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I think the Calgary Flames' roster is in better shape than most realize - they have a very good core in place - but one area that needs to be addressed this summer is their bottom-6.
One way GM Brad Treliving can go about improving that is by cutting ties with forward Lance Bouma.
That could prove to be difficult on the trade market as Bouma scored just two goals in 44 games and carries a $2.2 million cap hit for another couple years but something needs to be done.
Why, you might ask?
For starters Bouma managed just .54 points per 60 minutes at 5 v 5 this season, which was good for 364th among 378 forwards who played 400+ minutes in that game state.
That total put him below the likes of Tanner Glass, Mike Brown and Stephen Gionta to name but a few. Those guys aren't making $2.2 million per.
On top of struggling mightily to muster up any kind of offense at 5 v 5 Bouma was also a big time possession anchor. Almost every player he skated a shift with generated a larger share of the shot attempts without him than with him.
Since the sample size wasn't overly large I decided to use the last two years of data and, well, the results aren't any better.
View post on imgur.com
All 11 players Bouma has skated at least 200 minutes with at 5 v 5 over the last couple season have fared better - in many cases significantly - without Bouma on the ice. That's no coincidence.
Bouma seems like a good team-guy and he won't hesitate to put his body at risk to help the cause but he doesn't make the team better.
I highly doubt Treliving can find a taker for Bouma given the contract he carries but it's worth a shot.
Buying him out would be a good option should that fail. If Treliving decides to go that route the Flames would save $1.45 million in cap space in year one and $1.55 in year two prior to taking a hit of just $750K the two following years,
according to CapFriendly.
If not anything else a decrease in minutes - Bouma averaged more than 12 last season - would be a step in the right direction.
Either way, something needs to be done.
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