Free agent defencemen to target in offseason

[DuncanKinney]

Calgary is a thin on NHL ready D prospects and picking up a free agent D would push Wideman, Smid and Engelland down the depth chart a little further which is only a good thing

Here are my top three UFA D to target in the offseason

Cody Franson
Andrej Sekera
Jeff Petry

All 28 or under, all decent 3/4 D to play behind Brodano. Contract wise something like 4 years between 16 to 21 million would be my offer.

Click to read more...

 

[Mr Lebowski]

I'd add Mike Green to that list

 

[DuncanKinney]

I'd add Mike Green to that list

Oh yeah, excellent call. A Calgary boy as well. Might be a bit pricey but the Flames have plenty of cap space. As long as they don't give him a ridiculously long term that could work.

 

[Gritty]

Petry should be our target. Still young, very mobile, capable of playing top 4, big body, and shoots right.

I wouldn't mind landing Mike Green, but I would want to parlay Wideman into assets if that's the case. If we did this I would want Wotherspoon playing 5/6 with Engelland next season.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I don't really want Green.

And not to nitpick, we have lots of depth in defensive prospects, the problem is we have none that have top pairing upside. We may even just want to hold off and let Tspoon, Culkin and Sieloff develop.

 

[Skobel24]

Calgary is a thin on NHL ready D prospects and picking up a free agent D would push Wideman, Smid and Engelland down the depth chart a little further which is only a good thing

Here are my top three UFA D to target in the offseason

Cody Franson
Andrej Sekera
Jeff Petry

All 28 or under, all decent 3/4 D to play behind Brodano. Contract wise something like 4 years between 16 to 21 million would be my offer.

No to Franson, no to Sekera. Petry would be worth looking at. I'd like Green, but I don't want him long term, so I doubt he'd sign.

 

[Volica]

Honestly:
We need to move one of Smid or Engelland. While Engel's been playing pretty decently lately; he's not going to ever live up to that contract. Smid is overpaid for his role with this team; and while I love the warriors.. one or the other has to go.

While Diaz has been playing absolutely great as of late as well; I don't think there will be many people lining up for his services after this season. It could be another guy Calgary signs on to be our #7 for a league minimum again a few days after FAF.

My prime targets would be in order:
Petry
Sekera
Franson

Green would be worth a look; but he is going to get PAID this off-season (same as Franson; Green however, is already being paid North of 6 Million, which I'm sure he'd want again) I think he'd probably look something similar to Niskanen did this offseason, or bigger money on a short term (talking North of 6.5 here).

Calgary's worked really hard at minimizing bad contracts; the last thing we want to do is spend up to the cap with marginal talent when our best players are currently cap-controlled (JG, Monny, Gio) and who won't be for long.

Petry is probably your best best. I think you could probably get him for south of 5 million on a 5 year contract (think along the lines of 23-25/5); he's a big top 4 Dman... He gets a bad wrap because of the Oil... but I'd love to have this big guy on our backend... especially when we play the Oil and he gets to show them what they left on the table.

Sekera is your next best bet. He plays in a hockey dead-zone, so most people don't even know about this guy. He's a top 4 (arguably a #2, very arguably) that is great skating (Calgary, yay) PMD. I think he'd probably be around that 5/year type figure as well.

A top 4 consisting of any of the following:
Gio, Brodie, Russell, Sekera or Petry would be one of the better ones in the league. It would also push Wideman down into more of a PP, offensive start role. He's been a good full ice player this year; but I'm certain he'd even love to get easy zone starts and 1st PP unit time, while playing 15-16 minutes a night. It'd let Wotherspoon move up as well. I'm fairly certain that if Wother got preseason time, he could have possibly made this team out of camp. I think he'll be a full-time NHLer by next season.

 

[Yung Rotini]

I would love to add Sekera.

 

[Calculon]

Sekera's easily the best of the bunch. He's the only high quality two way guy on there. I'll be surprised if Petry doesn't sign with the Wings.

But while I do hope the Flames go after Sekera, they also need to make room for Wotherspoon. I agree that Smid has to go but Treliving should be open to moving Wideman if some team offers a good deal.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

If Wotherspoon is ready, I don't want to bring any veterans in yet. I want to move Wideman out, but he'll have to waive his NMC.

In fact, I just want to be rid of at least two of Wideman, Smid, Engelland's contracts.

