Flames Sign Dion Phaneuf to Six-Year Contract

[Thrillhouse]

Calgary, AB - Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter announced today the signing of Dion Phaneuf to a six-year contract extension.

“It remains very important for us to lock up our key young players,” said Sutter. “Our goal with Dion was to provide an arrangement that will allow him to take his game to the next level.”

“I’m excited about the prospect of playing another six years in Calgary,” said Phaneuf. “In fact, I never thought I would be playing anywhere else. I am proud to be a member of this organization and will continue to concentrate on the job at hand - making and advancing in the playoffs this year and for years to come.”

“Since Darryl drafted Dion in 2003, he has been on a strong and progressive career path,” said Flames President & CEO Ken King. “ Dion will remain a member of an important group of gifted young men who carry the Calgary Flames banner and reputation in our community and throughout the League.”

“This is a strong and committed ownership group, “said Newport Sports Management’s Don Meehan. “It is a pleasure to work with the Calgary Flames’ hockey group and senior management who are dedicated to the Calgary market and have made Calgary a great place to play.”

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Phaneuf is playing in his 3rd season with the Calgary Flames. Phaneuf was Calgary’s 1st round pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, and recently returned from the 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta where he was named to the Western Conference’s starting line-up.

[forsberg21]

I'm sure thats gonna be quite a bit of money. But worth it. Like him or hate him, Dion is probably the best young defenceman in the league right now.

[bengino]

deal worth reportedly 6.5 mill per... which seems steep, but still sort of worth it

[Janssen25]

It'll be interesting to see how much this is gonna cost the Flames. Probably somewhere in between 6-7 million per year seems likely the way contracts have been recently. He's worth it IMO.

[BStreetBullies]

Damn, good for the Flames to lock him up. He'll be great for years to come.

[canuckfan]

The inevitable happened.

Everyone knew Phaneuf the Goof would be signed before July 1. The question was, for how much?

6.5 million is a ton of money, especially in a cap system. 8 million is locked up in Kipprusoff, 7 million in Iginla, 5 million in Tanguay and Regehr. The Flames have a lot of cash stored up in a strong nucleus of players, some of whom are already well into their prime NOW. I have a feeling in 3 or 4 years Calgary will be desperate to unload some of these contracts, all of which are for 5 years - 6 now for the Goof.

But, in short term, this pretty much spells the end for Husselius and Langkow in Calgary - or Tanguay. No way will Sutter be able to afford all 3 of those guys, especially with Tanguay's albatross of a contract.

It will be interesting to see what happens this summer in Cow town. But for Flamers fans, at least the major pieces are locked up. Now they have 10 million or so to spend on the supporting cast for next season, with no decent prospects in the system......could be hard times in Calgary coming up.

[Orr=God]

i hate phaneuf but the guy is a tremendous player and hitter. good for calgary to lock him up long term.

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by canuckfan

......could be hard times in Calgary coming up.

I bet if you asked any GM if they could have Iginla, Kipper, Regehr and Phaneuf locked up for the next 5 years for a total of $23.3 million per year, they'd take that and run.

[Faz]

The Flames have as good a core as there is going around, and that includes Phaneuf.

At least it ends stupid rumours about what Calgary would trade him for. As if they would look to deal a young, RFA, hard-hitting, goal-scoring #1 defender. Makes as much sense as "wot wood it cost to get Mallken?!11! LOLZ!!11!"

[canuckfan]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

I bet if you asked any GM if they could have Iginla, Kipper, Regehr and Phaneuf locked up for the next 5 years for a total of $23.3 million per year, they'd take that and run.

Sure - but 3 of those guys are already in their 30s. Whats going to happen 3 years from now when some of them start slowing down a little?

All I'm saying is, I see the same kind of trend here as in Tampa Bay - a lot of money locked up in a small group of players; but here, this core is a little older. Bottom line is, with the amount of money locked up in these 4 or 5 guys, I'm not sure the Flamers will have enough cap room or be able to afford to spend money on a decent supporting cast for the next few years, and they already have plenty of concerns on the bottom two lines and on their old, slow and expensive defense.

Whatever the deal is, if the Flames are going to win a cup with this group, it has to be this year - because with all that money locked up long term with this core, you might as well kiss Husselius and Langkow good-bye come July 1, and with that, plenty of the Calgary's offensive depth. And with a lack of cap space and no big time prospects in the system, Calgary could be facing some severe challenges in the very near future.

Edit: Look at the big picture - by my calculations, the Flames have 13 players locked up for about 46 million for 2008-09 - they have to fill out their remaining 8 or 9 spots with 5-6 million dollars, depending on how much room they want to leave under the cap. Thats not a lot of money left to fillout a good NHL roster. And a few of those contracts (Aucoin 4 million, Sarich 3.9 million, Tanguay 5.4 million) are pretty ugly. Thats why I think the Flames may be in a spot of trouble the next couple seasons....

[Isles4life]

They needed to get him locked up. He's quickly becoming a top defenseman and is the best hitter in hockey. It's a lot of money, but they needed to fork it over to keep Dion around.

[mongoose]

Originally Posted by Isles4life

They needed to get him locked up. He's quickly becoming a top defenseman and is the best hitter in hockey. It's a lot of money, but they needed to fork it over to keep Dion around.

great move for a great player.

[The Don]

Phaneuf is worth every penny.

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by canuckfan

All I'm saying is, I see the same kind of trend here as in Tampa Bay

There's a big difference between Calgary and Tampa Bay. The Lightning tied all their money up in 3 forwards. Similar situation in Toronto where it was spent on defencemen. With Calgary, they have locked up a legitimate franchise player at each position.

Come on, age? The only guy in his 30's is Kipper. Regehr and Iggy are entering their prime age, while Dion is only gonna get better.

Sure, they do have a lot of big contracts going into next year but Darryl will take care of that, he always does.

[lockdownlol]

Surprised it wasn't for 10+ years like the other big deals we've been seeing recently. Good for the Flames to lock him up long-term, guys a hell of a player.