Confirmed Trade: [CGY/OTT] Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka for Jyrki Jokipakka and a 2nd

[Boud]

As a Sens fan I'm happy for Curtis. There was no place for him here and we have better players right now. It probably was a good match for both teams since Ottawa was not going to protect Lazar and he wasn't showing enough to get a regular roster spot while the Flames have the possibility of protecting him and have less depth.

I always thought he could be at the very least an effective 4rth liner and realistically a good 3rd line player. His offensive output will be limited by lack of hockey IQ and talent however. He's not a guy that will wow you, but he'll work hard every shift with good speed and go to the dirty areas. He can also PK and will block shots... He's a typical bottom 6 guy. He's also much better at C than at the wing but he'll need to be better on faceoffs.

 

[Reinhart]

In all honesty given this list and how I feel there will be much better defensemen left open then forwards. I probably would take my chances with Vey or Shinkaruk. While Bouwer is probably the best player on that list if I am Vegas i make teams give me something to take their regretful contracts so I probably can't afford his contract when I have a bunch of other bigger and worse ones

My breakdown of how I would draft is

5 bad contracts where the team pays me something to take that contract(but still quality NHLers)
10 quality NHLers
15 younger cheaper guys who are looking for their break

I would be open to drafting more quality NHLers if I can turn around and trade them for something though

This is the problem though.

Sure, take Shinkaruk (who I am not very high on anyways, but that is a different story), and if he doesn't make the team and needs to get sent down, he gets claimed.

These young guys are waiver wire eligible for the most part. McPhee will for sure target any young guys that aren't waiver eligible, but I would imagine that list will be short league wide.

 

[boredmale]

This is the problem though.

Sure, take Shinkaruk (who I am not very high on anyways, but that is a different story), and if he doesn't make the team and needs to get sent down, he gets claimed.

These young guys are waiver wire eligible for the most part. McPhee will for sure target any young guys that aren't waiver eligible, but I would imagine that list will be short league wide.

As I said I am definitely open to draft a player from Team A, then trade them to team B for draft picks or prospects(not waiver eligible) in lew of younger guys who haven't hit their stride. All that being said when I am done with the draft and trades the most amount of NHL roster players I want is 15, and even then I might say 12-14 might be a more realistic number because I can just go to the UFA market and pick up a bunch of leftovers on 1 year deals.

Bigger contract players such as Brouwer to me are guys you try get teams to give you stuff to take them off your hands. it's a basic case you can only take so many of these bigger contracts before it becomes a problem. My guess is you might be able to find a couple teams willing to give a late first rounder to take care of cap issues

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Glad to see the kid is doing well. Lazar definitely has some hockey IQ and great hustle...it's just getting the hands to work a bit better and getting his overall game tuned up.

 

[Riptide]

Draft picks past the top 10 don't really change by draft. They basically give you the same odds of returning a good player regardless of the perception of the class. The only extreme outlier for this is 2003. It's just a question of how the stars are distributed. Sometimes they are taken at 11 (Kopitar) other times in the middle (Gaudreau) or the late rounds (Datsyuk). Subtract the top 10 from almost any class, and I'm quite sure drafts would look quite equal.

Agreed. I find for the most part that when people complain about how weak a draft is, that they're usually referring to the talent at the top of the draft.

 

[Volica]

Why is Stajan even being mentioned? There's literally no scenario in which he would be protected.

Flames list is 100% set

Forwards:
Gaudreau
Monahan
Bennett
Backlund
Frolik
Ferland
Lazar

Defense:
Giordano
D.Hamilton
Brodie

Goalie:
Elliott

Exposed:
UFA's: Stone, Versteeg, Engelland, Johnson, Bollig
Under contract: Brouwer, Stajan, Bouma, F.Hamilton, Bartkowski, Poirier, Shinkaruk, McCollum
RFA's: Chiasson, Wotherspoon, Kulak, Morisson, Vey, Culkin

McPhee will take Brouwer even if Treliving has to pay him to do so

Elliott's not actually protected, he doesn't have a contract.
Tom McCollum is the Calgary Flames protected goalie Who you ask? Exactly.

 

[Volica]

Lazar could of easily had another goal(hit the post) and a few assists, too. He's been playing well, will definitely get protected in the expansion draft.

I see Vegas taking Brouwer as mentioned by others, with us probably giving them something to do so. Maybe we won't have to though...he is significantly better than anyone else we would expose, despite his crappy year with the Flames.

