The Calgary Flames would like to upgrade their defense.
They'd like to do so without spending a ton of money and hindering their ability to give Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano long-term contract extensions.
While it's quite possible the Flames make a trade or look into more established options in free agency - Christian Ehrhoff, Cody Franson and perhaps Francois Beauchemin, who Brian Burke is very familiar with, could be fits - there are some lesser names who could help improve Calgary's defense at a very cheap price.
One of those names is Bruins defenseman Matt Bartkowski.
He's not a big name by any means but he's a very serviceable blue liner who'd come cheap and, at 27, it's not as if he's about to embark in a steep decline.
He has recorded 22 points and 158 shots on goal over 111 games throughout the last two seasons while posting respectable underlying numbers in the process.
It's not his strong suit but Bartkowski helps generate shots at a near top-4 rate. He also suppresses shots at a top-4 rate. This while producing points at a solid clip and getting a lot of pucks on net in the process.
The Flames were a poor possession team and the bottom half of their defense was a big reason why.
They need more than just Bartkowski to fix their possession woes, however, he'd help the cause and wouldn't cost much in either term or dollars.
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