- Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun: Flames Mark Giordano will be a UFA after next season, but the Flames are hoping to change that.
“Mark Giordano is the No.-1 priority for this summer,” GM Brad Treliving said Tuesday as the players gathered at the Saddledome for exit interviews and headed off for the summer.
“I think everybody in this room knows what Mark means to this team, both on and off the ice. He’s a culture-setter for me. You can’t win on the ice until you’ve got the right culture off the ice. He sets that for us so he’s the priority.
“We plan to get to work at it and have done some preliminary work at it, but it’s one we hope to get wrapped up real quick this summer.”
- Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun: Pending Flames UFAs include defensemen David Schlemko and Raphael Diaz and goaltender Karri Ramo. Schlemko hopes to re-sign with the Flames.
“We talked a little bit with Brad (Treliving, Flames GM) right now but they’ve gotta go through all their meetings and talk and see what happens,” Schlemko said. “Brad’s a busy man right now.”
- Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun: Sounds like the Flames want to have pending RFA Lance Bouma back next season.
“There are players you need in your lineup that help you win, and I think Lance Bouma is one of those guys,” Treliving said after Tuesday’s exit meetings at the Saddledome. “His parents, I hope, don’t watch games most nights because they’d spend most of their nights with their eyes closed, as I do, with the toll he puts on his body.”
Other pending Flames forward RFAs include Mikael Backlund, Paul Byron, Michael Ferland, Josh Jooris and Drew Shore.
- Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail: The Flames have some nice young pieces in place with Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett. Karri Ramo is a UFA and was their No. 1 goalie at the end of the year. Ramo has more potential than Jonas Hiller, but Hiller has another year left on his deal at $4.5 million.
- Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herarld: Pending UFA Karri Ramo said that some contract talks have taken place.
“There have been some talks (with the Flames) but everything is open,” said the 28-year-old whose two-year $5.5-million pact expires this summer. “It’s been our home for two years now. Change is always different. For my career, I’m turning 29 and there’s still a few years left. Do I want to change (teams) again? I don’t know.
“(Free ageny) is tempting for anybody. It’s the first time where I might have the chance to choose where I want to go. It’s something new for me in my career. So, we’ll see.”
Paul Byron hopes to be back.
“I want to be back here,” he said. “I want to be a Calgary Flame. I think they feel the same way about me. Now, it’s just a matter of the two parties getting together and trying to work out a deal.”
Josh Jooris wants to be back.
“Obviously, I’d love to be back here,” said the 24-year-old pivot, also a restricted free agent who managed to crack the big club last fall. “Hopefully, we’ll get something done, for sure. Hopefully (talks) in the next couple weeks. I want to be back here.”
Same with Mikael Backlund.
“We didn’t want any distractions during the playoffs, so it was pretty quiet,” said the 26-year-old pivot whose two-year, $3-million deal signed in the summer of 2013 also expires. “We’ll see. My agent and Calgary will probably start talking whenever they feel ready.
“I don’t feel any stress or anything. It’ll take care of itself.”
