Scott Hannan: Low Risk, High Reward

When Jay Feaster traded Robyn Regehr to Buffalo earlier in the summer, it left a lot of fans waiting for him to fill the void left by the longtime defensive stalwart. The wait carried over through July and August, and today, perhaps it’s alright to breath a little sigh of relief. With the announcement Scott Hannan signing a modest one-year, $1 million deal, Calgary’s defensive corps looks a little more sure of itself.

Hannan, a 10-year veteran and defensive-minded blueliner will make significantly less than his $4.5 million last season. Chalk it up as a steal. Calgary got a cheaper version of Regher. Even if Hannan doesn’t contribute they way he’s been able to in the past, it seems a win-win scenario with no long-term risk.

I would bet that Hannan was looking for a little more money and a little longer deal and had to either lower his asking price, or play overseas. In this case, he might have had to eat humble pie, which means he should have the fire in his belly to prove his worth. Either way, he’s can be brought on in any situation whether killing penalties or filling in on the power-play, in other words, he’s Sutter’s kind of player, just like Regehr.

He’s also apparently excited to be playing hockey in Calgary, according to calgaryflames.com:

“Talking to Brent and talking to Jay and knowing the players they had on the team and seeing what they did towards the last half of the season, it was an exciting team. To be able to come and be apart of that with a team that is committed to winning is exciting.”

Here’s what Jay Feaster had to say about bringing in Hannan:

“He has demonstrated his commitment to our organization and his desire to be a part of our team by agreeing to a contract that enables us to fit him under the salary cap. We are very pleased to add him to the Flames family, and we look forward to his contributions to our success both on and off the ice.”

Now that Calgary is rolling with, at least a starting lineup of NHL-adept defencemen, let the opening-day projections fly. Here’s what I have:

Hannan-Giordano/Babchuk-Bouwmeester/Butler-Sarich

Of course, I am not Brent Sutter and I have been wrong on many occasions. But one thing I am pretty sure of is that the competition in training camp just heated up. All of the sudden T.J. Brodie, Brendan Mkkelson and Clay Wilson find themselves on the definite outside looking in. I love the competition. Maybe one of the young guys will surprise us all and will their way into the lineup.

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