The Flames are expected to be active in the trade market, but don’t expect a complete teardown. Team president Don Maloney opposes the idea, telling Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that a last-place finish is “the farthest from our mind.”
Calgary has tasted precious little playoff action over the last decade and a half, appearing in the postseason just five times since 2009 and not at all in the previous three seasons. This lack of meaningful hockey likely means that the fans and the franchise don’t want to stomach a full-scale rebuild that could mean another three to five consecutive seasons – at least – without playoff action.
That being said, floating the idea of stripping the roster down to the studs isn’t surprising given that the Flames have hit the bottom of the standings and have some veteran players who probably aren’t part of the team’s future. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson is a pending UFA and will attract plenty of interest from contending teams as the season approaches the trade deadline. Nazem Kadri remains a top target for teams, although Calgary seems relatively lukewarm about trading the veteran center, with Maloney commenting that Calgary needs more Kadri’s and not less. Most of the trade speculation isn’t the main issue on the ice, but it’s definitely a consideration for some players. Last year, Calgary seemed ready to take a step forward this season, but after a rough start, the rest of the year’s outlook appears uncertain.
Calgary experienced a quiet summer, leaving them uncertain about their short and long-term plans. They are not a contender at the moment, but they also do not appear fully committed to a rebuild, creating an interesting dynamic similar to the one the Capitals had a few years ago. Back then, they made forward-looking moves in the interim, hoping to retool on the fly.
That strategy proved very successful for Washington last season, as they became one of the top teams in the NHL. It seems to be a blueprint other teams are adopting to avoid the lengthy rebuild that became common in the 2000s and 2010s. While it has worked for Washington and helped the Penguins through part of this season, it’s a gamble because the risk is becoming a non-playoff team that neither qualifies for the postseason nor gets a high draft pick. That’s where Pittsburgh has been over the past three seasons, and a similar situation occurred with the Flames before trading Jarome Iginla to the Penguins in 2013.
Calgary has several desirable players who could bring future assets in the trade market. The aforementioned Andersson and Kadri are the top trade chips, but the Flames also have several other pending UFAs. Forward Ryan Lomberg and defenseman Jake Bean are both in the last years of their contracts, and although neither is a high-impact player, they should have a market as the deadline nears. Lomberg is a former Stanley Cup winner who doesn’t get much ice time in Calgary and is a frequent hitter. He has just three goals and 11 assists in 100 games as a member of the Flames, but he wasn’t signed for his scoring. Despite being undersized at just 5’9”, Lomberg plays a high-energy game and can get under opponents’ skin. All of these traits are highly valuable during the playoffs, which should make him an easy trade for the Flames, but he might not return much in a deal.
Bean is another player on an expiring deal who probably won’t fetch much if Calgary decides to move him. The 27-year-old has been a virtual non-factor since signing a two-year, $3.5MM deal in 2024, with nine points and a -7 rating in 77 games. For someone whose puck-moving ability is his calling card, that’s simply not enough output. As such, he’s become a frequent healthy scratch, only skating in three of Calgary’s last 11 contests.
Andersson, Lomberg, and Bean are the Flames’ notable UFAs this season, but apart from Andersson, they won’t significantly contribute to building future assets. This puts the team in a tricky position if they don’t plan to move Kadri. Should they trade their UFAs, keep everyone else, and wait until next summer to restart their rebuild? Should they approach next summer with caution, like they did this past year? Or should they completely tear down the roster and rebuild around Dustin Wolf and their younger stars? Flames general manager Craig Conroy will need to answer these questions soon, as the answers will shape the team’s direction. It’s okay to change course if circumstances change, but if Calgary doesn’t develop a clear plan soon, it risks losing its direction.
Nobody expected them to be Stanley Cup contenders this season, but the hope was that the young players would continue to develop. Since it’s still early in the season, there is time for that to happen. Some players have already moved up to the NHL (Wolf, Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh), with more expected to follow in Cole Reschny and Hunter Brzustewicz. However, it’s fair to question whether the Flames will have enough top-tier talent when they’re ready to compete, which makes it essential to gather future assets for current veterans – especially when those veterans likely won’t be part of the Flames’ next competitive window.
