In the wake of the Edmonton Oilers trading away Ryan Smyth at the trade deadline, I’ve read a couple of articles noting the Calgary Flames could face a similar problem around this time next season, or by the summer of 2008, with team captain Jarome Iginla and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.
Both are the two key components of the Flames, and both are eligible for unrestricted free agency next July.
The obvious assumption is the Flames will re-sign both players, even if, as one columnist noted, it could involve tying up over $13 million per season in valuable payroll on two players.
But let’s assume for a moment that the Flames aren’t able or willing to re-sign both, that they’d be forced to choose between the two. Which one would they retain?
The obvious answer would appear to be Iginla, their captain, heart-and-soul, former Art Ross and two-time Richard trophy winner and the Flames leading scorer for each of the past six seasons, including this one.
Yet it can also be argued that, as good as Iginla is, the Flames didn’t truly turn into a strong playoff club until they acquired Kiprusoff. For the past three seasons he’s be one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, winner of the Vezina Trophy in 2006 and a potential candidate again in 2007.
It’s been suggested Iginla could seek “Jagr-type” money (over $8 million per season) after next season, whilst Kiprusoff could seek a considerably cheaper $5 million per.
If it were my choice, I’d take the publicity hit and keep “Kipper”, and use the savings from “Iggy’s” salary to acquire a good young star or two via trade or free agency.
As I’ve said before, how far you get in the playoffs ultimately depends on your goaltending. A rival club can shut down your top forward, but they can’t shut down your top goalie if he’s on his game. Without Kiprusoff or a comparable netminder, the Flames are a marginal playoff contender.
Besides, having more depth on defense and at forward is more difficult to shut down than if an opponent had to focus on one specific player.
That’s not to denigrate Iginla. Indeed, I believe the Flames are a better team with him than without, but if it comes down to finances, I keep my star goalie and use my savings to fill the void from either trading away my star forward or letting him walk via free agency.
So, here’s the question, dear readers: if you were Flames GM Darryl Sutter and were faced with having to make a choice, which player would you retain?
Iginla or Kiprusoff?
Would you keep your perennial leading scorer and face of the franchise, arguably one of the greatest players in Flames history? Or would you stick with the goaltending who's likely to be among the very best in the league for years to come, upon whom your playoff hopes ultimately rest?
As my fading Habs have discovered, you're only as good as your goaltender. Strong goaltending makes an average team look good, a good team look great, and a great team a champion. If you can't keep the puck out of your own net, it doesn't matter how many goals you score.
Yes I have come to that quick realization with the Habs as well. I didn't realize how huge Huet was to that team. They're goes my theory of me being clairvoyant...
As I pointed out in another thread, Iginla won both the Art Ross and Richard Trophies one season and yet the Flames couldn't even make the playoffs. Conversely, Kipper comes aboard as the final piece of the puzzle and the team has been a Stanley Cup threat ever since.
As creative and valuable as Iginla is, in a zero sum game you lose more taking Kiprusoff out of the mix than you do by taking away Iginla.
That said, I would hope both guys realize they have a good thing going and are willing to settle for less than their maximum market value to keep it rolling.
i would definitly have to say kipper is teh more important of the two. he also would be the hardest to replace. try finding an elite no.1 goalie. i'm not trying to say it will be easy to replace iginla, far from it. but they can find offense and leadership in other places, especially with the money they will have saved, and still be able to compete.
they will still have tanguay there and just need to find a guy that can compliment him and the offense will be ok, but if they were to get rid of kipper, there is no way they can find anyone close to his talent, and the team will take a giant step back.
If they could unload Tanguay there wouldn't be a problem with signing both. I think the bigger question is what do you do with your defence. Phaneuf will probably command over 5mil (look at Brewer at 4.25). The Flames need to win the cup this year or next. Once all these guys hit free agency look out.
As awesome as Iginla is, you would have to keep Kipper. As Spec mentioned, look at the demise of the Habs once Huet went down. If Kip goes down with an injury, Flames are probably still a playoff team but definitely not a Cup contender.
Iginla is still the heart and soul of the team but as we just witnessed with Smyth leaving the Oilers, those players are more moveable when push comes to shove. Goaltending is just too important of a position that if you dont have it, you are going to struggle. TB would be a good example of how a great team with shaky goaltending leads to a struggling team. Carolina, Ottawa (when Gerber was the starter), NYR, and Dallas in the playoffs would also fit in this category.
