I can't stand Jay Feaster but I've got to say I think he did pretty well here- all things considered.
Rather than having Erixon walk and ending up with the 53rd overall pick next year, he gets two 2nds and a forward that's made strides since being drafted.
Must be tough for Flames' fans, but after the dust settles and you see that your top 4 D are locked up for the next couple of years- they could have done a lot worse.
Seriously? The only difference between the Erixon situation and the Silfverberg situation are that Ottawa was willing to let Silfverberg play in Sweden next year (which some people, for some stupid reason, found ridiculous).
For sure, it was nothing about Calgary per se, or money, or allowing to go back to Sweden, he just wanted to play for the Rangers. Will be interestning to see how he would handle a trade in a few years if a team dares to pull that off.
Anyway, character issues in "blackmailing" the Flames - sure. No character issues in the room or on the ice, though.
For sure, it was nothing about Calgary per se, or money, or allowing to go back to Sweden, he just wanted to play for the Rangers. Will be interestning to see how he would handle a trade in a few years if a team dares to pull that off.
Anyway, character issues in "blackmailing" the Flames - sure. No character issues in the room or on the ice, though.
Well that's enough reason to hope he never comes here tbh.
We don't need another Yashin/heatley wanting to leave our city again.
It just goes to show that the Swedish players that are NHL ready or on the cusp of being ready don't want to play in the AHL - and they have leverage to either stay in Sweden where they are happy.
This could of easily happened to us with Siflerberg and hopefully Erixon hasn;t set a president for other Swedish players.
It's a small thing and probably won't change anything, but Eric Lindro's parents threatened to sue the NHL over the draft calling it illegal and the threat was any player could sign wherever they wanted - like it is in Soccer in Europe, and the Lindro's threat was taken sriously enough by the NHL that they did whatever they could to keep the case out of the courts for fear it would sent a precedent.
Anyways, Erixon thing could happen to us with any of our Swedish prospects, hoepfully it doesn't, but it so easily could. The AHL is basically not an option for them anymmore, and good on them for staying home and playing and developing in an excellent system.
Well, Swedes in general obviously prefer SEL over AHL, but it's not so much not wanting to fight for a spot as to do AHL years just because "you should".
Lots of the top prospects out of Sweden have done AHL time for parts of the recent years. Karlsson, Ekman, Tedenby, Josefson, Harju, Omark etcetera. Unless you're a goalie, most people see SEL as an equal or close to equal league to develop, so if you're going to be in the minors for the entire year, they'd rather stay.
Again: the Erixon/Flames problem was not about the AHL. They'd let him go back to Sweden. It was also not about the money. It was about him wanting to play for the Rangers.
Well, Swedes in general obviously prefer SEL over AHL, but it's not so much not wanting to fight for a spot as to do AHL years just because "you should".
Lots of the top prospects out of Sweden have done AHL time for parts of the recent years. Karlsson, Ekman, Tedenby, Josefson, Harju, Omark etcetera. Unless you're a goalie, most people see SEL as an equal or close to equal league to develop, so if you're going to be in the minors for the entire year, they'd rather stay.
Again: the Erixon/Flames problem was not about the AHL. They'd let him go back to Sweden. It was also not about the money. It was about him wanting to play for the Rangers.
I would respect his decision if it were for the reasons Feaster gave, i.e., Erixon is concerned that the Flames have too many veterans on 1-way contracts on defense as it is, and he's worried he'll be sent down to the AHL next year.
Holding out because you have a favourite team -- or least favourite team -- is too much like Lindros.
And the statement that the Rangers have been pursuing Erixon... this gives me the impression they were talking directly. The only discussions should have been through Sutter/Feaster.
I agree, I don't want to defend Erixon as much as clarify why he did what he did. For selfish reasons, that is. This is exactly like the Lindros situation except Lindros was more flexbible on teams and didn't wait until right before deadline. So Lindros > Erixon.
It is definitely not a good time to be a Flames fan.
After this trade they have 5 picks total in the draft. 13th overall is their best - and they just lost their best prospect for scraps. Plus they have some terrible contracts like Stajan and J-Bust for a few years.
It definitely wasn't a financial decision since Erixon signed for a reportedly $1.75M over three years plus bonuses. This just seems like a case of a player wanting to play for his favourite team or anyway the team his father played on. I don't agree with how Erixon, his family, and his agent handled this at all, as they just came up with excuse after excuse. If they would have looked more closely at the Flames' blueline situation, there's clearly room for him on the roster, as the Flames only have Bouwmeester, Regehr, Giordano, and Sarich locked up to contracts for next season. Staois, Pardy, and Babchuk are all UFAs.
Wasen't lindros ok with any team but a french one?
He just didn't want to play for Quebec City, more specifically Marcel Aubut, who was the President and CEO of the Nordiques. Lindros would have played for the Canadiens.
Tim Erixon is a genuinly nice and pretty shy guy, without any character issues. It is very possible that things have been going on betwen the Rangers organisation, Tims dad Jan Erixon and the agent, but for me it is impossible to let that change my view on Tim.
He's like the boy next door who just loves to play hockey, and I'm pretty sure the he wasn't the evil genious who masterminded this evil plot to piss off the Flames.
Tim Erixon is a genuinly nice and pretty shy guy, without any character issues. It is very possible that things have been going on betwen the Rangers organisation, Tims dad Jan Erixon and the agent, but for me it is impossible to let that change my view on Tim.
He's like the boy next door who just loves to play hockey, and I'm pretty sure the he wasn't the evil genious who masterminded this evil plot to piss off the Flames.
It definitely wasn't a financial decision since Erixon signed for a reportedly $1.75M over three years plus bonuses. This just seems like a case of a player wanting to play for his favourite team or anyway the team his father played on. I don't agree with how Erixon, his family, and his agent handled this at all, as they just came up with excuse after excuse. If they would have looked more closely at the Flames' blueline situation, there's clearly room for him on the roster, as the Flames only have Bouwmeester, Regehr, Giordano, and Sarich locked up to contracts for next season. Staois, Pardy, and Babchuk are all UFAs.
Erixon signed a $1.75m per year deal including bonuses, not with additional bonuses. It's only about half of the maximum that Erixon could've demanded (~$3.5m per year is the maximum ELC). His base salary is $900k per year, plus 850k in potential bonuses.
"Erixon expressed concern, at least the agent did, that with the recent track record in Calgary, there aren't a lot of young players making the hockey club."
This is hilarious. There aren't a lot of young players making the club because the flames are probably the worst drafting team in the league! They finally get a good player in Erixon, and he bails.
Yep. Sucks to be a flames fan right now. Cupboard is pretty bare.
He just didn't want to play for Quebec City, more specifically Marcel Aubut, who was the President and CEO of the Nordiques. Lindros would have played for the Canadiens.
I believe the reason was that the Lindros family did not think that Eric would make enough money on endorsements & commercials in Quebec city especially since he couldn't speak French. He was okay with going to Montreal because it was a much bigger market & not speaking French at that time wouldn't have hurt him as much since they also have a large English community. I don't know anything about the relationship with the CEO Marcel Aubut, it's the first time I hear this.
