Buyer beware

By Lawrence Bailey

What an odd concept, the Calgary Flames as trade deadline buyers. The first week of March is often a time when Flames fans try to figure out who is headed out of town.


Not this year, however.


The Flames are firmly entrenched in the playoff race and are able to look to down-and-out clubs for a potential deadline pick-up.


Let’s examine potentially available players the Flames may target.





Curtis Brown, Buffalo Sabres


Brown has been rumoured to be on the block off and on all season, and the defensively solid faceoff specialist would fit right in on Sutter’s squad, possibly in exchange for one of the Flames’ young defencemen.





Kristian Huselius, Florida Panthers


While Huselius–a soft, skilled winger–is the exception to every Sutter rule, he’s been rumoured to be available all year. Couple that with Florida’s dumping of Viktor Kozlov and GM Rick Dudley’s hard-on for big D-men and this is a deal could come out of left field.





Shawn McEachern, Atlanta Thrashers


McEachern would be the perfect addition. He’s won Stanley Cups (with the early ’90s Penguins) and would provide a calming, veteran presence in the Flames dressing room. There are many teams rumoured to be interested in him, but dangling a young, rugged blueliner like Denis Gauthier could tip the scales in the Flames’ favour.





Mike Grier, Washington Capitals


This former Oiler is enjoying a solid year in Washington and there is a currently a huge fire sale in D.C. Caps owner Ted Leonsis is apparently fond of Grier, but with a less-than-stellar collection of blueliners, it’s a deal that just might come to pass.