With the buyout of Brouwer, the Flames have no more excuses for not resigning Hanifin. What is the holdup? How much do they want to sign him for? Checking around, nobody seems to know what the heck is going on. I mean, we can't go much over six for him. In fact, that is the max I would sign him for. It was everyone's understanding when we did the Hamilton deal that two players acquired in the Canes deal were eager to get this done. The only thing I was thinking was could it be the term? Everyone knows the more years, the more the price tag goes up. If the Flames want eight years, it will mean Hanifin giving up some years of free agency. That is really the only snag. The Flames still have plenty of time as it is early August; but the more time it takes, the bigger the distraction it will be.
The contract negotiation for Hanifin is a hornets' nest. There are four different offers on the table for different numbers of years, but they can't agree on a price.
Meanwhile, the Flames have a logjam on the defence. Nine able bodies for six spots, and one extra spot on the bench. The Flames are working out their options, which pretty much means a trade could be happening. The price depends on which dman is on the block. The Flames would prefer Stone, but they seem to feel it will be one of the kids. They're not getting much interest in Stone. They don't have much interest in trading Brodie anymore; the feeling is that Brodie will rebound playing with Gio fulltime this season.
So who will get the final spot? Kylington is a very solid young defence who is a great stay-home defenseman. He has some offence; he has nothing to prove in Stockton.
Brett Kulak the incumbent. He was here last year. He has experience. He is solid defensively, although he made a few silly mistakes. If he can clear up the mental issues, he can easily be the sixth man.
Rasmus Andersson is a Grade A prospect who is ready right now. He is solid offensively and even better defensively. He still needs improvement, but that will come with experience. Rasmus still needs improvement in his defensive game, but he can rely on Stone to give him the confidence to get by.
The last-but-not-least candidate is Juuso Valimaki, the most talented player of the bunch. The Kid is still young, and you never want to rush defencemen, so the better part of valour may be to keep him away for another year. The Way Juuso has been playing, that decision may be hard for the Flames to make. Valimaki could make impossible for the Flames to send him down.
The other concern is how far the defence will step back with the loss of Hamilton. Will the improvement of the offence compensate for the loss of the defence? I don't think the decline in the defence is enough to worry about because the offence will be so much improved.
The Flames are very happy with their new top-six forwards. With Backlund, Tkachuk, and Lindholm, the feeling is that they might not have to rely on their front line as much. Lindholm is a huge upgrade, giving the Flames a complete second line for the first time in years. Talking about their front line, it sure got an upgrade, didn't it? James Neal finally gives the Flames a bona fide number one right winger. He is a pure sniper who can put the puck in the net and a very intelligent winger who can think many moves ahead. Basically, they found a sniper with the IQ to fit in with Johnny and Sean.
With the addition of James Neil and Derek Ryan, the days of divisions in the locker room will be over. This team will be united instead of being a bunch of individuals. Neil will end the "me" attitude and replace it with a team attitude. And he will have company in Derek Ryan, who is a no-nonsense workhorse who will have the Flames outworking the opposition.
