Todd Cordell: Calgary Flames sign Andrew Mangiapane to two-year bridge deal

Great signing.... I would love to have him on the Oil

He has 25 career goals. I'm guessing he's very happy with making $2.5 million. This was hardly "putting the screws to him." There's no way they were going to pay him more than Bennett. Hopefully he continues to get better and will get paid more on his next contract.

Man I'm good

We DID just improve the team... Plus - it's $10.9 including both Markstrom and Petrovic


Mangiapane $2.5
Brodie (or similar) $4-$4.5
Kylington $1.5

Still leaves $2M in space.

And our bottom six, as should be the case with most teams, will be rounded out with our farm system. Gawdin/Phlips/Pelletier/Ruzicka

The sky is not falling here.

I think it's a great deal. When I saw San Jose sign Leblanc to the deal that he got, I became worried about Mangiapane. I figured we would be looking at just under $4 million for him. He'll still be an RFA at the end of this deal and Johnny, Gio and Chucky all have expiring contracts at the same time. My money would be that Mangiapane and Chucky end up being big parts of the core moving forward from there. I can't believe that we were able to extend him for under $3 which is where I thought our best case scenario would be.

I think it's a great deal. When I saw San Jose sign Leblanc to the deal that he got, I became worried about Mangiapane. I figured we would be looking at just under $4 million for him. He'll still be an RFA at the end of this deal and Johnny, Gio and Chucky all have expiring contracts at the same time. My money would be that Mangiapane and Chucky end up being big parts of the core moving forward from there. I can't believe that we were able to extend him for under $3 which is where I thought our best case scenario would be.
- Flames in 6 04

Wouldn't have thought 33 points (and -33, and I know +/- is a garbage stat, but still - woof) was worth that, but there is ore of a track record there, he was also on a bargain deal so they could get Karlsson in under the cap last year and eats up a season of UFA I think.

RFA negotiation is Tre's wheelhouse, and the Flames have Mangy chances that few other teams would have, so I think there are a lot of factors that separate these two deals.

You're vastly over rating Mangiapane and always seem to ignore how important who you're playing with is to you're underlying stats. Anyone playing with Tkachuk and Backlund are going to have great underlying stats.

Mangiapane deserves some credit for being able to fit with them and keep up, but he's not underpaid and would be pretty easy to replace if he wanted much more than he's getting.

You're vastly over rating Mangiapane and always seem to ignore how important who you're playing with is to you're underlying stats. Anyone playing with Tkachuk and Backlund are going to have great underlying stats.

Mangiapane deserves some credit for being able to fit with them and keep up, but he's not underpaid and would be pretty easy to replace if he wanted much more than he's getting.
- Hunkulese

Yep. He's a good player, probably good for 20 goals, but expecting him to become a top-line player is madness.

Beware of the Anthony Cirelli syndrome/Yanni Gourde/any middle sixer on Tampa syndrome.

Great deal, I would have been willing to go as high as 3.5 on a four or five year deal but but given our cap situation I like the wiggle room the 2.4 gives us to round out the roster.

We also locked up gawdin a couple days ago, based on his numbers in the AHL he may be ready to make the jump to our 4th line allowing us even more cap space to work with

Yep. He's a good player, probably good for 20 goals, but expecting him to become a top-line player is madness.

Beware of the Anthony Cirelli syndrome/Yanni Gourde/any middle sixer on Tampa syndrome.
- redseerpf

Who's expecting him to be a top line player?
This is the right deal for the right term. Its always a crap shoot with arbitration and I would hate to have been forced into more than this contract.

For you Tre...

This "cheap" signing might open the door for some roster improvement, but we would need to be a little bit creative.

First, we have to bid farewell to Ryan. Great player, very servicable, but 3+ million for a 4th line center in a flat cap world is too much. Bait a team with cap space for whatever (3rd round pick?).

That could open the door for a 1 year 5 million offer to Hoffman, in the same logic the deal Hall signed with Buffalo.

Yes, he's another left shot forward, but he would still significantly improve the top 6.

Then fill the roster with spares at the minimum salary, target some cheap guys for the 4th line (Brodziak? Lewis? Shore?).

This "cheap" signing might open the door for some roster improvement, but we would need to be a little bit creative.

First, we have to bid farewell to Ryan. Great player, very servicable, but 3+ million for a 4th line center in a flat cap world is too much. Bait a team with cap space for whatever (3rd round pick?).

That could open the door for a 1 year 5 million offer to Hoffman, in the same logic the deal Hall signed with Buffalo.

Yes, he's another left shot forward, but he would still significantly improve the top 6.

