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The Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets will meet later tonight as the Flames try to win back to back games since taking two points from the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.
An entertaining game to watch, Calgary put up a solid effort against the Jets and the play would go back and forth all the way into the shootout. Given that Calgary has been experience troubles securing wins and holding onto leads, the big win against the Jets should give them a boost in confidence as they attempt to better their own product.
"I like those guys because they're working," Hartley said. "We're not perfect, but there is not a day that they're not trying. Some days are tougher than others, some days are better than others, but I can count on those guys. They want to learn, they want to get better and they're certainly very proud of wearing the flaming C."
The star of the night was rookie Sean Monahan who put away the final shootout goal and continues to impress the hockey world. The 19th year old is currently good for 14pts for the season and does not appear to show too many signs of inexperience while playing with the full times guys.
While the Flames will enter tonight’s game with a recent win, the Jackets played last night against the Edmonton Oilers and lost 7-0. Getting beat up like that against a known struggling roster in Edmonton certainly wakes a team up. I would not expect to see the same team which took to the ice last night against the Oilers tonight in Calgary. In all the years of hockey which I have played, it was always after losing a bad game like that which the team came together and showed a lot more focus.
"That was disgusting," forward Nick Foligno said. "It is embarrassing. I hope we have hit rock bottom here and understand that we are not a team that can play like this. This is the lowest of lows."
That said, I would expect a good game from both sides tonight as the Flames try and improve upon their home record of 3-4-2 and the Jackets look to improve upon their similarly poor road record of 3-5-2.
I don’t expect any significant changes to the lineup from what we saw on Monday night, and as such here are likely combinations for tonight. I expect that Hartley gives the nod again to Reto Berra who has yet to really falter in his role as the starter so far this year.
Cammalleri - Stajan - Stempniak Baertschi - Monahan - Hudler Galiardi - Backlund - Jones Bouma - Colborne - McGrattan
Russell - Wideman Butler - Brodie Smid - O’Brien
Berra
**
As the season approaches the month of December, discussions regarding possible trades have been rampant. Expected to be one of the most coveted Flames forward at some point this season, Mike Cammalleri is thought to be attracting the attention of many GM’s with his strong play on a struggling Flames roster. Having only played 12 games so far this year due to an injury suffered in preseason, Cammalleri has already been credited for 11pts and is currently riding an 11 game point streak.
That said, what type of value does Cammalleri really hold for Calgary, and is his value higher as a member of the Flames or as a tradable commodity? To address the former, we have discussed over the previous months how it has been made clear by the Flames organization that this team will maintain its competitiveness through their rebuild. With that in mind, moving Cammalleri would work directly against said notion if the veteran forward is willing to stay on board.
The problem that I have with assessing such a discerning topic whereas a player would put an organization’s goal before their own all comes down to the final paycheck. While I feel that Mike could ruminate the possibility of extending his contract with the Flames, I feel that his current performance could land him a healthier contract with a team who may require his services a little more than his current employer, if you will.
While I maintain that keeping guys like Cammalleri around during their rebuild is important, I feel that his value as a tradable commodity would yield a better product for this organization than would keeping him around for another few years. With that being established, what then could a guy like Michael Cammalleri fetch a team like the Flames in terms of assets.
Certainly they will be looking for draft picks, young promising prospects, and maybe even NHL ready prospects if they are to be had. What needs to be considered with respect to any conceivable trade options between the Flames and an interested team would be the fact that Calgary is able to maintain up to 50% of his remaining salary, which could make the forward that much more desirable. Given that most teams looking to make cup runs this year are pretty tight up against the cap, Mike’s contract at only half the cap hit could create a few extra trading partners which may not have been available otherwise.
The question then becomes, which team(s) need the services of a 31 year old veteran forward who can chip in a few extra goals, provide depth for the power-play, and is known for his level of commitment to the game. There has been some talk that the Vancouver Canucks could be interested in his services as Sportsnet has recently stated that the two clubs have been in discussion over the past two weeks.
Another interesting team floating around is the Dallas Stars. Apparently the Stars have also been shopping for a forward like Cammalleri, though at this point I cannot rely too heavily on the source.
What do you guys think? Which teams could benefit from acquiring such a forward from the Flames and further, which of them could afford moving a draft pick and or higher ranked prospect in order to do so?
Outside of Cammalleri, there are a few names who I feel will be on the chopping block as the season progresses, but at this point in time I would like to dissect one player at a time. I will have more for you later on with respect to the other names which I feel will be on the move, and those who I feel the Flames will need to keep around.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!