Prior to the trade deadline there were reports that Dennis Wideman's name was in play but potential suitors were eventually scared off due to his 20-game suspension.
Yesterday on @SNHockeyCentral @PaulStewart22 indicated Bruins have been scouting Dennis Wideman. An NHL source confirmed that to me just now
— Jimmy Murphy (@MurphysLaw74) February 5, 2016
Fast forward a couple months and it seems like Wideman is still on the trade market.
In Elliotte Friedman's latest 30 Thoughts post he floated out the idea of Wideman reuniting with Chiarelli in Edmonton. Friedman generally doesn't just throw stuff at the wall and hope it sticks so it's probably safe to assume he's heard it is a possibility.
Whether Wideman ends up in Edmonton or not remains to be seen but I think he will be traded this off-season and moving him makes sense for a few reasons:
1) The Flames aren't exactly in cap hell right now but things will be a lot tighter once Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan inevitably sign big money, long-term deals.
Wideman's age doesn't make him a fit in Calgary - he is getting worse while many young players improve - so parting ways and getting him off the cap is probably the smart thing to do.
2) The Flames have six NHL blue liners signed through at least 2016-17. Five of those six make $2.9 million or more, four of them make at least $4.6 million, and three make at least $5.2 million.
Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie and Mark Giordano are all here for the long haul but, again, does it make sense for the Flames to pay a depreciating asset $5.2 million per year? Even if he was a few years younger committing 22.5 million to four defenseman doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room to improve other areas of the team (like goaltending).
3) Wideman's underlying numbers are poor and his play is trending downwards but even so he has still managed to put up 75 points in 131 games over the last two seasons. That's .57 points per game and 47 points per 82. It makes sense to trade him before his value plummets.
4) We all know about the Flames' big guns on the back end but Jakub Nakladal and Jyrki Jokipakka have both proven they're at least bottom pairing defensemen at the NHL level. Factor in that top defense prospects like Rasmus Andersson, who I'm extremely high on, and Oliver Kylington aren't too far away and there isn't much need for Wideman either now or moving forward.
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