Brad Treliving can scratch the last item off his to-do list.
After a long negotiation the Flames and RFA forward Micheal Ferland have finally come to terms on a new contract.
Michael Ferland and CAL closing in on a two-year deal at approx $800K per year. One-way contract.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 10, 2015Treliving had said Ferland wouldn't be in camp if he didn't have a contract. His absence would hurt himself more than the team so logic suggested Ferland would sign before camp, which has obviously turned out to be the case.
I think Treliving once again fared well in this negotiation. He gave Ferland a one-way deal but kept the price tag down as much as anyone could have hoped. Ferland has been given an opportunity to make a name for himself. If he can do that he'll get a raise a couple years down the road.
For now he's a young roster player making a little more than league minimum. You can't have enough of those guys in today's NHL.
**
NHL 16 will be released in less than a week and not much is going on with the Flames right now so I decided to post the player ratings here and give you guys an early look at them.
EA Sports is known for being generous with player ratings so it should be no surprise that the Calgary Flames have been graded very well after making the playoffs last season.
Here is how they have the roster shaping up:
Johnny Gaudreau (86) - Sean Monahan (87) - Jiri Hudler (88) Sam Bennett (81) - Mikael Backlund (83) - Michael Frolik (85) Mason Raymond (82) - Josh Jooris (80) - Joe Colborne (83) Brandon Bollig (78) - Matt Stajan (82) - David Jones (82)
Mark Giordano (89) - T.J. Brodie (86) Kris Russell (85) - Dougie Hamilton (88) Ladislav Smid (81) - Dennis Wideman (85)
Jonas Hiller (85) Karri Ramo (84)
In particular I think Colborne, Raymond, Russell and Smid are rated too highly but, again, EA Sports grades most established NHLers well in order to keep everyone happy.
What do you think of the ratings? Which players do you think should be graded higher or lower?
Recent posts Flames announce roster for Young Stars tournament