I think it’s fair to say there were no surprises on the Calgary Flames’ protected list, with the exception of Mike Smith – who wasn’t a Flame until last weekend.
Some mock lists had Michael Ferland up for grabs and Troy Brouwer protected, but that always sounded more like talk show and Twitter fodder than a real possibility to me.
Enter George McPhee, the Golden Knights GM, who has a virtual embarrassment of riches to choose from (yes, that is sarcasm). The names Lance Bouma, Matt Stajan and Troy Brouwer jump out at first.
But, if I were McPhee, I’d look elsewhere.
Bouma only has one year left on a lucrative deal for a fourth liner; but, he’s never lived up to the year that got him that deal in the first place.
Stajan’s in the same contract boat as Bouma. But he could be useful to help establish a leadership group, if McPhee feels that’s where the hole is.
Brouwer’s overpaid and under-producing, and while it would be a blessing if Vegas took that deal off the Flames’ hands. I don’t see it happening.
What might be intriguing, would be a young defenceman – say a Brett Kulak or Tyler Wotherspoon. Both are cheap at the price they’d command and Wotherspoon is in need of a new start somewhere after he dropped off the Flames’ radar.
We’ll find out come Wednesday night.