It appears as though the Calgary Flames and Lance Bouma are $1 million apart as today marks their salary arbitration hearing.
That’s the word from Sportsnet’s Roger Millions, who reports that Bouma is asking for $2.5 million while the Flames counter with $1.5 million.
The instinctive response is to say “split the difference” and hand Bouma $2 million, but these types of situations aren’t always that simple.
The 25-year-old’s situation isn’t likely to cripple Calgary’s cap space either way. General Fanager puts it at $6.2 million, so the Flames could absorb the hit. That doesn’t mean the Flames are necessarily excited about forking over a big chunk of that remainder to someone who amounts to a depth forward.
From the sound of things, it was a fairly lengthy discussion:
The #Flames and Lance Bouma are roughly 3 hours into their arbitration hearing, so no last minute deal struck.
— Dean Molberg (@960boomer) July 22, 2015
Bouma has 199 regular season games under his belt, all with the Flames (who drafted him with the 78th pick in 2008). The 2014-15 campaign was easily his best so far, as he scored 16 goals and 34 points in 78 contests.
He admittedly serves as “energy-type player” in Calgary. We’ll find out soon enough what his efforts are worth.
The Flames also face possible hearings for Paul Byron and Josh Jooris this week, so it’s a busy time for the franchise.