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The season hasn’t even begun yet, but talk of expiring contracts has already begun.
The Flames have three key contracts expiring at the end of the season in T.J. Brodie, Mikael Backlund, and Curtis Glencross and decisions will need to be made as the season progresses, especially in regards to Glencross who will be a UFA come July 1, 2015 should he not be extended sometime between now and then.
At 32 years of age, Curtis is entering the twilight of his career and is likely bargaining for his last real chance to get paid significant dollars in the NHL. According to recent comments made by both Glencross and his agent, there won’t be any home-town discounts built into his contract this time around – not exactly a worry for a cap “healthy… team like Calgary, although this isn’t generally what you want to hear from a possible returning veteran player.
Glencross is about to play the last season of a deal that was signed in 2011 as the team was in the midst of a last-ditch attempt to re-tool and revitalize a team that continued to fall just outside of the playoff race.
According to rumour and speculation, Glencross signed the deal based on a hand-shake agreement with team president Ken King, agreeing to take less than market value in order to help a team that was up against the salary cap with the understanding that King and the Flames would make it up to him on the next contract. As a sign of good-will Glencross was also awarded a complete no movement clause to ensure that he would still be around for the aforementioned next round of negotiations.
From Glencross’ standpoint, it’s time to pay the piper. While Jay Feaster, the man who signed his current contract, may be gone… Ken King is certainly still around, and Glencross is looking to be rewarded for his patience and his commitment to the team over the past 4 years.
How much is a handshake worth? With Brian Burke and Brad Treliving now running the show on the hockey operations side of the business, are they obligated to keep a promise that was made before their time?
How much would Glencross command on the open market?
The Flames are an organization that is committed to doing right by their players. Their reputation across the league is important to them, and I’m sure that Burke and Treliving are both aware of how seriously the organization takes these types of issues. But at the same time, this team is in a completely different situation this time around. Does Glencross really fit the new identity of this club moving forward?
In terms of his on-ice contribution, Glencross has proven to be a very efficient goal-scorer at even strength. Over the past 3 seasons, his .987 goals per 60 minutes of ice time at 5 on 5 is 37th best in the league. That puts him ahead of prolific goal scorers like Jeff Carter, Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Taylor Hall, and Patrick Kane.
Stats buffs may be concerned that these goal scoring numbers are propped up by his personal shooting percentage of about 15% which is one of the best conversion ratios in the league, but the good news is that he has maintained this performance over better than 800 career shots, so he’s probably just a really good shooter.
The bad news is that Glencross just doesn’t shoot enough. Last season, in 38 games, he only registered 62 shots on net. As he continues to age those numbers are likely to drop off even more. With Curtis’ shooting percentage, even a small decrease in shots generated could have a drastic effect on his scoring.
The other problem with Glencross’ game is that his two-way play has quickly deteriorated over the past few seasons to the point that he has now become a complete liability every time he’s on the ice.
Last season the team managed a corsi rate of only 42.9% when he was on the ice with a dismal 37% even strength scoring ratio… basically whenever he was on the ice the puck was moving the wrong way, and more times than not it was ending up in the Flames’ net rather than the opposition’s.
Does it make sense to keep a player like Glencross around? At what cost? How will he be deployed?
This season will be telling for Curtis Glencross. If I were Bob Hartley I’d play Curtis on a line with Backlund and Hudler as much as possible. Backlund’s stellar possession play could help to offset Curtis’ shortcomings, and Hudler’s offensive abilities will help to put Curtis in positions to capitalize off his tremendous scoring percentage.
There are two potential outcomes that could occur here… either it will work, and potentially a role will emerge for Curtis moving forward, or the team will decide to cut ties with the Alberta native and they will ask him to waive his NMC ahead of the trade deadline. If he were to waive, Hartley and the Flames will have done everything in their power to prop him up and maximize his trade value to a team heading into the playoff mix.
What do you think? Is there a role for Curtis Glencross moving forward, or is it time to cut ties and move on… handshakes be damned.
Thanks for reading!