Nikitin was a good player in Columbus. You're talking about former Nikitin. Sheltered or not, the Oilers overpaid for the "Columbus" Nikitin.
The same could be said about Dubnyk or Perron. What do these players have in common with Nikitin? In a better situation they are effective. There hasn't been one player who's been a good player in Edmonton recently.
And who
cares if you overpay if it's not a problem with respect to the Salary cap?
Engelland's contract becomes a cap problem after next year and we likely have to move him in a losing trade or buy him out. Nikitin would have just expired without a problem as our own prospects become ready to take over.
Calgary is a cap floor team right now, and overpaying a few guys doesn't hurt at all when they expire quickly.
I'd rather overpay for the better player, who is Nikitin. the Flames would be better off with him as their #6 Dman.
Not that either of these contracts is a big deal.. they're minor contracts that don't hurt either team a whole lot. But at the end of the day, both Nikitin and Engelland will have been paid 9 million dollars. Engelland is the worse player and yet becomes the more bothersome cap hit at the end of his contract. Nikitin is the better player and expires more timely for when the salary cap actually is an issue.