Blackhawks Trade Brandon Bollig To Flames

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Tell me something. Why do you think Bowman made the trade? The Blackhawks are contending now, they have cake, so they'd seemingly have more use for a depth player ("icing") than the Flames. I suspect he did it because he knows full well he can just easily go get the next Bollig and not have 4 years committed to him. And the 3rd might turn into something on top of that.

I do agree that it's likely fairly easy to find a guy like Bollig, but I think the main reason Bowman made this trade was to dump some salary in order to free up as much money as possible for future signings (I think the Hawks were hoping for a higher salary cap than the $69 million that was announced on Friday afternoon).

 

[DragonfromTO]

I do agree that it's likely fairly easy to find a guy like Bollig, but I think the main reason Bowman made this trade was to dump some salary in order to free up as much money as possible for future signings (I think the Hawks were hoping for a higher salary cap than the $69 million that was announced on Friday afternoon).

But the two go together. He's dumping the salary because he thinks he can easily replace the contributions cheaply. And if he can do that, then the Flames should have been able to do the same and hang on to their pick.

 

[dash]

But the two go together. He's dumping the salary because he thinks he can easily replace the contributions cheaply. And if he can do that, then the Flames should have been able to do the same and hang on to their pick.

Well, if Matteson Iacopelli (great name and the guy who the Hawks took at #83) turns out to be a bonafide NHL player, then let's re-visit this thread in a few years and I'll gladly chow down on some crow (lol).

 

[KennyBanyeah]

But the two go together. He's dumping the salary because he thinks he can easily replace the contributions cheaply. And if he can do that, then the Flames should have been able to do the same and hang on to their pick.

It's not quite that black and white. The Hawks may feel they have a prospect who can fill Bollig's role while perhaps the Flames felt they didn't. There could be all sorts of reasons why the Flames wanted Bollig while the Hawks felt he was superfluous.

 

[Cobiemonster]

It's not quite that black and white. The Hawks may feel they have a prospect who can fill Bollig's role while perhaps the Flames felt they didn't. There could be all sorts of reasons why the Flames wanted Bollig while the Hawks felt he was superfluous.

Agreed - Hawks have guys who they can fill in for him who are a little cheaper - Flames are not at the level of Chicago yet so they don't have guys coming every year that can take fourth line spots - he's a solid 4th liner, and I'll tell you this, I'd take him over Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill on the Flyers any day of the week, even if you have to pay him $1.1 million to play on the 4th line - 7 goals and 14 points in 82 games is nothing to sneeze at for a fourth liner - he took a few dumb penalties in the playoffs but he's got some skill

 

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There could be all sorts of reasons why the Flames wanted Bollig while the Hawks felt he was superfluous.

I think one of the main reasons is that some of the Flames most talented players up front are still on the smallish side and Bollig injects much needed size and beef into the lineup (especially in the Pacific Division where the California teams are loaded with size).

 

[DragonfromTO]

Well, if Matteson Iacopelli (great name and the guy who the Hawks took at #83) turns out to be a bonafide NHL player, then let's re-visit this thread in a few years and I'll gladly chow down on some crow (lol).

Like I said though, even if he doesn't work out it's still worth the risk at this stage in the rebuilding process. You don't build a winner by collecting 4th liners, you do it by trying to find top 6 guys. I suspect that Burke disagrees with me somewhat since he did basically the same thing by signing guys like Orr and Colby Armstrong while "rebuilding" the Leafs.

 

[NDHoosier101]

Just bought a house in Chicago too, sucks for him.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Agreed - Hawks have guys who they can fill in for him who are a little cheaper - Flames are not at the level of Chicago yet so they don't have guys coming every year that can take fourth line spots - he's a solid 4th liner, and I'll tell you this, I'd take him over Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill on the Flyers any day of the week, even if you have to pay him $1.1 million to play on the 4th line - 7 goals and 14 points in 82 games is nothing to sneeze at for a fourth liner - he took a few dumb penalties in the playoffs but he's got some skill

I don't disagree, but neither of those guys would make my NHL roster if I was a GM anyway.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I think one of the main reasons is that some of the Flames most talented players up front are still on the smallish side and Bollig injects much needed size and beef into the lineup (especially in the Pacific Division where the California teams are loaded with size).

