In what was a surprisingly quiet deadline day in the OTHL, the Calgary Flames did their best to fill their needs. They needed a #4 dman, and another bottom pairing guy. Well it turns out they got 2 #4 dmen, who will help the team a lot this year and next, and they did it once again without hurting their core.
The night before the deadline saw them bring in Niklas Wallin first of all for a 5th rounder. The Flames knew that the chances of getting an upgrade at defense would be easier if they could also deal a dman, which Wallin enabled them to do.
"He's nothing special, and he's UFA at season end, but he's certainly capable of being a solid bottom pairing guy and the price was reasonable," Flames GM Jamie Hoover commented to the organized media.
Later that night, the Flames also dealt Jesse Boulerice for $325,000 to the Florida Panthers.
Then, with seconds to go in the deadline, The Flames went after their defensive dman. In the final minute, they agreed to two separate deals. The first of which with common trade partner, the Boston Bruins. Coming back to Calgary was gritty defensive dman Rhett Warrener. In exchange, the Flames dealt 2005 picks; ATL 1st, LA 2nd and T-Bay 2nd along with UFA to be Nolan Pratt.
"We hated to deal Rhett in the first place earlier this season, but Hatcher was a guy we liked a lot, and you have to give to get. We'll certainly be looking to lock Rhett up long term now, and he may even be a guy we offer a no trade clause to, something nearly unheard of from me. The price was high, but he fits perfectly into our plans, and there weren't many willing dance partners today," Hoover replied when asked about what the plans were with Warrener.
The final deal of the day, that literelly happened seconds before the deadline resulting in a hurried rush to submit the deal saw the Flames pick up even grittier dman Denis Gauthier from the Blackhawks. Gauthier lead the Hawks in +/- (+12) and hits (153). In exchange, the Hawks received youngster Marek Svatos, offensive dman Andrew Hutchinson, and potential Calder nominee/winner, Mike Green who's having an excellent season in the OTHL.
"Denis is truly my type of player. We like our tough, hard working types. And he exemplifies that. Chances are he'll be the guy that plays the 2nd pairing with Kaberle, but that could change depending on who plays better. I'm very happy about picking both these guy's up, and defense is now the one position I'm happy with going forward. We hope to extend Gauthier's contract next year, but if he's not interested, he'll still most likely ride the season out back in Calgary. He was dealt before I was brought in to Calgary, and I'd have taken that deal back in a heartbeat if I had the chance," Hoover ecstatically continued.
The Flames lineup going into the playoff push now looks like this, which should hopefully be enough to get them in, and then with their tough squad, anything can happen.
Sedin-Sedin-Guerin
Nash-Allison-Kapanen
Leclerc-Stefan-Clark
Grosek-Aubin-Laraque
Brewer-Mara
Kaberle-Gauthier
Warrener-Quintal
And in the PB, there's a couple guy's that'll see action without injuries needing to happen;
Niklas Wallin and Rick Berry on defense, and Eric Boulton on LW for if the team wants to ice an even more physical lineup.
One of Allison or Stefan may be double shifted on the 4th line enabling Aubin to concentrate on PK duties, and same thing with Nash potentially double shifting on the 4th line to let Grosek concentrate on PK duties as well.