Calgary - With the OTHL trade deadline having passed at midnight last evening, the Calgary Flames roster has taken its final form for this year's playoff run.
Here's a breakdown of the Flames trades since the end of February, when Chad Blouin took-over as general manager:
February 28th
To Nashville: Brandon Bochenski, David Moss
To Calgary: Jeff Tambellini, Jim Slater
In Blouin's first deal, he hooked up with his former team, acquiring young forwards Jeff Tambellini and Jim Slater in exchange for two older forwards who've already gotten a taste of OTHL play in Brandon Bochenski and David Moss.
Blouin's comments:
"We sacrificed a couple young forwards with experience in the league for two younger guys with a lot of potential, who we feel will at least meet the talent level of those we gave up. Low risk, high reward in our minds."
To San Jose: Rod Brind'Amour, Daniel Cleary
To Calgary: Matt Carle, Richard Park, Ryane Clowe, 5th Round Pick (2008)
If the first deal wasn't enough, Blouin took the opportunity to make it apparant that he valued youth over experience in his second deal, dealing assisant captain Rod Brind'Amour and veteran winger Dan Cleary to San Jose. In return, the Flames recieved young defenseman Matt Carle, winger Ryane Clowe and veteran winger Richard Park, along with a draft pick.
Blouin's comments:
"It was a tough deal for me. I don't like coming in and disrupting the locker room right-away, but we lacked defensive depth throughout the organization and we had the opportunity to acquire a strong, puck-moving defenseman who is near being ready to quarterback our power play. With Sergei Zubov getting closer to 40 and Tim Gleason not developing as we had hoped, we needed to address the situation and unfortunately, it came at the expense of our pro roster.
Keep in mind, we also added a young winger just starting to get his feet wet, who we in the organization feel has the potential to be a top-six forward for us."
March 4th
To Toronto: Georges Laraque
To Calgary: 3rd Round Pick (2007)
Blouin's comments:
"Nothing fancy here. The opportunity arose to add an asset in the form of a draft-pick, in exchange for a non-player for us. It also gives Georges an opportunity to play in the OTHL, as he was a farm-hand on our team."
March 6th
To Nashville: Glen Metropolit
To Calgary: Curtis Brown
Blouin's comments:
"It may come back to bite us in the off-season, losing a serviceable winger like Glen who was under contract for three more years at a reasonable rate, but we felt we had a similar player in Chimera already and needed to add a defensively sound veteran for the playoffs.
Curtis' deal is up at the end of this year, but we hope to offer him a solid hockey enviornment to continue his career in. He plays a very disciplined game and is very responsible in his own end, and should benefit us come April."
March 7th
To Tampa: Brodie Dupont, 1st Round Pick (2007), 4th Round Pick (2007)
To Calgary: Bryan Berard, 2nd Round Pick (2008), 6th Round Pick (2008)
With head coach Darryl Sutter publicly stressing a need for speed on the blueline, his general manager pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire offenseman Bryan Berard from the Lightning.
Blouin's comments:
"A bit of an overpayment on paper, but adding a speedy blueliner who's never afraid to join the rush and keeping Darryl quiet is always a plus. It was tough giving up a 1st, but getting the 2nd next year made up for it. With this upcoming draft being as weak as it is, we should be able to land a player of the same talent level in the second round next year."
March 11th
To New York Islanders: Manny Legace, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Nickulas
To Calgary: Dominik Hasek, Pascal Dupuis, 2nd Round Pick (2007)
Intent on adding a goaltender he has more confidence in, Blouin swung a deal with the Islanders for Dominik Hasek, after an attempt to land Tomas Vokoun fell through days earlier.
Blouin's comments:
"I know what Manny did last year for Calgary, taking them to a game seven showdown with Atlanta in the finals, but I had a hard time believing he could get us that far again. He's a solid goaltender, a definite starter in this league, but the opportunity to add one of the greats in Hasek is hard to pass up.
In addition to Manny, we also lose Joe Nieuwendyk in the deal. Joe was our captain, but with his retirement coming at the end of the season, he became expendable in the right deal."
March 14th
To Los Angeles: Jeff Tambellini, Patrik Stefan, Johan Hedberg, 2nd Round Pick (2007)
To Calgary: Martin Biron, Eric Belanger, Jeff Cowan
After getting word from Dominik Hasek's agent that he would be testing the market at the end of this season, Blouin looked to shore-up the goaltending situation for the years to come by acquiring Martin Biron from Los Angeles.
Blouin's comments:
"Well, another goalie out and another in. This move had as much to do about this year, as it did the coming years. I don't want to take a chance on losing Hasek and being stuck with Hedberg to lead the way in '08. He's a decent goalie, but not a starter for a team looking to continue its playoff appearances beyond this season.
I like Biron. I feel if given the chance, he can be a top netminder in this league. While he was the main piece of this trade, upgrading at center was huge for us. Patrik Stefan just wasn't able to reach his potential with us, and with Spezza's inability to stay healthy of late, we needed someone who could carry the load a little better. Belanger's been playing great this season, right-away he becomes our leading goal scorer and strengthens us down the middle after losing Brind'Amour and Nieuwendyk."
March 14th
To New York Rangers: Branislav Mezei, Kirk Maltby, cash
To Calgary: Nathan Guenin, Rick Kozak
Blouin's comments:
"It was an awful deal to make, but with the Biron trade having just gone down, we had to shed salary quickly to comply with the cap. With Maltby making nearly $2 million dollars in our bottom six, he became expendable in an instant. Let's all just try to forget this one."
March 17th
To New York Islanders: Eric Cairns
To Calgary: 6th Round Pick (2007)
To Nashville: Rory Fitzpatrick
To Calgary: 5th Round Pick (2007)
Blouin's comments:
"A couple deadline specials. Unused talent for picks. There's no real negative or positive in either of these deals."
To Philadelphia: Bryan Berard
To Calgary: Freddy Meyer, 4th Round Pick (2007), 5th Round Pick (2008)
In Calgary's final deal before the trade deadline, Blouin moved the recently acquired Bryan Berard to Philadelphia.
Blouin's comments:
"We were displeased with the play of Berard since we had acquired him, and though he continued to hit the ice, his physical condition also became a concern for us. Older defenseman with back troubles are quite a risk, but Philly was willing to take a chance on him, and we feel we came out pretty well.
Freddy's got some experience in the pros, and we'd rather take chance on him developing than Berard's back holding up."