Follow Colin on Twitter!:
@ColinDJD
There have been more and more rumors circulating concerning Flames veteran forward Mike Cammalleri and the prospect of him being dealt as a playoff "rental" player.
One discussion that is surfacing a lot is that the LA Kings may not be done making deals after moving goaltender Ben Scrivens for a 3rd round pick to the Edmonton Oilers.
Both the NHL network and TSN’s Darren Dreger have recently noted that the LA Kings are looking at Flames veteran forward Mike Cammalleri, likely as a deadline deal.
Fact of the matter is that the Kings have been struggling to score and Cammalleri could help them with respect to a playoff push. What, or how much the Kings would be willing to give up for a rental however is tough to assess. With 37 games played this year on a struggling Flames team, Cammalleri has been good for 21pts, 13 of which are goals.
To make matters complicated with respect to trade discussions, Cammalleri has missed 10 games so far this year with a hand injury and most recently, a concussion. How serious this concussion is will without a doubt affect his value.
That said, and as I discussed in yesterday’s blog, I do not personally think that Cammalleri will be out much longer than beyond this weekend. The hit in question did not appear to be very serious, and I would imagine, given that he remains as “day to day”, that he could very well be back in the lineup quite soon as the team is likely playing it safe knowing that he’s a movable asset.
To add a little fuel to this fire, it appears that the Flames may have already asked Mike to submit a list of teams which he would accept to be moved to. I would imagine that, of the teams listed, LA is among the list of teams he would move to...though I often wonder which teams make the "do not trade" list.
I'll have to dig into this a little more as I cannot confirm whether or not the team has in fact asked for a list, as my best contact was recently fired by the team. Sigh.
There is certainly a lot of work to be done if the Kings were to try and acquire Cammalleri given his cap hit, and what they have to work with at the moment. However, the nice part of this is that the Flames have the ability to eat up the max amount (50%) of Mike’s salary in order to try and make things work.
Another interesting discussion that has come up is a potential deal between the Flames and Senators with respect to Cammalleri. Given that the same problem exists with respect to moving Mike to the Sens, as does with the Kings, it would be a tricky scenario for either GM to work out.
Ottawa has shown interest in Cammalleri in the past, and the team is currently fighting to stay in the playoff race. A guy like Mike could also be the right piece for them. Although a problem I have with this discussion is the fact that I believe the Sens are looking for someone with more size and physicality than Cammalleri offers.
Though they could also use some added veteran experience who can pot a few goals, I am not sure adding Cammalleri would be the best move for this club, at this time.
I will keep an eye on the discussions, but I don’t see anything happening until closer to the deadline. There are several teams right now who are not overly content with the way they are playing and some are hovering around that 8th and final playoff spot. Most teams recognize ahead of time that a change is needed and they act on it immediately.
That said, I can see a few teams such as the Kings make a stronger push for Cammalleri than would a team like the Pens or Ducks, as we previously discussed. Then again, maybe a team like the Flyers steps in as they try and ensure that they don’t fall short of the playoffs once again!
What do you think? Where could you see Mike fit at the moment?
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»