Bottom line - if you can afford them both, do it. If not, go with the man between the pipes
Just to add a different voice, I'd keep Iginla and let Kipper go the way of the dinosaur. I think Kipper is a great goaltender and arguable one of the best in the league. But I also think finding a number one goalie is easier than it is to find an elite offesnive player. The NHL has been inundated with #1 goalies int he past two years so much so that legitimate #1 netminders like Nabokov, Biron, Gerber and to a lesser extent Patrick Lalime, David Aebischer (last three weeks aside are riding pine far too often. I think the market for goaltenders is not as exclusive as top offensive talents. You can generally go out an dbuy a #1 keeper for under 4 million and certainly under 5 million. You can NOT buy offensive talent for that price. I realize that all of the goaltenders i mentioned with the epossible exception of Nabokov are a HUGE step backwards from Kiprusoff, but these are all goalies that can come in and get the job done. Dwayne Roloson, Ray Emery, Cristobal Huet, Manny Fernandez, Kari Lehtonen etc. are NOT elite goaltenders. But they go out and get the job done from night to night. Look at how the Oilers have performed since they traded their heart and soul and held on to thei keeper. Stinkhouse. Look at how Florida performed all those years having an elite Keeper in Luongo...stinkhouse. Look at Chicago struggle with the elite Khabibulin. Stinkhouse. My point is the market for number 1 goaltenders that are not quite elite is low enough that you can go out and buy a number 1 keeper for as little as a second round pick(Biron) and 3.5 or 4 million in salary.
Last edited by Dit_clapper on March 9th at 9:25 AM.
Dit: There is still a big difference between the legitimate # 1's that you mention and the true studs like Brodeur, Luongo, Kipper.... The price tag (unless you are the Panthers) is quite steep to try and trade for one of the elite netminders. Free agency is an option but how often are those guys going to be available?
Dit: If it's so easy to find a number one goalie, why didn't the Habs get one when Huet was injured? Or the Bruins, who've been shopping for one all season? Or the Lightning, who're putting their faith in two average joes? Or the Kings when Cloutier and Garon got hurt? Or Colorado when Theodore and Budaj had their ups and downs this season? Or Columbus when Leclaire got hurt? Or Washington when they lost Kolzig?
Interesting point. But Smyth isn't the reason Edmonton is losing. Look at the injuries. As for Roloson he never really did much for Edmonton in the Regular season. Don't get me wrong he is better than what we had last year, but that isn't too hard to beat. I do however think that if you have an elite player like Iginla you keep him. Trade Tanguay and Langkow if you need to keep him and kipper.
i would keep iginla because we have three great goalies coming up( two in the whl and one in the ahl). and you could easly trade kipper to any team for another goalie
Spec, I am not saying it's easy, but I think it is probably EASIER than it is to go and land a Jarome Iginla. I acknowledge the big step backward that any of th elegitimate number 1's in this league are over Kipper. But I think soild goaltending is all a team needs to make the playoffs. As for why none of those teams went out and grabbed Biron, or traded for Patrick Lalime, tough to say. I think Biron was off the market until Buffalo killed it's current line-up with injuries and I think there are some doubters out there when the name Patrick Lalime comes about. I think Lalime got a lousy rap in Ottawa and he has faced injury the last two seasons. But Lalime can still be a number one guy. As for the Habs, Gainey thought Aebischer coul dbe a legitimate number one and i think so too. I think Carbonneau should stick to retirement. Seriously playing Halak over Aebischer is silliness. Aebischer is a pro and should be given the chance to play through his struggles. The lighting have cap issues out the Whazoo so spending 4 million ona goalie is not really an option. Boston has been waiting all year to land something but Biron was out (divisional trade) and I think Chiarelli was hesitant to give up on Toivonen. And the kings were legitimately out of the playoff picture when Garon and Cloutier went down so there was no sense in mortgaging the future to try to play better in a waste of a season. Colorado has cap issues and can't afford to go and get another goalie when THeodore is eating up 6.5 million of cap space.
Calgary does not face these problems, and plus the
Ryan: Rollie only got to play about 20 games with the Oil last season and once he got his feet under him, the poor oilers rode him all the way to the 8th seed and then right into the stanley cup finals. K-Lowe saved your season last year by adding Rollie and Spacek. This year, The Oilers lost all season cause they had no defense. The Oilers lose now cause they have no heart and no defense.
Last edited by Dit_clapper on March 9th at 10:14 AM.