Then fill the roster with spares at the minimum salary, target some cheap guys for the 4th line (Brodziak? Lewis? Shore?).
- redseerpf

The 4th line will have, as it should, rookies on it. Ruzicka/Gawdin etc. Flames are still fine. This was the expected dollar figure for Mangy. It's not a cheap deal, it's exactly what he was going to get. Ryan's deal is done after this year, his contract was never great, but it's going to be fine for this year.

I agree that the Flames are underpaying for Mangiapane and will regret that they only locked him in for two years. His advanced stats suggest that a deal around $3.2 would still have been a more than reasonable signing considering his puck possession stats, work in the corners, and actual points.

I also agree with what's been said about finding a trade for Derek Ryan. With Bennett successfully stepping up as third-line centre during the playoffs to pivot between Lucic and Dube, and he brings more bite to the lineup and that pretty much makes Ryan expendable and opens the door for a young centre like Gawdin or Ruzicka to step in and centre the fourth line.

I agree that the Flames are underpaying for Mangiapane and will regret that they only locked him in for two years. His advanced stats suggest that a deal around $3.2 would still have been a more than reasonable signing considering his puck possession stats, work in the corners, and actual points.

I also agree with what's been said about finding a trade for Derek Ryan. With Bennett successfully stepping up as third-line centre during the playoffs to pivot between Lucic and Dube, and he brings more bite to the lineup and that pretty much makes Ryan expendable and opens the door for a young centre like Gawdin or Ruzicka to step in and centre the fourth line.
- WrySatyr

Need Ryan for our PK this year, having jettisoned Janko and Rieder already, those ranks are getting pretty thin

Need Ryan for our PK this year, having jettisoned Janko and Rieder already, those ranks are getting pretty thin
- rmull905

Yup, having lost Jankowski, the Flames should be looking to add a centre and certainly not getting rid of another one.

Mag pie is a pretty underrated player

Yup, having lost Jankowski, the Flames should be looking to add a centre and certainly not getting rid of another one.
- tincup

I would not have a problem having the 4th line be young guys that bring in energy and are willing to show up and play every game. That was lacking last year.

I would not have a problem having the 4th line be young guys that bring in energy and are willing to show up and play every game. That was lacking last year.
- DuranDuran

Yeah, anytime you have Janko on any line, the energy goes down about 40%. Gawdin sounds hungry, I'd like to see Ruzicka and/or Philips see some time. Especially Ruz - 6'4" and 220 is something we do not have in this lineup in spades.

This will be one of the better non elc money per point deals in the NHL

This will be one of the better non elc money per point deals in the NHL
- flashfire

Agreed. Think Mango is only going to get better.

🙂

I'm starting to wonder if Hunkulese is really a Flames Fan. Maybe he is that old Oilers Blogger that lived in the basement or maybe he just needs to get laid.

We need Ryan's abilities, but not at the price that we're paying him.

Gawdin and Ruzicka are both natural centres and will bring the energy. I would add Michael Grabner on a 1-2 year contract at $1.5M. He's been doing the penalty kill and SH scoring for years and Arizona put him on waivers to buy him out. He'd be a perfect replacement for Reider and he still has speed.

If we’re hell bent on keeping Ryan for his pk abilities it may be best to have him play right wing on the Bennett line with dube playing the left.

It would probably help Bennett adjust to the role full time, plus it would be beneficial to have a right handed player able to take faceoffs on that line.

Only reason I suggest this is because the only affordable option that would be as good offensively in that position is kahun. Anybody else we bring into that 3rd line spot is a downgrade.

Also any thoughts on hamonic still being available? With the way the markets been going I would be open to keeping him around on a 1 to 1.5 aav for 1 year. He’s hit a bit of a decline but given that our lefties hanifin and valimaki are more offensive D it could make sense to bring in another shutdown player back there

If we’re hell bent on keeping Ryan for his pk abilities it may be best to have him play right wing on the Bennett line with dube playing the left.

It would probably help Bennett adjust to the role full time, plus it would be beneficial to have a right handed player able to take faceoffs on that line.

Only reason I suggest this is because the only affordable option that would be as good offensively in that position is kahun. Anybody else we bring into that 3rd line spot is a downgrade.

Also any thoughts on hamonic still being available? With the way the markets been going I would be open to keeping him around on a 1 to 1.5 aav for 1 year. He’s hit a bit of a decline but given that our lefties hanifin and valimaki are more offensive D it could make sense to bring in another shutdown player back there
- RedC21

Curious. Lucic Bennett Dube line was one of our best lines in the bubble & really showed chemistry, played a good heavy game & created scoring chances. Lucic is not going anywhere next year for sure, why would you change that line with a softy like Ryan & push $5.25 mill Lucic to the 4th line to try & find some chemistry with some tweeners. Thats crazy. Leave the line alone, leave Bennett at 3C for the whole year.
Next year we have some better options, especially with what to do with Lucic.