Flames hand Deryk Engelland $8.7 million for reasons beyond human understanding

Deryk Engelland is the newest member of the Calgary Flames, as the early stages of the Brian Burke era continue to be about the accumulation of truculence. Brian McGratton. Brandon Bollig. And now, three years of Deryk Engelland.

At $2.9M. Per year.

Trust us, we checked. When Bob McKenzie initially broke the deal, he gave no indication as to whether the number he cited was the total or the cap hit, but naturally, looking at what Engelland brings to the table -- he's a versatile guy who can play either defense or wing, but neither well -- and looking at what he made last year (about half a million), we just assumed he was making just shy of three million over the lifetime of the contract.

Nope. 32-year-old depth defenseman Deryk Engelland will earn $8.7 million dollars in the next three years, because Brian Burke hasn't changed a bit. Somewhere, Mike Komisarek smiles and nods.

One wonders if Burke's Doc Brown hair has begun to seep into his brain.

It's not unlike the Jeff Finger contract from 2008. Granted, that wasn't a Burke deal, but it was similarly insane, a massive pay increase for a defenceman that caught everyone off guard. It seems unbelievable. When McKenzie Tweeted that the Flames got Fingered, most just assumed it was a fake account. But it's the real deal, and so is this contract.

The question now becomes: is this the worst signing of the day? Up until now, I thought the Brooks Orpik deal had that award sewn up, with the Dave Bolland contract bringing up the rear. But from where I'm sitting, neither of those deals are even close to on par with Engelland, a bottom pairing defender, making a million more than Tom Gilbert for one more year.

On the bright side, now no one will mess with the Flames when Engelland's on the ice, which means their third and fourth lines are going to be very well-protected.