How about edmonton's offence. Lowe was raving at the begging of the year how we could have 8+ 20 goal scorers. How many do we have,Sykora plus Smyth who is gone. Going into the year MacT and Lowe knew that they had issues on defence, but they thought that they could still win by scoring 4+ goals a night. Some nights 14 to be exact four wouldn't have been enough as Rollie let in four or more goals. (Rollie allowed 15 4+ games and won one)
My point is that Rollie can ply well in the regular season. He is not a regular season choke artist. It is easy to give up a ton of goals when Steve Staios is your best d-man.
What's Iggy making? 7million? That's a lot of money and it's a lot of money for Calgary to cough up for one player. If Iginla can't take the same pay as years before then he's gotta go. If he's the really nice guy that he claims to be and if he loves Calgary as much as he does then he'll have to take the same salary as before.
As for Kipper 4-5 season doesn't sound impossible to cough up...does it? If they can't afford both, then they do need to keep Kipper and say goodbye to their heart and soul player. If Calgary can get ahold of a another solid UFA forward in the offseason this won't cripple Calgary like it did Edmonton.
Another player Calgary needs to hold onto is Hamerlik. He's a UFA in the offseason and I hope Edmonton grabs him in the off season. Calgary has a lot to lose in the coming seasons and as an Edmonton fan I can't say it makes me feel bad. Calgary needs to be careful with how they spend their money, because they need to make sure they'll be able to hold onto Pheneuph in the coming years. He'll be just as important as Iggy in a few years without a doubt.
Iginla has to be the poster-boy for the Flames. It's not like the Flames are topping the league in goals for. Granted, they're one of the hardest teams to score on, but that also has to do with their defense.
I've never been one to build around one player. Building around a core group of players, a la Pittsburg, that's the way to go. But if you have to choose, Calgary's got some depth to trade for a starter. Teams like Boston lack depth for trade, while teams like Montreal don't want to sacrifice their future for a quick fix.
Teams like Buffalo Anaheim and San Jose had the market cornered for quality goaltending right up to the deadline. Teams may not have traded with them because of the asking price. Philly had nothing to lose. Boston and Montreal are fighting for a post-season berth, likely against Buffalo, and have very little to offer for a big return.
definitely Iginla, he's the captain and the leader. Kiprusoff has already started to fade and they should move him at the deadline next year. kiprusoff has benefitted from having a strong defense in front of him. the Flames are going to have to choose etween hamrlik and stuart at the end of the season and the loss of Ferrence is going to hurt more than people realize
ummmm, chaas, in case you haven't noticed the Flames are a very offensive team this year and it's their defence that's letting them down. They're something like 7th in the league in scoring, and a big part of that is Iginla. Kipper's great, love Iggy, I say Darryl Sutter has to do whatever it takes to keep them both.
Spector, any idea on what may happen with Hamrlik in the off-season? I want him to stick around and keep helping along Phaneuf's growth, what are the chances of that happening?
C-Gib: Retaining him will be an expensive proposition. The Flames currently have less thatn $30 million committed to payroll next season, and Hamrlik could seek up to $5 million per season to remain in Calgary. If the Flames maintain payroll at the same limit as this season ($42 million), Hamrlik could potentially eat up almost half of the $12 million cap space they'll have available next season.
They'll also have to decide if they'll re-sign Stuart, Primeau and McLennan and will need replacement for Amonte, Friesen, Nilson and McCarty, as I doubt they'll be back next season.
They'll also have to re-sign Lombardi and Hale.
Put all that together, and it won't leave much money for the Flames to bring in more depth for next season.
Kiprusoff is turning 31 this year which is usually primetime for goaltenders while Iginla is a year younger and a rare combination of goalscoring, toughness and leadership.
I never heard Kiprusoff in interview so I don't really know his personality but it would be interesting to hear how he talks about Finland and his goals in life... to get an idea if he's dedicated to stay here for 4-5 years more or if in 2-3 years he will say "I've done enough, time to go home and retire".
Seems obvious that you don't let go of one of the top 3 goalies in the league (Mike Keenan should have to write that down 20000 every day) but at the same time, can you really let go of a powerful player like Iginla?
I just hope Sutter does something about it during the offseason or else it will be a story we will hear every day next season! more so than the Forsberg watch this year.
IGGY!!! Throwing away Iginla throws away leadership and one hell of points getter. Kirursoff it good mind you but come on, Iginla is so much better even tho its hard to compare the two
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
