Burn it to the Ground Already

Wasn’t 2004 sweet for the Flames and their fans?!  Then a division title came in 2006!  Awesome!  And since…yikes.  Well they have beaten up on the Oilers in that time, so that’s…well that’s nothing to brag about cause everyone else has too.  They’ve made changes.  Sutter’s have come and gone.  But the time has come to over turn the roster.  Actually that’s a lie.  The roster turn over is well overdue!

On December 26^th of last year Jay Feaster was brought in as GM after Daryl Sutter was “fired”.  I said it then and I’ll say it now…HATE the hire.  Oiler fans have loved it, as have Canuck fans.  First of all don’t credit Jay Feaster for the Stanley Cup winning roster that Rick Dudley put together.  Jay Feaster got there at the perfect time and slowly under his watch that team eroded.  His drafting record is terrible and his tenure inTampaBay proved more than anything that he was scared to take a big swing.

So in other words this isn’t the man needed to rebuild the Flames.  Calgary needs a guy to come in and clean house.  The fans know this, the media knows this, and I would even guess the players know this.  Yet…at least publically…Feaster refuses to acknowledge this.  In fairness to Feaster, this trade deadline seems like the right time to finally start blowing it up, but long term deals to Alex Tanguay and Curtis Glencross last summer don’t really indicate he wants to do that.

But it needs to be done so why don’t I do it?  Sweet, sounds good I will!  Start with Olli Jokinen.  “The Joke” won’t have MUCH value at the deadline, but in a deep draft and a team desperate to reload the system, a 3^rd or 4^th round pick should be welcome.  And you could say the same for all the impending UFA’s.  Lee Stempniak (3^rd or 4^th), David Moss (3^rd or average prospect), Cory Sarich (2^nd or decent prospect) and Scott Hannan (2^nd or 3^rd).  By the deadline all these guys should be gone.

Next is the big one for Feaster.  I think he will do what I just suggested weather he wants to accept a full on rebuild or not…he will need balls to do this one.  Of course I’m speaking of Jarome.  UNLESS Iginla goes Mats Sundin and refuses to ever waive his NMC, Feaster has to do this move.  I would.  I know he is the franchise but the franchise needs to go for the franchise to avoid being set back another 3 years.

Teams would line up to get him despite his contract.  You would get a 1^st round pick for him and a high end prospect.  Of course you would need to take on salary, but this is true in just about any deal in today’s NHL.  As for what teams are the best fit, I’m thinking one team stands out above all else…Chicago.

The package?  Mark McNeil, Kyle Beach, a 1^st round pick and Nik Hjalmarsson for Jarome Iginla and Scott Hannan (if he has yet to be dealt).  It’s a great fit for the Hawks, they have the cap space and could use another guy in there top 6 so to get a power forward with Iginla’s pedigree would be incredible and they get a veteran stay at home d-man in Hannan to replace Hjalmarsson.

Calgary gets a big power forward in McNeill, another power forward in Beach who the Hawks seem to have soured on, another 1^st round pick in what is going to be a VERY deep draft, not to mention a good young stay at home d-man in Hjalmarsson.  It’s a big price for the Hawks to pay but I believe they will be in the perfect position to strike and Iginla would be willing to waive his NMC to go to Chicago.

You have to wait till the offseason for the Kipper move, as his NMC is up on July 1^st.  Then it will be difficult on July 1^st, but there is always one team (Philly) looking for a top end experienced netminder on July 1.  I’m thinking a team like Tampa Bay.  Roloson could be gone and they will need a guy like Kipper.  His contract will limit how much you can get back for him, but if the Flames got a kid like Carter Ashton I believe that would be a GREAT deal.

As for Bouwmeester, Bourque and Stajan, Flames fans will have to live with the fact that they aren’t going anywhere.  You can make a compelling argument for them dealing Tanguay and Giordano but it’s good to keep some vets around in a rebuild and I have gone on long enough 😉

I don’t think it SHOULD be hard to turn around the Flames, but there GM will have to start making SIGNIFICANT changes rather than just throwing some paint on a totaled car.