Then I'd be all for Sekera + Wotherspoon. I wouldn't mind resigning Diaz in that case either.

 

[DuncanKinney]

I agree. None of those contracts is good value for money.

Also, thinking about it a little more I'd be concerned with bringing in Green because of his injury history.

 

[Body Checker]

I'll never understand the hate for Wideman. He's a minute munching, puck moving dman who isn't overly soft. A leader and a PP specialist. The more ice time he gets the better he plays. Putting him on the 3rd pairing will just hurt his overall game, he thrives on minutes.

Why would we replace him with Petry? Plus Petry will vacate Alberta as fast as he can this offseason.

I'd trade him only if we had a guy like Mike Green coming in and Wideman gets traded for a roster forward.

 

[Deen]

Calgary doesn't need to even make make moves at this point. They should stand pat and see what they have in the system. Let these contracts expire and move from there imo.

 

[tmurfin]

Petry. Always thought he was decent, and it would be a nice kick in the balls to our rival.

 

[slappipappi]

He's a minute munching....

You said "munching"....

 

[CraigsList]

I don't necessarily want us hunting for a defenseman this offseason if Wotherspoon is still progressing well. He should be in the lineup next year. Smid needs to be moved, he's not really needed here anymore since the signing of Engelland.

 

[Johnny GODreau]

A Top 4 RHD would be ideal. But as others said we should move Smid. He's not terrible, he needs a puck mover as his partner though.

Gio-Brodie
Russell-X/Wideman
X/Wotherspoon-Wideman/Engelland
X/Engelland

 

[FLAMES666]

Don't want to overpay for any of these D man in the off season. Either acquire an upgrade on D via trade, or stay the course.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I'll never understand the hate for Wideman. He's a minute munching, puck moving dman who isn't overly soft. A leader and a PP specialist. The more ice time he gets the better he plays. Putting him on the 3rd pairing will just hurt his overall game, he thrives on minutes.

- He seems to get the easiest zone starts
- He's always out of position defensively, and never seems to be clearing screens or getting the puck into the offensive zone.
- For a PP specialist, our PP never seems to actually score when he's on the ice unless it's off a Wideman shot (and I don't like depending on point shots for power play goals)
- He's a 0, while every guy he's been paired with all season is a +9, a +16, and +25 respectively.
- He's not a fast skater
- He's the highest paid player on the team, and his contract (along with Smid/Engelland/Bollig BTW) runs through to the year Giordano, Gaudreau, Monahan get a raise.

I don't "dislike" Wideman but I just want to see the team get better, and for the team to get better they have to address their weaknesses. The biggest weakness for this team is that Kris Russell is our #3 Dman when ideally he's probably a #4 or #5. But to do that you need guys who push him down the depth chart, which is not what Wideman does.

Is Sekera the solution? I'll be very honest and say I haven't watched very many 'Canes / Sabres games to truly know. But my understanding is that he's an upgrade.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I would move Wideman for Dion as long as the plus wouldn't be much more. I don't think Wideman would fetch a lot more though. Maybe we could get Kindl and Ouellet from the Wings. Or if we could get Brendan Smith straight up I'd consider that to. Smith has been pretty good this year.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

I really don't want any of the defensemen listed in the OP. They are all going to be overpaid, and while they look good on bad teams, I'm not sold on them personally. Irrational I know, but I don't see any of them outside of maybe Sekera being an upgrade for our top 4. And as I said, he's gonna get paid by someone.

 

[Gritty]

I think Wideman could garner a late 1st with the season he's put up. If a team misses out on their UFA target, their could be some serious interest.

I've enjoyed Wideman this season, and realize how valuable he is in our top 4, but I think we could be really smart with our asset management by replacing his minutes with a UFA while acquiring assets for his contract.

Wideman for 1st or 2nd + prospect
Sign - Green for 3yrs @ 7million

We get a similar defence-man who's slightly younger/bigger, while only paying an extra 1.75 and adding valuable assets.

Green @ 7million + 1st or 2nd + prospect > Wideman with %20 retained.

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

We would be gaining more than 1.75 in cap of we retained 20% of Wideman's contract. That is 1.05 extra for us.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Wouldn't mine picking up Petry if hes a FA to be honest.

 

[Gritty]

We would be gaining more than 1.75 in cap of we retained 20% of Wideman's contract. That is 1.05 extra for us.

My bad...

But even then I still like the idea.