The Calgary Flames have a gaping hole on the right side of their top line they hoped to address this summer.
They chose not to fill it Friday. Too expensive for a team under a cap crunch.
While their rivals to the north and west made two of the biggest splashes of the day to round out their top lines with Milan Lucic and Loui Eriksson, the Flames chose Lucic Light. Well, as ‘light’ as a 6-foot-3, 213 pound winger can be.
Unwilling and, frankly, unable to spend like the drunken sailors most other GMs dressed up as for Canada Day, the Flames picked up character right winger Troy Brouwer for four years and $18 million.
Not that the Flames are too worried about how the Oilers are going about their rebuild – or whatever it’s called this time around – but Brouwer comes in with two less goals, 16 less points and 20 less pounds than the hulking Lucic is bringing to Edmonton. He’s also $24 million cheaper and a whole lot less combustible too.
With Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan awaiting massive pay hikes to be wedged under the cap ceiling this summer, Brouwer was the type of role player the Flames targeted as opposed to the splashy snipers.
Still, Brouwer’s body of work did plenty to entice the Flames, whose right wing depth needed bolstering past Michael Frolik, recently-acquired Alex Chiasson, Lance Bouma, Garnet Hathaway and European hotshot Daniel Pribyl.
Did they overpay for a second or third line winger? You bet they did, but that’s the NHL’s Canada Day tradition.
All it costs you is cash, and the Flames determined they could spare $4.5 million annually for a player of Brouwer’s ilk. The fact is, he fills several specific needs for a young team looking for more size, character and experience.
“They showed how big a part they want me to be in this franchise and their team – the enthusiasm they showed me went a long with me and played a big part in my decision,” said the 30-year-old, explaining his decision to sign in a city where he just happens to be building a house.
He said phone calls from players like Mark Giordano, Deryk Engelland and even Treliving’s wife made him feel comfortable with his new home.
The 6-foot-3, 213 pound Vancouver native won the Stanley Cup with Chicago in 2010 and played a big role in St. Louis’ run to the conference final this spring, scoring eight goals and 13 points in 20 games, including the series winner in Game 7 to knock out the defending champion Hawks.
That goal, a rebound he banged in while standing at the top of the crease, says plenty about the type of player he is and the area in which he excels.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock told Sportsnet Friday Brouwer epitomizes grit, leadership, maturity and professionalism – ingredients GM Brad Treliving is working hard at adding more of to his developing squad.
“We had two specific needs going into free agency – a right wing but also a profile of the type of person we were looking for,” said Treliving.
“He’s a proven playoff performer and a presence in our dressing room. Since I’ve been here, finding right-handed forwards has been a pressing need. We’ve played with a lot of left-handed guys on the right side and we have four left-shooting centre men. In many ways, he’s what we needed.”
Make no mistake – the Flames went a long way towards addressing the void left by top-line winger Jiri Hudler when they had power forward Matthew Tkachuk fall into their laps sixth overall at last week’s draft.
If he’s ready to make the jump as an 18-year-old this fall to play his off wing alongside Gaudreau and Monahan, the Flames playoff chances go from good to great. If not, don’t look to Brouwer to fill that top line role.
Treliving said coach Glen Gulutzan will be tasked with deciding which line Brouwer plays on, but suffice it to say he will also have a role on special teams. The Vancouver native, who scored 18 goals last year, can play a prominent role on the powerplay where the team’s front-of-net presence last year came in the form of Joe Colborne.
“He played best for us as a cycle player, but he also played as slot and net front presence on our powerplay unit,” said Hitchcock, disappointed but resigned to losing Brouwer to free agency. “He had a decent regular season and obviously an exceptional playoff. The best way to describe him is he’s a very supportive teammate.”
Speaking of Colborne, it was made abundantly clear Friday the Flames had only paid lip service to re-signing the 6-foot-5, 19-goal scorer as he signed in Colorado for two years and $5 million. The one thing Colborne didn’t bring was the sort of tenacious, physical play the Flames were looking for.
Enter the 30-year-old Brouwer.
Treliving certainly shored up his goaltending needs Friday with the addition of 30-year-old Chad Johnson to back up Brian Elliott. Johnson, who grew up in Calgary, should be a nice fit given he played a career-high 45 games in Buffalo last year, posting solid numbers on a horrific team.
“We think what we’ve done in the last week addresses big needs for us,” said Treliving, whose club will spend $4.2 million on goaltending this year as opposed to almost $9 million last year for his ill-fated trio.
“The three people we added this week are men. We’ve got a lot of young players and you learn from what you see and these are guys who are coming here to win and they do things right. They’re going to be excellent role models.”