Calgary Flames
Pending UFAs – Mike Cammalleri, Kevin Westgarth, Chris Butler, Joey MacDonald, Chris Breen, Derek Smith, Blair Jones
Pending RFAs – Joni Ortio, Olivier Roy, Ben Hanowski, Mark Cundari, Chad Billins, Paul Byron, Joe Colborne, Lance Bouma, T.J. Galiardi
Looking to add – The Flames need help everywhere, though they seem to be okay in terms of puck-moving defensemen. And goaltender Karri Ramo finished the season very strong, serving notice that he can be a capable starting goaltender for this team in 2014-15. But just how good will the team in front of him be? A lot will depend on replacing Cammalleri with a player Cammalleri should have been – a healthy 35-goal scorer. Since 2007, Cammalleri played more than 70 games in a season just once.
Players fitting the bill on the free agent market include: Thomas Vanek, Paul Stastny and – if you stretch the definition of a 35-goal scorer – Jarome Iginla and Radim Vrbata.
Ready for full-time – Tyler Wotherspoon, a defenseman drafted in the second round (57th overall) in 2011, is probably ready. His offensive upside is modest and we won’t likely see such upside until 2018 at the earliest.
There are a few potential stars that are within two years of becoming full-time NHLers. The first is Johnny Gaudreau, a smallish (5-foot-9) pivot who started for both Team USA at the world juniors and for Hockey East’s Boston College. Gaudreau was Hockey East’s player of the year in both 2012-13 and 2013-14, and took home the Hobey Baker Award recently as the top college player in the nation. His size would indicate that he’ll need a couple of years to develop, but he did score in his first NHL game, which was Calgary’s last of the season. Gaudreau has a lot of upside and if he can stay healthy he has a good chance of becoming a ‘must own’ in fantasy hockey in several years.
The other potential star is Sven Baertschi, who was probably rushed into the NHL last season when it turns out that he needed more seasoning at the American League level. Baertschi eventually found his game in the AHL, but he still tends to lose confidence when things don’t go well, leading to prolonged slumps. He reminds me of Jiri Tlusty in that sense – dominant in the AHL one day and disappearing the next.
Gaudreau’s college linemate Bill Arnold is not as close to NHL readiness and certainly doesn’t have the same upside. However, there are rumors swirling that Chicago prospect Kevin Hayes will elect not to sign with the team and explore free agency. He was the third member of the best line in college hockey and if he were to choose to sign with the Flames then Arnold’s upside gets a whole lot higher. The situation will be a very interesting one, though I doubt we see it play out in the 2014-15 season.
Fantasy Outlook – We can probably expect more of the same next season from this young team. We may see flashes of hope and potential from players such as Sean Monahan and Mikael Backlund. But the Flames are in full-on rebuild mode and so fantasy owners are in full-on waiting mode when it comes to this team. Unlike a year ago, there are several really great prospects on the way.
Fantasy Grade: C- (last year was D+)