I've seen little to no real evidence suggesting that adding a 4th line facepuncher somehow "protects" the rest of the team.

 

[dash]

Just bought a house in Chicago too, sucks for him.

Yeah, I think it was three weeks ago, that's a tough one for sure.

 

[dash]

I've seen little to no real evidence suggesting that adding a 4th line facepuncher somehow "protects" the rest of the team.

I think this is where we disagree, I think Bollig is more than a facepuncher, obviously you don't and that's fine, I think he brings more to the Flames than either McGrattan or Westgarth and can play some responsible hockey (i.e. not be a liability on the ice). I mean, Brandon Bollig had much better stats than Kyle Clifford of the Kings last season, yet I think 29 other teams in the league would be very interested if the Kings made Clifford available.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I think this is where we disagree, I think Bollig is more than a facepuncher, obviously you don't and that's fine, I think he brings more to the Flames than either McGrattan or Westgarth and can play some responsible hockey (i.e. not be a liability on the ice). I mean, Brandon Bollig had much better stats than Kyle Clifford of the Kings last season, yet I think 29 other teams in the league would be very interested if the Kings made Clifford available.

I agree that he is more than a facepuncher, but I was responding specifically to the idea that his "beef" (presumably facepunching is part of that) would seemingly help the other smaller Calgary forwards.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I think this is where we disagree, I think Bollig is more than a facepuncher, obviously you don't and that's fine, I think he brings more to the Flames than either McGrattan or Westgarth and can play some responsible hockey (i.e. not be a liability on the ice). I mean, Brandon Bollig had much better stats than Kyle Clifford of the Kings last season, yet I think 29 other teams in the league would be very interested if the Kings made Clifford available.

Clifford is still 23 years old though, not 27 and already past the average "peak" age. And he's at least put up points at some level at some point. That being said, Clifford doesn't exactly turn my crank either.

 

[dash]

I guess I see Bollig as a "fill the gap" player while the Flames youngsters learn how to play and win at the NHL level. If it doesn't work out, it's not a huge investment and it's not as if his salary would be a detriment for other teams to pick up. Who knows, maybe the Flames move him for a 3rd round pick down the road just like the Hawks did a couple of days ago?

 

[Cobiemonster]

I guess I see Bollig as a "fill the gap" player while the Flames youngsters learn how to play and win at the NHL level. If it doesn't work out, it's not a huge investment and it's not as if his salary would be a detriment for other teams to pick up. Who knows, maybe the Flames move him for a 3rd round pick down the road just like the Hawks did a couple of days ago?

This is what it is, he's filling a gap - when the younger players start coming up they can use him as trade bait - this is what teams who are a step away from being decent do while the younger players are still in the minors or in juniors

 

[DragonfromTO]

This is what it is, he's filling a gap - when the younger players start coming up they can use him as trade bait - this is what teams who are a step away from being decent do while the younger players are still in the minors or in juniors

You can easily pick up guys to "fill gaps" without trading assets for them though.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I've seen little to no real evidence suggesting that adding a 4th line facepuncher somehow "protects" the rest of the team.

Randy Carlyle takes umbrage to this.

 

[anotheridiot]

I do agree that it's likely fairly easy to find a guy like Bollig, but I think the main reason Bowman made this trade was to dump some salary in order to free up as much money as possible for future signings (I think the Hawks were hoping for a higher salary cap than the $69 million that was announced on Friday afternoon).

It was only 1.1 or 1.3 million, I dont think that was why he was dealt at all. Eddie O is a great analyst, he constantly called for Bollig to play his role. Hit numbers when down when his shots on goal went up. I cringed every time Bollig scored a goal, knowing he was gonna shoot another dozen or so times before we saw another hit.
Inasmuch as the hawks want to play finesse hockey and speed hockey, Bollig took all the hitting out of his game while the stars were getting beat up. The reason you play your fourth line against a top line is to hit them like your first line is getting hit.
If he is told to hit, he will hit, if he is told to jaw, he is good at jawwing with other players, but when it comes time to drop the gloves, he is really good at getting punched in the face.

The healthy scratches during the playoffs pretty much let us know he was on his way out, they signed him to a easily traded contract that was able to be moved.