Price for Bouwmeester is high
Perhaps the biggest name left on the trade market is Jay Bouwmeester.
That’s if he is indeed dealt.
The Calgary Flames don’t have to necessarily move him — he’s got one more year left on his deal (at $6.6 million), so he’s not a pending unrestricted free agent forcing the NHL club to seek immediate asset return.
But since the face of the franchise, Jarome Iginla, has been dealt, anything is possible now in Calgary.
“I think they move Bouwmeester,” one NHL team executive told ESPN.com Friday. “But they want a lot for him.”
As they should, frankly. He’s not a rental player and, at 29, he’s in the prime of his career. He’s a top pairing blueliner and those don’t come around easily in this league.
Central Division rivals Detroit and St. Louis are teams that have interest in Bouwmeester, no question. The Blues crave a top-4, left-handed blueliner who can play alongside either right-handed stud Alex Pietrangelo or Kevin Shattenkirk.
But Bouwmeester’s salary could be an issue for a Blues team which has a number of core players to re-sign this summer: RFAs such as Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart, not to mention UFA Andy McDonald.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/23053/rumblings-price-for-bouwmeester-is-high