Fanning the Calgary Flames!

As unlikely as it would be for the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames to make a trade of any significance, I must continue the series. Therefore, with that said, the member of the Flames that most interests me in the interests of the Oilers is Kris Russell.

Originally drafted 67th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2005, the native of Red Deer, Alberta has bounced around a bit before landing in Calgary. After being dealt to St.Louis for current Oiler, Nikita Nikitin, Russell played a season in Finland for TPS Turku during the labour dispute and after that was deemed excess to requirement in St.Louis. Russell was an RFA at that time. He was subsequently traded to Calgary for a 5th round draft pick in 2014 (Jaedon Descheneau) and signed to a one year deal worth $1.5m.

Kris Russell is the NHL’s premier shot blocker and as we’re seeing year after year, these types of players are increasingly coveted by NHL GMs. Russell blocked a mind boggling 283 shots this season. A New NHL record! The closest oiler? Mark Fayne with 125. Pitiful I say. The last Oilers defenceman that was frequently willing to put his body on the line was ironically traded to the Flames, Ladislav Smid.

I believe teams need players that put it all on the line for their teammates. There are players that shouldn’t be doing that, namely a team’s star players. Another important factor to think about is good teams block shots. Look at the leader board for blocked shots for this past season. Notice a trend?

Now, why would Calgary be okay with moving Kris Russell? They wouldn’t, barring a massive off, a trade request or a hold out he should be a Flame for the rest of his career. But if I were inquiring I’d set out multiple offers on the 28 yr old.

• Joey Laleggia/Jordan Oesterle and a 2nd round pick in this year’s draft.
  – I think fans would be on board with this one as it doesn’t require the team to lose anybody of significance. The Flames are lacking a puck moving offensive blueliner in their pipeline. Oesterle or Laleggia would solve that.
• The 16th overall selection.
  – My thinking here is that Kris Russell would be the Oilers’ top PK and shutdown defender alongside Mark Fayne. A 2 pairing dman. This, to me, seems like massive overpayment but if the deal had to get done and Russell signed a 5 year deal with $18-20 million with the Oilers, why not? Would the player drafted here be better than Russell in those 5 years? I imagine he could be but we don’t know for sure.
• Ben Scrivens and Martin Marincin.
  – Flames fans would balk at any of these deals but probably this one the most. The thing is with Kari Ramo a UFA, will Joni Ortio be able to pick up the slack as backup if Ramo decides to take his show on the road? Is David Schlemko or Ladi Smid better than Marty Marincin? It’s debatable I think.
• Nail Yakupov but Calgary adds Lance Bouma, their 2015 1st round draft pick, and Patrick Sieloff .
  – Now here’s an interesting deal that I’ll take a ton of heat for but hear me out. At the moment Calgary holds the 15th overall selection and has Jiri Hudler and Joe Colborne manning the top two spots on the right wing. Colborne is a natural center but Calgary is stacked there so they moved him to the wing and that gave them a big body with good hands for the board battles. But the team lacks a pure sniper and Edmonton lacks character and sandpaper.Yakupov is not quite at that point where we know what we have but his value is beginning to increase again and he still has the stature that comes along with being the 1st overall pick but with all these kids on the team someone is going to have to go at some point.

  The 15th overall selection and the 16th overall pick could definitely be turned into a player that the Oilers really need, perhaps another defenceman or a starting goalie. It could also be used to move up into the top ten to select say, Zach Werenski, Pavel Zacha, Lawson Crouse or Mikko Rantanen.

  The 25 year old Bouma is the guy that hit Pitlick and lacerated his spleen. He’s a heart and soul kinda character and would look sweet beside Anton Lander on the 3rd line. Not only that but his 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points were one more than what Yakupov attained.

  Patrick Sieloff is a tough-nosed stay-at-home dman. Not huge mind you at 6’0″ 200lbs but takes care of business in his own end. He’s not as big as David Musil but plays a similar game and is a better skater.

I know, I know. You can’t trade a 1st overall pick for a 3/4 dman, a bottom 6 energy winger, a bluechip AHL dman, and a 1st rounder. Or can you? I can’t reiterate this enough. The top 6 is too young and there are spots on the roster that are more important than 2nd line right wing. The Oilers are still too easy to play against and the law of averages will catch up to the team. One of these top 5 picks isn’t going to pan out. And You know what team wasn’t easy to play against this past season, the Calgary Flames. They also made it to the 2nd rounder of the playoffs without their talisman and captain.

So what do you think? If there was a player on the Calgary Flames roster that you liked, who would it be and what would you give up for him? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! Take Care!