Is Jay Bouwmeester The Calgary Flames Next Trade?

In wake of the Jarome Iginla that sent the hockey world upside down last night and this morning, the Calgary Flames appear to be set on rebuilding their franchise.  With that comes speculation that Jay Bouwmeester will be the next player to be traded from the Calgary Flames and as we’ve heard already, there is a market starting to take shape for the mobile defenseman.

Roger Millions of Sportsnet reports via Twitter that Flames management has held talks with Bouwmeester about the possibility of a trade and that as many as six clubs are interested in his services.

Craig Custance of ESPN writes that the Flames need to deal Bouwmeester and they should do so immediately and not wait for the April 3rd deadline (insider access required).

Custance points to simple facts on why the Flames should deal the 29-year old pronto.  He explains that the best time to deal is now before he enters the final year of his contract.  Whichever team is willing to meet the asking price will get Bouwmeester for this year’s playoff run but also have the peace of mind knowing he’s locked up for at least next year as well.

Custance also mentions that waiting for the summer to trade Bouwmeester could prove more difficult when the salary cap comes down and teams will be struggling to get under the new ceiling.  Not exactly a key time to add a $6.68 million dollar cap hit.

Finally, Custance points out that Jay Feaster should move him now before the trade deadline “when teams are eager to make a playoff push.”

All valid points and given we’ve heard that the Detroit Red Wings are in on the JayBo sweepstakes, they have the perfect assets that the Flames could be looking for.  The Wings have long been in the market for a top-four defenseman since they lost captain Niklas Lidstrom to retirement last summer.  Bouwmeester would fill that void left and could play top-two minutes along with bolstering the power-play.

Bouwmeester does have a full, no-trade clause reports Custance, but he believes Feaster will be in the driver’s seat with this deal versus the Iginla one.  They catered to Jarome’s request and it’s easy to understand why.  But with Bouwmeester, Feaster can be more aggressive.  Every day we are reminded of how many teams are looking for a top-four, puck moving defenseman and Calgary easily has one of the best in the game that is readily available.  Let the bidding war begin.

So now Feaster can leverage the trade value of Bouwmeester and potentially get the king’s ransom he is said to be asking for. While Bouwmeester could block a potential deal, he has to see which way the Flames are headed (rebuild).  And if an opportunity presented itself to go to the Red Wings, St. Louis Blues or Boston Bruins (to name a few contenders) he would be a fool not to accept the deal and potentially have a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.

Then again, stranger things have happened.  Just ask Peter Chiarelli of the Bruins how yesterday’s trade talks progressed, only to find out he didn’t win the Iginla sweepstakes.