Who in their right mind would think Calgary's exposing Lazar in the upcoming draft. Treliving is one of the best/brightest GM's in the league... why would he spend an asset, to gain a player that plays a total of 4 games... and lose it for nothing.

Lazar's a long-term project/plan for Calgary. I've loved him so far, kid's hard to cheer against.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

If Lazar was still on Ottawa, he'd be on waivers next season. Lazar didn't seem to be a favorite of Guy Boucher and was having an awful season. "The NHL isn't a development league" seems to be the Senators current mantra.

This trade was a good move for both sides because while Lazar would have never reached his potential and possibly would have been lost for nothing to waivers next season in Ottawa, there is a good chance that CGY will get more value out of Lazar as a Flame than they would have had they used that late 2nd on a prospect from the NHL draft.

Lazar likely forges out a career as a solid third liner and a big part of the Flames future leadership core.

The idea that Calgary would give up a 2nd round pick at the end of the season on a player who is clearly a project only to expose them that following off season in the expansion draft is absurd. Even if they are taking their time with Lazar, the Flames clearly see something in him or else they wouldn't have given up that 2nd round pick.

 

[Flameshomer]

He's been noticeable in a good way during his short stretch. Controls the puck pretty well and seems to use his size to protect the puck (which is something youngsters are often lacking, even if they do have the size).

I think he has second line upside, but will slot comfortably on a future third line for the team. Really like his work ethic and attitude. Would remake this trade 10/10 times.

 

[BurnEmUp]

Elliott's not actually protected, he doesn't have a contract.
Tom McCollum is the Calgary Flames protected goalie Who you ask? Exactly.

Tom McCollum is the exposed goalie.

Flames don't have one to protect.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Elliott's not actually protected, he doesn't have a contract.
Tom McCollum is the Calgary Flames protected goalie Who you ask? Exactly.

McCollum was signed specifically to meet the expansion draft requirements

Player Exposure Requirements
* All Clubs must meet the following minimum requirements regarding players exposed for selection in the Expansion Draft:

i) One defenseman who is a) under contract in 2017-18 and b) played in 40 or more NHL games the prior season OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.

ii) Two forwards who are a) under contract in 2017-18 and b) played in 40 or more NHL games the prior season OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.

iii) One goaltender who is under contract in 2017-18 or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current contract immediately prior to 2017-18. If the club elects to make a restricted free agent goaltender available in order to meet this requirement, that goaltender must have received his qualifying offer prior to the submission of the club's protected list.

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-expansion-draft-rules/c-281010592

Failure to meet those minimum requirements results in the forfeiture of a first round pick. There's seems to be some confusion over but there's nothing preventing any team from protecting an UFA.

 

[Volica]

Tom McCollum is the exposed goalie.

Flames don't have one to protect.

Yep, sorry, he is the Bartkowski of the goalies for Calgary.
Flames aren't protecting a goalie.

 

[Sting]

Glad he's doing well for Calgary. Don't think we'll ever regret the trade, however. White has likely shown more in two games than Lazar did in his time in Ottawa.

 

[Sens Rule]

I've been thrilled with what we've seen from Lazar so far. Such a fantastic attitude, he himself said that he knows he wouldn't get in the lineup right away when he got here since the team was clicking so we'll, and when he did get in the lineup he's worked his butt off and produced every time.

You don't see enough guys these days like him that look like they're loving every second of it out there.

Lazar really was not performing in Ottawa. I was not a fan torching him either but he just could not provide any offence and he struggled most games.

But I still Love Lazar. He is awesome. He was on their line and likely helped both Hoffman and Stone emerge as stars.

His off the ice hamburger eat is legend.

I heard he got depressed off the ice in Ottawa and got pyscho therapy. That sucks for him. He is always going to be the smiling rookie to me.

I want him to breakout and be a great player. As a Sens fan I will watch him and cheer for him!

 

[BurgoShark]

Lazar really was not performing in Ottawa. I was not a fan torching him either but he just could not provide any offence and he struggled most games.

But I still Love Lazar. He is awesome. He was on their line and likely helped both Hoffman and Stone emerge as stars.

His off the ice hamburger eat is legend.

I heard he got depressed off the ice in Ottawa and got pyscho therapy. That sucks for him. He is always going to be the smiling rookie to me.

I want him to breakout and be a great player. As a Sens fan I will watch him and cheer for him!

I think this sums up the Ottawa fan sentiment for Lazar. He was likable and showed something in his time, but the coach didn't trust him and he didn't deserve a roster spot this season. Glad to see him doing well.

 

[Xspyrit]

Worked on fixing the damage that Ottawa did to him.

