Trade Deadline Primer: Calgary Flames

With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Calgary Flames. 

After an offseason that saw the Flames’ roster undergo significant upheaval, Calgary has had an uneven, often frustrating 2022-23 season. The team remains in solid position standings-wise, — tied with the Minnesota Wild for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference — but fans could not be blamed for expecting more from head coach Darryl Sutter’s team.

Heading into the deadline, the Flames’ status is relatively unclear. GM Brad Treliving told NHL.com’s Aaron Vickers in an interview that his team still hasn’t told him what direction he should head in in terms of transactions. He said:

Listen, we’d like to add to our team, but the most critical part is where your team’s at, right? We’ve got some work to do to get ourselves into a better position than we currently are. We’ve been up and down. There’s been some inconsistency to our game. It’s hard to sit here and start making any proclamations about what you’re going to do at the deadline. We continue to watch our team.

It sounds as though the Flames want to add for a potential playoff run, but don’t want to overextend for a team that may not be capable of true Stanley Cup contention. It’s a difficult spot to be in, especially for a franchise that has invested significant dollars in older, more established players. This leaves the Flames as one of the more interesting teams to watch in advance of the March 3rd deadline.

Record

24-18-10, 5th in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Unclear

Deadline Cap Space

$2.95MM today, $4.44MM in deadline space, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: CGY 1st, CGY 2nd, CGY 4th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th

2024: CGY 1st*, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, CGY 4th, CGY 6th

*If Calgary’s 2024 first-rounder is between the picks of 20 and 32, the Montreal Canadiens can choose to take that pick as their return from the Sean Monahan trade.

Trade Chips

Should the Calgary Flames choose to invest in this year’s roster and add established players, the overwhelming likelihood is that the team would either deal from their prospect pool or stable of draft picks in order to get a deal done. In terms of draft picks, the conditions on the team’s 2024 first-round pick make it so they won’t be able to trade it, as it could theoretically belong to the Montreal Canadiens over a year from now.

That leaves the Flames’ 2023 first-round pick as their top draft pick available to trade. Since the Flames’ fate this season remains unclear, it would be a surprise if Treliving chose to deal that pick without any protections attached. But should the Flames be interested in acquiring one of the bigger names on the market, their 2023 first-rounder may be the starting point for any trade offer.

In terms of prospects, the Flames have a few that could be of interest to other clubs. The Flames picked just three times at the 2022 draft, and their prospect pool ranks 20th in the NHL according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler. (subscription link) Prized prospects Matt Coronato and Dustin Wolf are presumably off the table in any deals, and it’s likely that since the Flames haven’t firmly placed themselves in the Stanley Cup mix, they’d be similarly unwilling to deal Connor Zary or Jakob Pelletier. 2020 third-round pick Jeremie Poirier, who is having a solid rookie season in the AHL, may be the top prospect the Flames are willing to make available for other teams.

Should the Flames struggle between now and the deadline, they do have a few players on offer that could be of interest to deadline buyers. A rebuild isn’t coming anytime soon, so it’s likely that Treliving would only want to deal players not in his team’s future plans.

One such player is depth forward Trevor Lewis, who has Stanley Cup experience and could interest teams looking for a cheap, reliable addition to their bottom-six.

Another pending unrestricted free agent is Michael Stone, who has played 42 games in a depth role in Calgary this season and could be a low-price option for a team looking for defensive reinforcements.

Team Needs

1) Another scoring forward

While the Flames have playoff hopes this season, they rank just 19th in the NHL in goals for per game. Perhaps even more distressingly, the team ranks 25th in the NHL with a 19% power play scoring rate. While part of the team’s offensive struggles can be attributed to the decline in scoring numbers of the Flames’ marquee offseason additions, Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, the lack of scoring remains a team-wide issue. Adding a lethal power play threat and someone to help reinforce Sutter’s top-six would give the Flames a major boost.

2) A player who can provide a spark

The Flames’ most pressing need is to add a scoring forward for the reasons outlined above. But what is perhaps more important is for the Flames to add a “spark,” a player or some players capable of energizing a team that hasn’t looked like the juggernaut they once appeared to be last season. While capable of playing some brilliant games, the Flames have lacked consistency and have too often looked frustrated, and stale. If they can find the type of player who is not only a skilled player but also the type of on-ice force and off-ice leader to help rejuvenate the team’s struggling superstars (Huberdeau, Kadri, Jacob Markstrom) then a hot streak could be just around the corner. For as uneven as the Flames’ campaign has been, they remain one extended hot streak from attaining contender status. While Treliving should remain focused on adding some scoring help, finding the specific kind of player who can help ignite a team-wide turnaround should be a priority as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images