.EricFrancis has one question for every Flames player after a disappointing end to the season.
JUUSO VALIMAKIWith Giordano signed for three more years it will still be a while, but the poise and skill he showed in limited time with the Flames this season proved the first rounder is the real deal.You don’t consider trading him just because he has three assists in his last nine playoff games.
Perhaps a better question revolves around whether he was playing injured, which would explain his disappearance the last couple months.The beauty is the 24-year-old Swedish Beast can do it all, whether it’s as a top-line winger, a part-time centre or a 200-foot shut down player on the second line. Like Gaudreau, it’s likely the 21-year-old American eventually wants to ply his trade closer to home, so a five-year pact could be the max he’s looking for.Every team in the league would love him, so is he offer sheet material?Truth is, no one has any concerns with Backlund, who is as steady, reliable and hardworking a Flame as there is.
Based on that, the 22-year-old muckraker will be looking for more than the $1.95 million he made each of the last two years.His first year in Calgary was a colossal flop in every possible way, spilling over to an on-ice spat between him and the coach before Game 3 and ending with the humiliation of being scratched for the final game.
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