Bouwmeester signs 5 year deal with the Flames

by c0nquistad0rian on Jun 30, 2009 6:51 PM MDT

Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter made the most of his opportunity to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester.

The defenceman avoided unrestricted free agency by agreeing to a 5 year deal worth $6.6 million per year against the salary cap on Tuesday night.

The Flames acquired the rights of the 25-year from the Florida Panthers on Saturday at the NHL Draft for the rights to blueliner Jordan Leopold and a third round pick (67th overall), which the Panthers used to select right winger Josh Birkholz.

"I am happy to have this deal done as Calgary was a team I was very interested in playing for. I was encouraged by the commitment Calgary showed by acquiring me prior to July 1," said Bouwmeester. "I am familiar with some of the players and believe we have a strong club that is poised to make the next step in becoming a championship club. I look forward to contributing to that success."

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283345

Yeesh. The NW just got that much tougher all of a sudden.

MileHighHockey.com is a fan community, allowing members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Colorado Avalanche and hockey in general. These views and thoughts may not be shared by the editors of MileHighHockey.com.

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I trimmed out some of the quote when I front-paged this – didn’t want to have the entire article copied.

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jun 30, 2009 6:56 PM MDT reply actions

Understandable. Yeesh factor still relevant.

by c0nquistad0rian on Jun 30, 2009 7:15 PM MDT up reply actions

That’s a really good deal for Calgary, I can’t spin that one in a positive way for the Avs. The only thing I can say is that JB is almost painfully shy with the media and Calgary is going to be a different pressure cooker than Florida. Then again JB has played for Team Canada but he had others to deflect attention on those teams too.

That’s a straight up market adjustment on salary. I thought he would command 7 to 8.

by Dario on Jun 30, 2009 8:00 PM MDT reply actions

This would be a bigger deal to the Avs if Colorado was a serious threat to win the Cup. As a rebuilding team…

Colorado Avalanche Prospects (www.avsprospects.blogspot.com)

by Angélique C. Murray on Jun 30, 2009 8:14 PM MDT reply actions

That's a lot money

for three defensemen and a goalie who didn’t play that well last year. We’ll see.

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! HOW can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!

by A.J. Haefele on Jun 30, 2009 8:22 PM MDT reply actions

yeah, that’s not all that far off from what we’re paying our defense…

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jun 30, 2009 8:35 PM MDT up reply actions

So here are the only two positives that I can muster:

This move seriously limits CGY’s cap flexibility and thus their ability to maintain/build their offense.

This move also reduces substantially the quality and availability of defensemen in the market and by way thereof, the potential trade value of Clark & Hannan.

by Hopfenkopf on Jun 30, 2009 9:34 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs