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Canada, AB • Canada •
I try to justify the Dion Phanuef and Jokinen trades over and over again. I still think Dion was a fair trade, we gave them a player who has a ton of upside (debatable) and we took one of their best d-men and two of their best goal scorers in return. Jokinen returned a former 30 goal scorer and a player who had been maligned by his coach and needed a move.

Now I read this article: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam.../2010/05/10/13892416.html

This article, if true, kind of gets me steamed. It basically says that Eric Nystrom will probably leave for better money and a better situation elsewhere and I don't blame him, it also says that Ian White will probably not be affordable unless another 3 million dollar piece moves.

We can speculate about who that might be or what might happen but that is fruitless, the simple matter of the situation is that the Flames are in a mess of their own doing and looking at having to let go of two players that the fans would want to keep. All the while we are facing a prospect of watching Kotalik skate around in circles for two years at three million.

The reality is that Dion should have got a first round pick from somebody and a top six forward, that is not debatable, he is highly regarded by a lot of G.M.'s in the league and would have gotten that return. Jokinen was another guy who if they traded straight up for Higgins no one would care because of the salary coming off the books, we could look forward to July first and a good UFA signing or even keeping White and Nystrom. Really there was no reason to trade Jokinen to New York, the Flames did not get better and their salary cap has another situation.

Because of the lack of money and pending free agents they can't afford, it would be realistic to break down those two trades like:

Phanuef and Jokinen
for
Kotalik, Stajan and Hagman

Kotlik scored so few points as a Flame you could just remove him and that is even more realistic.

If you had proposed that trade to me at the beginning of last year I would have said it would be laughed at, but it happened. The other pieces in Mayers, White and Higgins are all free agents of one sort or another and it appears they can not be retained even if they were wanted.

I thought Nystrom was a player that could be depended on for energy and the penalty kill, a leader, and now a possible former Flame, there goes another 1st round draft pick out the window. White was brought in because his numbers were actually better than Dion's but hey the Flames have a ton of depth at D, I just feel that the trade was a waste of time if White leaves. Stajan is a #2 or #3 center, Hagman I actually really like but Kotalik is almost unforgivable he is so bad.

The worst part is if White leaves and Nystrom leaves it's not as though there's a ton of money to throw at this situation, there are a lot of big contracts on this team that are almost unmovable so it appears as though the forecast for next year is cloudy at best. Stajan as a number one center? It's going to be a long year if that's the case.

S>O>
Filed Under:   Flames   Nystrom   White  
May 11, 2010 11:23 AM ET | Delete
i think it would be foolish to believe there aren't some major changes to the flames top 6 before fall. this should be a very interesting offseason for this team.... or at least i hope :)
May 11, 2010 11:25 AM ET | Delete
May 11, 2010 11:27 AM ET | Delete
Dammit... Agree on the Phaneuf trade. Pretty even, but if I were GM I would have gone a different direction. The Jokinen trade is the reason why Darryl should be fired. Just terrible.
May 11, 2010 11:27 AM ET | Delete
The Flames will be a re-vamped roster by the time the fall rolls around.Sutter, while making some questionable moves, isn't dumb. He knows that he can't go into next season with the status quo. Expect major changes. Good, Bad, or indifferent...
May 11, 2010 11:29 AM ET | Delete
If White gets 3.5 in arbitration, I don't know what we could get for him via trade. (I'm guessing it's not much). Unfortunately, I think we need to keep him, pay him, and bury Kotalik's contract in Abbotsford. It'll likely make him mad enough that he'll go play in Europe.
May 11, 2010 12:21 PM ET | Delete
The "getting" of Jokinen was the brutal trade. The "purging" of Jokinen obviously was an attempt to "fix" the room. I assume the Rangers were not gonna take on his contract unless we took their pile of garbage as well. Darryl rolled the dice on Jokinen and lost.....BAD!!!
May 11, 2010 12:25 PM ET | Delete
What contract? It was expiring! The 3 mil per year anchor that Kotalik brings with him should have cost Sather a 1st just to get rid of it.
May 11, 2010 2:21 PM ET | Delete
I agree with jtommy, higgins was not worth it due to his ufa status and kotlik has a horrible contract. jokinen's was expiring this year and he had more points after the trade then those guys did together. No point in that trade. If he was that big of a deal it's better to sit him then make a horrible trade.
May 11, 2010 6:41 PM ET | Delete
Flames12- there's going to be change I just hate speculating what change!
May 12, 2010 2:06 PM ET | Delete
Unfortunately, I don't think continuosly trying to trade into contention will work. Sutter will keep trying but what this team needs is an overhaul. I hate it because it likely spells one of two scenarios: Iggy getting moved, or Iggy never winning a cup for/with the Flames. Both are tough pills to swallow because I, like most of the city of Calgary, love/respect/worship Iginla. Acquiring Jokinen and as a result letting cammy go was the downfall of this version of the Flames.
May 12, 2010 5:55 PM ET | Delete
Rolling the dice in acquiring Jokinen wasn't a terrible move to make. This was a guy who had put up some serious numbers in Florida and was struggling to adjust to a bad Phoenix team. The salary number and subpar recent play were the only reasons he was even discussed in trade talks. It was in divesting themselves of Jokinen that the Flames erred, hard. The disharmony in the room wasn't worth losing the 5.25m in cap space that Jokinen represented.
May 12, 2010 6:22 PM ET | Delete
I agree getting him was something that had to be tried, I was excited when they got him, the fact it was kotalik and that kotalik did nothing here makes me hope there was a back room deal he'd go to the KHL.
May 12, 2010 6:31 PM ET | Delete
Let him loose on the waver wire and when no one bites let him burn in the minors, then buy-out Staios, trade Regehr for St Louis and find a way to get Saku Koivu. A good leader and solid third line skill, with a perk of maybe a way to entice his brother to find his way to Calgary. If a man cant dream, then what fun is left?
May 12, 2010 7:37 PM ET | Delete
Nystrom is a nice energy player, but I won't really miss him if he is gone. Something big will be happening at the draft. White may have just been a rental ala Stuart. He is also decent, but I don't want to overpay like we did for the ballerina Stajan
May 13, 2010 12:29 PM ET | Delete
flames34:does sutter make Nystrom expendable given his post season preformance in the AHL?Pete: I like the way you think.
May 13, 2010 7:22 PM ET | Delete
I was thinking/hoping to add Saku Koivu as well. But the Koivus have stated they do not want to play together on the same team (in response to you hoping to lure over Mikko as well). They get along just fine but for some reason to do not want to be on the same team. I thought that was kind of odd..
May 13, 2010 8:27 PM ET | Delete
May 13, 2010 8:46 PM ET | Delete
May 14, 2010 12:47 AM ET | Delete
White is restricted, if he signs for 3.0 to 3.5% we can match or get compensated
May 14, 2010 12:50 AM ET | Delete
I think a1st rounder for White. Would be a shame. Kotalik to Russia problem solved, Sutter prbably knew that.
May 14, 2010 1:20 AM ET | Delete
not to be a d1ck but you also gave up prust in the jokinen deal and he played really well for us down the stretch. i really hope you guys can get your situation turned around and maybe in the future we will see a ranger/flames final. unfortunately, i doubt that will be any time soon cause both teams have some bad contracts.
May 16, 2010 1:05 PM ET | Delete
Prust was a fan favorite, I followed him from junior all the way up, he was a good addition for the rangers for sure. No ill will taken.
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