Mock Expansion Draft – Protected Players – Calgary Flames

The first step to our mock draft is to establish the list of players that will be available for the Las Vegas franchise to draft. To do this, we decided to have a blogger from each team represent their own franchise and select the players that will be protected from the Mock Expansion Draft available player pool. To see the rules which were followed to protect players, hit this link.

Next up, we have the Calgary Flames. The Flames are being represented by Ari Yanover from MatchsticksAndGasoline.com.

Protected Players

• G – Karri Ramo
• F – Sean Monahan
• F – Johnny Gaudreau
• F – Sam Bennett
• F – Jiri Hudler
• F – Michael Frolik
• F – Mikael Backlund
• F – Lance Bouma
• F – Josh Jooris
• F – Micheal Ferland
• D – Mark Giordano
• D – T.J. Brodie
• D – Dougie Hamilton
• D – Kris Russell
• D – Dennis Wideman

Analysis from MatchsticksAndGasoline.com:

The Flames are a young team, with several high end players already established or still developing – and guys who are strictly not for sale. The young forward core of Monahan, Gaudreau, and Bennett remains intact, with impressive veterans such as Hudler, Frolik, and Backlund retained in order to boost their performances and take on hard minutes. The Flames are also a team that values grit and tenacity, which both Bouma and Ferland – two truculent young players with potential scoring ability – fill the need for. The forwards left unprotected are mostly older players who, at this point in time, are expendable, such as David Jones, Mason Raymond, and soon enough, Matt Stajan. The younger players left over, such as Joe Colborne or Drew Shore, have failed to, at this point in time, make themselves meaningful to the roster.

As for the defence, the Flames’ big three of Giordano, Brodie, and Hamilton aren’t going anywhere. Russell and Wideman are capable enough, even if Wideman is a touch overpaid. Ladislav Smid and Deryk Engelland, however, are already in danger of losing their jobs and their cap hits are far too high to justify keeping them on the team longer-term.

By re-signing Ramo just before free agency opened, the Flames declared they were committed to him – and at 29 years of age, he’s been extremely serviceable. Jonas Hiller has ultimately been the better goalie, but he’s already 33; Ramo has a better chance of impacting the team positively over a longer period of time.

The entire list of unprotected players that will be available for Team Lane and Team Pothier to select from can be found here.

To see more team explanations just like this one, check out The Sin Bin Mock Expansion Draft Landing Page.