Lazar scored 12 goals in 176 games with Ottawa. And awful possession numbers.

He started playing at 19 years old being sheltered. I mean a lot of players start playing young and do well. He just didn't have a lot of talent to really thrive.

Ottawa's 4th line was Lazar-Kelly-Neil for a good part of the season. Thank God now it's composed of Wingels, Smith, Stalberg and/or Pyatt. While Dzingel and White were scratched last game.

And anyway, with White, Brown, Chlapik, Perron, Paul, etc coming up in the next 2-3 years, there was no place for Lazar. It's a numbers game.

I like him and hope he will carve out a role like Chiasson seemed to do. Flames are my 2nd/3rd favorite team so I don't mind if ex-Sens go there and find success.

Curtis is a project that the Flames deem worth it, he was rushed and misused(no offense Ottawa fans)...he will be protected without a doubt.

176 NHL games... At what point do we stop making excuses? The NHL is the toughest league to play, you have to make your own place. Lazar did at first, but faded away in Ottawa. Now he's got an other opportunity somewhere else, just like Chiasson did.

He's been noticeable in a good way during his short stretch. Controls the puck pretty well and seems to use his size to protect the puck (which is something youngsters are often lacking, even if they do have the size).

This is very surprising. It looked like it was a hot potato during his time in Ottawa. I always thought he lacked puck skills to be more than a bottom-6 player

 

[DJJones]

Already have him penciled in as #3 RW or #4C for next year.

Not sure what the hell was wrong with him in Ottawa but don't care. Very happy with the trade so far.

Probably get him on a 2M for 2 year contract as well which is nice.

 

[Skobel24]

Already have him penciled in as #3 RW or #4C for next year.

Not sure what the hell was wrong with him in Ottawa but don't care. Very happy with the trade so far.

Probably get him on a 2M for 2 year contract as well which is nice.

I'd rather have him as a RW.

 

[DJJones]

I'd rather have him as a RW.

Ya unless something happens to Stajan.

 

[Skobel24]

Ya unless something happens to Stajan.

Janks?

 

[Flameshomer]

Lazar scored 12 goals in 176 games with Ottawa. And awful possession numbers.

He started playing at 19 years old being sheltered. I mean a lot of players start playing young and do well. He just didn't have a lot of talent to really thrive.

Ottawa's 4th line was Lazar-Kelly-Neil for a good part of the season. Thank God now it's composed of Wingels, Smith, Stalberg and/or Pyatt. While Dzingel and White were scratched last game.

And anyway, with White, Brown, Chlapik, Perron, Paul, etc coming up in the next 2-3 years, there was no place for Lazar. It's a numbers game.

I like him and hope he will carve out a role like Chiasson seemed to do. Flames are my 2nd/3rd favorite team so I don't mind if ex-Sens go there and find success.



176 NHL games... At what point do we stop making excuses? The NHL is the toughest league to play, you have to make your own place. Lazar did at first, but faded away in Ottawa. Now he's got an other opportunity somewhere else, just like Chiasson did.



This is very surprising. It looked like it was a hot potato during his time in Ottawa. I always thought he lacked puck skills to be more than a bottom-6 player

He hasn't played enough to get any highlight video made yet- but by end of playoffs I bet someone will be bored enough to put a quick one together. I was actually extremely surprised how well he has been handling the puck because I got the same impression watching clips of him in Ottawa. Honestly he's looked great.

 

[DJJones]

Janks?

I think Jankowski would be wasted on the 4th line.

 

[Figgy44]

I'd odd reading the comments about Lazar by Ottawa fans. We heard similar things regarding Chiasson and both have already shown themselves as good options in our bottom 6. I'm thinking it's purely bad fits in Ottawa based on play style.

Dear Ottawa Senators. Are you interested in trading other players to Calgary?

 

[Korpse]

Already have him penciled in as #3 RW or #4C for next year.

Not sure what the hell was wrong with him in Ottawa but don't care. Very happy with the trade so far.

Probably get him on a 2M for 2 year contract as well which is nice.

He kept getting past on the depth chart and he wasn't happy about it. Others played better but he thought he was entitled to more.

I'd odd reading the comments about Lazar by Ottawa fans. We heard similar things regarding Chiasson and both have already shown themselves as good options in our bottom 6. I'm thinking it's purely bad fits in Ottawa based on play style.

Dear Ottawa Senators. Are you interested in trading other players to Calgary?

The important thing to note is that they are bottom 6 players.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Baertschi 2.0. Best for both sides to move on. It just wasn't working here. But a likely useful piece down the road.