So, another NHL draft came and went.

Unlike other drafts, Darryl Sutter actually told the truth when he said he wouldn't be busy. Unfortunately, this draft was the worst time possible for him to tell the truth.  Instead of shipping off salary or getting a first round pick, he sat back and let 60 something picks lapse before he took his first player. So coming out of it, we have a late 20's goalie who will provide depth on the farm (if he even comes over), a couple OK prospects from decent lineage's, and some guys who may never play a game in the NHL. But despite being boring, I think the draft was actually positive. We didn't get rid of any good depth guys (Glencross, Dawes), Giordano is still a Flame, and White wasn't moved. If Daz had made White's rights available, he would have got a early 2nd round or late 1st rounder. It was no surprise Sutter wanted to move up in the draft, and he could have easily done just that. But he didn't, and to me that signifies a strong desire to keep White around. Maybe this is a new Sutter we are seeing? If he really wants to sign White, which I now believe he does, he will have to move some salary. There are three likley outcomes here:

1. Daz decides to get rid of a)Sarich b)Staios or c)Kotalik, either by way of trade for nothing or demotion. Sarich is the prime canidate for deletion here, because it's a lot easier to justify dropping a aging defender who you signed 4 years ago as opposed to a guy you traded for last season. This creates the cap space and roster space needed for White.

2. White will be qualified @ 3.15 Million. This ensures that the Flames will get a handsome return if he is taken away (1st & 3rd) and also keeps the salary from getting too absurd. Personally, this is about 350k/year more then I would be giving him, but if Daz is uncertain in any way about getting this guy signed, he has that security blanket of the picks. Plus, 3.15 isn't exactly out of the realm of possibilty.

3. White is taken to arbitration and given a salary in the mid 2 range, and is resigned next year to a higher salary after Daz moves a contract or Staios comes off the books. The only problem here is that Giordano, Glencross and Dawes are all UFA's next year, and it would be extremely hard to resign all 4 of them to solid, fair value contracts.

In an ideal world, White and Higgins will be signed to good value deals by mid-July. Anything past that, due to the unique situation that the Flames are in, is going to very difficult to predict.

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