FLAMES FEELING DEFENSIVE HEADING INTO THE DRAFT
GM Treliving says priority is adding at least one more high-end rearguard
The Calgary Flames are on the cusp of being able to mirror the top two teams in the west conference.
The club’s priority over the next few days revolves around acquiring a high-end defenceman to round out a top four that’s every bit as impressive as Nashville’s and Anaheim’s.
The plan after that is to land a significant fifth defenceman to ensure that, at all times, the team’s biggest strength revolves around its back end.
“That’s the model,” said Flames GM Brad Treliving of a direction many teams want to take but only a few can. “We think we’ve got a young group to build some assets.”
With Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie providing as formidable a blue line base as the league has, Treliving will spend every hour before and after Friday’s draft trying to land a highly-respected, accomplished No. 4 to play alongside Brodie.
Waiting a week to sign such a beast through free agency is less than palatable, given the thin options and overpaying required on July 1 for the likes of a Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Dmitri Kulikov, Kris Russell, Michael Del Zotto or a Brendan Smith.
Michael Stone remains Flames property for another week before hitting the open market. The 27-year-old’s stock was bolstered because of his late season trade to Calgary, where his arrival coincided with the Flames’ 10-game winning streak. He remains an option. Slightly. For now, Treliving is continuing to work the phones with an eye to trading for something bigger.
Travis Hamonic continues to be a name tied to Flames interests. He would be the type of impact player the Flames GM is hoping for. His name has been connected to the Flames for over a year, though.
Money isn’t too much of an issue this time around as Dennis Wideman ($5.25 million), Deryk Engelland ($2.9 million) and Ladislav Smid ($3.5 million) all come off the books, opening up close to $12 million in annual spending within a $75 million cap.
Not all of it will be tabbed for defencemen as Sam Bennett and Micheal Ferland need raises. Next year Backlund is up.
But recent history has shown there are few better places to spend your cash than on defence, especially now that the team’s roster of centres appears solidified with Sean Monahan, Backlund, Bennett, Mark Jankowski, Matt Stajan and Curtis Lazar.
“It gives us a little flexibility,” said Treliving of the extra cash.
“There’s skill, there’s bite and you can defend with those guys down the middle. If we could add another top four (defenceman) to it with those guys …”
The Calgary Flames are well aware that, if they’re going to start making waves in the playoffs, they’ll likely have to go through Connor McDavid and the Oilers to do it.
The best way to do that is by being able to throw two elite defence pairings out at any time, ensuring at home or on the road that McDavid can’t take advantage of mismatches.
The Ducks did it to get by the Oilers and the Predators did it to get by the Ducks and everyone else in the west.
Long term, the Flames hope Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington and Adam Fox will round out the current core of defensive studs.
But right now, Treliving is working to make one or two significant additions to the back end who can be difference-makers right away.
The Vegas Golden Knights have several extra defencemen to peddle, although few are of the calibre the Flames have in mind. Mark Methot ($4.9 million through to 2019) would be the exception. There’s every reason to believe GM George McPhee will send the former Ottawa defender to the highest bidder.
Problem for the Flames is that everyone is putting an even higher premium on top-end defencemen these days with Toronto, Montreal, Dallas and Edmonton, among others, all hot and heavy to improve their back end through trades.
The lifting of the expansion draft roster freeze on Thursday morning yielded a few significant moves including a Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome swap.
The Flames are pushing hard to make a similar splash or two before the weekend is over.
There’s skill, there’s bite and you can defend with those guys down the middle. If we could add another top four (defenceman) to it with those guys …