"It wasn't so long ago the Calgary Flames were suffocating against the salary-cap ceiling.

Handcuffed, strapped in a straightjacket and locked in a box filling with water.

When GM Jay Feaster took over officially in the spring, he inherited a team with no monetary wiggle room, and a few holes to plug on the roster.

He called it "salary-cap jail" as he addressed his issues moving forward before the draft.

With almost a dozen of his players owning no-trade or no-movement clauses, the chances of Feaster wriggling out of his straightjacket appeared slim for the short-term.

Many burdensome contracts are set to expire after the 2011-12 season, so talk was of patience before real changes could be made.

Then change started taking place, despite the odds.

First, Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik — who both had no-trade clauses — and their combined US$7-million-plus contracts were sent to the Buffalo Sabres on the second day of the NHL Entry Draft.

That allowed Feaster to re-sign winger Alex Tanguay to a nice little raise before July 1, and make a serious pitch for the services of the most highly coveted unrestricted free agent on the market, coming up just short in the Brad Richards sweepstakes.

Being mentioned as the runner-up certainly got the Flames fanbase's attention, and made the bitter taste left by the departure of Regehr a lot more palatable."