Flames Gone Out?

In what many see as a desperate attempt to fix his team, Calgary Flames General Manager, Darryl Sutter has shipped out four of his roster players while bringing in six new ones. In a matter of only two days, Sutter has managed to drastically change the look of both his offence and defense.

The biggest move on defense, of course, was shipping out former all-star, Dion Phaneuf, as part of a package in return for a group of Maple Leaf players. Newly acquired defenseman, Ian White, will take Phaneuf's place on the Flames blueline. After obtaining the rights to Jay Bouwmeester last year, and Phaneuf's diminished role with the team this season, Darryl Sutter and his management team, simply deemed Phaneuf as expendable.

At forward, the Flames were able to collect a large chunk of the Toronto Maple Leafs offense, in recieving wingers Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers, and centre Matt Stajan as part of the Phaneuf deal. Hagman, Stajan, and Mayers may not be players of the future for Calgary, but there is no doubt they will help generate some offense in Calgary's drive for the playoffs.

For the present, it would appear that the Flames are the winners of this trade by simply looking at what is left of the Toronto offense, but in the long-term the Maple Leafs are the clear winners. They not only have landed a twenty-four year old all-star defenseman, but also a solid two-way forward in Freddie Sjostrom and a promising prospect in Keith Aulie.

A trade involving Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust has also been approved, with the Flames getting underachieving forwards, Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik from the New York Rangers in return. In my opinion, the Flames are losing this one, just for the fact that Brandon Prust is going the other way. He is a strong two-way player, who plays tough, and is somewhat of a fan favorite.

Regardless of the specific players involved in these trades, Sutter and Flames fans have seemingly got what they wanted in a "mini-blowup" of their roster. They will have a very different look, this season and next, but it remains to be seen if this team can come together and make a real push for the playoffs and the Stanley Cup.

Flames depth chart:

Forwards
Dustin Boyd - Matt Stajan - Jerome Iginla
Curtis Glencross - Daymond Langkow - Rene Bourque
Niklas Hagman - Chris Higgins - Ales Kotalik
Erik Nystrom - Jamal Mayers - Jamie Lundmark

Defense
Robyn Regehr - Ian White
Jay Bouwmeester - Cory Sarich
Adam Pardy - Mark Giordano

Goal
Miikka Kiprusoff
Curtis McElhinney