Jordan Belfort Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 The Calgary Flames have finally come to grips with reality by entering the rebuilding process by beginning a youth movement. Last year they shipped out their Captain Jarome Iginla as well as Olympian Jay Bouwmeester while this year trade rumours swirl around players like Cammalleri and Stempniak. WIth the team obviously being a "seller" at the moment, one name I'm surprised to not be hearing more rumours about is Dennis Wideman. Wideman caught my eye in the Canucks game against Calgary on January 18th where he logged an impressive 38:05 of ice time. While he didn't register a goal or an assist he was certainly noticeable on the ice. Not only was he making good passes out of the zone, creating some transitional offense, and contributing in the offensive zone, but he was also a lot more effective defensively than I remember him being. I then thought to myself isn't it a constant criticism of the Canucks that they lack a legitimate puck moving defenseman and power play quarterback? Dennis Wideman is 30 years old and is under contract for three more years after this season at a cap hit of $5.25 M (so Gillis would not be acquiring a rental). He has 75 goals and 213 assists in 617 career games. He has a career +/- of -65 however I think a lot of that can be attributed to playing on a lot of bad Blues, Panthers, and Flames teams in the past. This season he has 2 goals and 13 assists in 36 games for the flames. I think Wideman would be an excellent fit on the Canucks for several reasons, first off he is a right handed defenseman and it would help to have most of the teams defensemen playing their natural sides. Secondly he is very offensive minded, he would certainly help the Canucks transition game and their Powerplay. He was a significant part in some of the dangerous Washington Powerplays of the past. One more small reason is he has some minor chemistry with Garrison as they played together on Florida for one season. I also think he would be a much cheaper option (but maybe just as effective) than a guy like Campbell or Boyle would be to go after. A couple of things to keep in mind when assessing his value. Firstly he plays a big role on Calgary's blueline because they don't have many established defensemen, so they'll probably want or require another defenseman back. Secondly since the Flames are rebuilding they would probably want assets that are younger and less expensive than Wideman. So what do you think it would take to get Wideman into a Canucks uniform? Or to any team for that matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outsiders Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 id offer my Bacon,Eggs,Potatos,Toast breakfast meal to Burke to trade him to us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keslerific Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I dont know but I dont like his cap hit for our team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 He just signed that big deal so I doubt we want anything to do with him. We have enough D as it is. Maybe Calgary takes some high end prospects/picks in return for him to accelerate the rebuild, but they also need to have some veteran presence in the lineup while the youngsters develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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