Calgary Flames Monday Roundtable: Free Agency, This Past Week
By Ramina Shlah
Question 3: Do you wish the Calgary Flames were a little louder and acquired some sort of Justin Williams or Patrick Marleau esque guy?
Jonathan Boulanger
It is always great to get a guy like that, but it is hard and is very important to not look at those type of guys as the superstars they once were (In Jagr and Marleau’s case)… Except Iggy, he will always be a star.
Ian Gustafson
I wish that they would have been a little louder but Treliving did the best with what he has. If he did go for someone big like a justin williams, it might have put us in cap trouble. So I think that he spread the money around in a good way without putting the team in a hole.
Alex Hoegler
No, because signing a guy like Williams or Marleau comes with a risk. They’re both approaching their 40s and were quite overpaid this offseason. Calgary needs to keep saving some cap space, and signing a veteran long-term (when he’ll realistically have one or two good years left), isn’t worth it.
Related Story: Flames Interested in Patrick Marleau
Tomas Oppolzer
No. I just don’t think they have the kind of cap space to make that happen. It would have been nice, but I just think the Stone signing really hampered the team’s ability to go out and get a big UFA unless they can unload someone like Troy Brouwer.
Dan Raicevich
Brian Burke once said that teams overpay on July 1, and I am not upset the team passed on those two players. While the two players still have something left to give, Williams wanted to stay in the East and Marleau realistically has a year left of being a skilled player. A weak free agent class none the less. The Flames didn’t miss much.
Ramina Shlah
Hey, I didn’t know that Brian Burke said that, Dan, but it makes sense! I do wish they could have maybe gotten a Justin Williams, but only if they could free up cap space if they could have traded Brouwer. But seeing how much Williams contract ended up being ($4.5 million AAV) and seeing how the Flames still have Brouwer, I’m glad they stayed relatively quiet.