Welcome Jay... and our friend the Salary Cap

Of course it was a gamble. But hey, Darryl gives out picks all the time.. No big deal. Not if it turns into a signing of highly sought after soon-to-be-free-agent Jay Boumeester. With about 42 hours left to sign the 6"4, 212 lbs defenseman you can bet Mr Sutter will be quite the busy man.

But wow. The rumours all say we could be looking at at least 6 million per season (short term, long term could be cheaper) and I'm sure that I am not the only one wondering how close our heads are to the salary cap ceiling. The Vandermeer/Prust deal - GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK! - cleared out some room but I can't help but think there is more to come.

As it stands the Flames have 16 players under contract for next season at a total cap hit of $45.618 million... Leaving us with $11.182 million of dealing room. Which really isn't much. I guess it's pretty safe to say Cammie isn't returning, as well as Aucoin and Bertuzzi. Honestly, as much as I dislike older veteran players I would have Todd return... One reason off the top of my head: Watching his incredible shootout maneuvers. But I'm getting off topic.

Anyhow, as I see it even if Darryl manages to get Jay under contract there are still gaps that need to be fixed.

Offense: Assuming Darryl doesn't want to trade Jokinen (ugh....) we still need a few more guys. I would like to dish off Primeau somewhere;nothing personal it's just 1.4 million is too much.. So that leaves us with 3 empty spots in the lineup. Getting Dustin Boyd resigned would be great, and if Backlund makes the team that's another place filled. Jamie Lundmark could be resigned as well; I tell you, that guy has good hockey sense. And quite a good shot, actually. But thats still leaving the Abbotsford Heat to fill in our injuries. It wouldn't surprise me if our oh so clever GM brought in some other affordable veteran seeing as how for some messed up reason he doesn't want Bertuzzi.

Defense: Say we sign Boumeester. We will have him, Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich, and Giordano under contract.. As well as Pelech and Negrin but I doubt they are ready for full time positions. We still need at least two more. Really, really, want Pardy resigned. I know I am not the only one who was in awe of the way he stepped up last season. Then we still need one more... Thats open for debate.

So the question is: Do we have enough space to get all this accomplished? If not who is next out the door? *cough*jokinen*cough* ... Guess we can only wait and see what Darryl does next.