Rumor Rumblings

With the Trade Deadline approaching the trade rumor winds have begun and the most talked about one involves our beloved Flames. The Montreal assistant GM has been at the Flames last couple of games and that has things stirred up that the Flames and Canadiens could be stirring up a deal. According to the rumors Calgary would send LW Alex Tanguay to the Canadiens receiving RW Michael Ryder in return.

In my mind this would be a huge mistake for the Flames. I understand that we are close to the cap going into next year and have to re-sign Phaneuf and possibly Huselius and Langkow or their replacements and that some salary is going to have be dumped in order to do this. Here are a few reasons why getting Ryder in return would be such a huge mistake and maybe other possibilities we could go with without making our team any worse now nor in the future.

1)Ryder for Tanguay is just a terrible trade. Tanguay does have a huge contract and hasn't produced like we would like him too but you also got to look at who he has been playing with. He is a wicked playmaker and really just needs a RW who can put the puck in the net, sorry Nolan you aren't the man for the job. Ryder has a whopping 7 goals this year to go with an outstanding 16 points. Just terrible. Also he is a UFA at the end of the year and with the Flames already having to sign the guys I already mentioned, Ryder would definitely just be a Stuart type rental player. This is just an overall waste of a trade.

2)Five Hole Fanatics suggested maybe Tanguay for Higgins and Komisarek would be a more reasonable trade. I don't think that would happen but it definitely looks alot better going into next year and into the future for the Flames.

3)Another point with the Flames needing more money is that guys like Nolan, Conroy and Yelle are all coming UFA's too at the end of the year. Conroy is making almost 3 million, while Nolan is creeping up on 2 mill and Yelle is just over 1 million. That is way too much for all of those players and if any of them re-sign it will be for significantly less, well at least lets hope so. So there's some extra money there plus Smith, Godard and Hale are also UFA's and even though their contracts aren't huge every little bit helps. Finally the NHL has already announced that the cap is going up so once again more money will be there.

4)So now lets look at the one possible trade that would make sense for the Flames to make so that they could dump some salary for next year but still leave them with some good talent going into the future.(08/09 contract numbers in brackets)
-Flames trade LW Alex Tanguay(5.375 million) to the Los Angeles Kings for RW Mike Cammalleri(3.6 million). This trade I think would make sense. The Kings might be a little hesitant to give up Cammalleri but it is not like they aren't getting a good player in return. Also the Kings have their #1 duo with Kopitar and Brown on the top line, so why not put another playmaker like Tanguay on the second line to pair up with Alexander Frolov. Plus the Kings will probably end up selecting first overall so they could land C Steven Stamkos who would look awfully good in between Tangs and Frolov in the future. This would save Calgary some money for next year but still leaves them with some very good talent. Things against this trade is that Cammalleri becomes a UFA at the end of the 08/09 year so once again you would be looking to sign a big name, but guys like Aucoin(4 million), Warrener(2.5 million) and Eriksson(1.5 million) also become UFA's that same summer so there will be lots of money to spend. Also Cammalleri is out with a rib injury and is probably out another week to 2 weeks so this deal might have to be put on hold but it still could be done before the deadline. Just image Lombardi and Cammalleri on the same line, beautiful.

All in all I dont mind Tanguay at all, I think he is a very good player in just a very unfortunate situation. Like I said before I understand the Flames need to dump some money so they can re-sign Phaneuf, Huselius and Langkow or some one to replace Huselius or Langkow and right now with no one likely to take someone like Aucoin and his 4 million dollars off our hands it looks like Tanguay is our only option, and it really is too bad. If we were to get someone like Cammalleri or a combo of Higgins and Komisarek then that would obviously be the ideal situation for the Flames and all of us fans.

Anyways to get a way from that nothing has happened yet and there is still games to be played including one tonight. The Kings are in town and have been hot lately winning 3 in a row with hot play from Brown, Kopitar and LaBarbera. The Flames will look to continue on their hard fought SO win on Wednesday against the Wild and try to get a little bit of a streak going.

Nystrom and Nolan are both out with injuries while Warrener's ankle is still acting up so I dont think he will go either but you never know. So that means either Primeau or Nilson with be drawn into the line-up. UGLY! The third and fourth lines will need some help especially the fourth, lucky the Flames are at home and have last change. Finally Kipper does get the start over newly signed Cujo but that really is no surprise since Cujo has only gotten in 1 day of practice with the team. Look for him to get some action after the all-star break.

LINES
1- HUSELIUS-LANGKOW-IGGY
2- TANGS-CONROY-MOSS
3- NILSON/PRIMEAU-LOMBO-BOYD
4- SMITH-YELLE-GODARD

1- PHANEUF-ERIKSSON
2- REGEHR-SARICH
3- AUCOIN-HALE

1- KIPPER
2- CUJO