hand and is having difficulties skating with a stick in his hand. I briefly spoke with Jay Feaster last night about his condition who advised me that his condition was “day to day”, and that their goal was to have him back in the lineup for the Washington game on October 3rd. All things considered, it doesn’t sound overly serious and I would expect that the team is simply playing it safe with their leading scorer from last year.
Further to our discussion about Cammalleri, I asked Feaster if there was any chance that the Flames were pursuing Cody Franson from the Toronto Maple Leafs, given Burke’s relationship with Dave Nonis, his recent trip to Toronto, and the Leafs cap problem.
Of course, Feaster couldn’t comment on any possible trades which the team may or may not be pursuing, however given the recent developments (or lack thereof) with Franson and the Leafs, I can’t help but think that Burke is working his old Leafs management team to try and acquire his rights.
Outside of the main issue of term and dollar figure for his new contract, the Leafs have just signed Mason Raymond to a one year, $1M deal yesterday afternoon which brings them down to $995k in remaining cap space. Even if you consider the likely demotions of Trevor Smith($550k) and Korbinian Holzer($787k), that only leaves the Leafs with $2.3M. This amount of cap space is not only quite shy of what Franson is looking for, but the Leafs will also need to replace the production of David Clarkson who is suspended for 10 games, which will lower their cap space even further for that 10 game stretch.
While it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Leafs move a veteran like JM Liles and possibly retain some of his cap hit in order to make it more appealing for other teams, they are certainly in a tight spot moving into the regular season when it comes to Franson. As previously discussed, the Flames have the 2nd greatest amount of cap space remaining in the NHL, and are always looking to stockpile young(er) assets. At only 26 years old, Franson is still much considered a young NHL defenseman and has a lot to offer to a team.
With that being said, does it make sense for the Flames to try and acquire his rights? Well, it’s certainly going to be difficult because Calgary is in (no) position to be outbidding anyone in the league for his services. Conversely, the Flames are one of few team who can afford to extend Franson to the terms he’s looking for, so I suppose that limits a lot of their competition.
Sending Franson and his agent an offer sheet is not the best way to acquire the defender, as in my opinion the two teams will want to keep strong working relationships if they are ever to make good hockey deals down the road. What the Flames could offer, in my opinion, is one of two things; some sort of package deal to the Leafs which holds a limited cap hit to provide depth to their lineup in addition to a pick/prospect, or the possibility of taking Liles of their hands on the cheap.
While the latter is likely the most coveted deal for most Leaf fans, I get the feeling that Carlyle and their defensive team likes what Liles brings to the team and could replace what Franson brings to the team with a guy like Morgan Rielly or Jake Gardiner, save for maybe the physical side of his game.
The Flames are not in a position to be offering a whole lot when it comes to draft picks/prospects at the moment, though let me say that Franson could very well be worth a prospect and a pick for the Flames…kick a guy like Derek Smith to the curb if you must or demote him, they can make room.
All things considered, we likely find that the best deal for both sides would be acquiring JM Liles who brings a lot of veteran presence for the Flames backend, would be very cheap to acquire if Calgary takes on his full salary, and with an additional $3.785M of cap space, the Leafs should have no problem signing Franson.
What do you guys think? Should the Flames pursue either of these guys, or just remain patient and play out the year without doing anything crazy?
Thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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