The Kadri discussion is confusing, but it might be the Flames playing a long game to get the best value for the 35-year-old. Calgary doesn’t have many top-tier players to trade, and Kadri could be one of their last chances to acquire valuable pieces for the future. After posting an impressive 35 goals and 32 assists in 82 games last season, Kadri has started slowly this season with just four goals and 10 assists in 22 games. While his numbers look to be dropping off, it is fair to point out that he is shooting just 5.6% this season, compared to 12.5% last year and 10.9% over his 17-year NHL career. If he regresses to the mean, he should still pot 25 goals this season and will remain in demand on the trade market.
Calgary might hit a boiling point soon if they keep losing, and it could turn into a situation where they try to move every player over 30 who isn’t Mikael Backlund. While that might be the plan, it’s hard to see anyone trading for Jonathan Huberdeau and his hefty contract. But a player like Blake Coleman might generate some interest (with money retained), or even defenseman MacKenzie Weegar could be moved, despite still having plenty of term left on his deal. Coleman has actually garnered the most tangible interest of the Flames’ trade chips thus far in the season and has already been linked to a return to the Devils.
Regardless of what Calgary does, it’s hard to imagine them continuing the season in their current direction. They have more young players coming up and still have veterans who can perform at a high level. While Huberdeau’s contract isn’t going to age well, the rising salary cap will lessen its impact.
Maloney has PPTSD.
Post Phoenix Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Running the Coyotes during the NHL-run lean years has apparently robbed him of his senses.
A sizable number of Flames fans are wanting a rebuild, judging by the number of texters and callers on the Flames’ post-game show on SN960. Early in the season, after a win, no less, one texted in “Let’s not lose sight of the big picture here. 2-79-1 is still attainable. Gavin McKenna, here we come!” Many also expressed their frustrations with Don Maloney’s recent speech on the state of the team.
Flames fans are all bust or boom from what I hear from Fan960. They either think they can compete with what they have or want everyone gone and think they’ll get multiple firsts for them. Commonly both. Say something like “they can win with Kadri, but he’s not a 1C, but should require a 1st, a 2nd, and a top prospect” for him. And then say “Backlund can easily replace him”, then the next caller says “Backlund is their #1C, but doesn’t score enough”. Their fans are as delusional as their owners.
@wreckage — That’s what I’ve witnessed, too. Maybe that’s due to too many lean years, and not enough competitive “Battle for Alberta” games. It’s a strange fan base that way, for sure.
The Tkachuk for Huberdeau and Weegar trade absolutely scuttled the Flames. Losing Gaudreau to free agency didn’t help either. At the same time though, that trade looking really good for the Flames at the time… It just didn’t pan out. Huberdeau got injured and never had the support he needed when he wasn’t.
They needed to flip weegar or huberdeau quickly to snag more picks in the Bedard (or celebrini) draft & let the team sink a little closer in lottery odds. Teams lean into all kind of movements and schemes- why is it better to suck organically as opposed to intentionally?
I think the Flames shouldn’t panic, they have a good team on paper, at least they can compete. Many GMs would like to eat them alive but they are not dead, they are 5-4-1 in the last 10 games.
Good team on paper? Tell me one player on their team that would be a first line player from their roster on more than 4 other teams in the league? Andersson maybe a top pairing guy on 2/3’s of the league. Wolf is a #1 on majority. Otherwise they’re a tire fire.
Build around Huberdeau. Let’s light this candle.
I rarely advocate this, but…the Flames need to start from scratch.
Fire and trade (almost) literally everyone.
Conroy is not the guy. The Flames were below average last year but won 3 games in a row or something and made the deal for Frost and Farabee when they should have been selling.
That his bosses don’t know this means they need to go, too.
And I don’t think they have a single player to build around. They should keep Parehk and cross their fingers but otherwise, trade everyone. Yes, even Wolf. Maybe, especially Wolf.
I admittedly have a policy (bias) against smaller goalies, but unless you are 10000% sure that last year and not this year is the real Wolf…gotta sell him now on the premise that last year was before it’s too late.
Even the OK young players like Coronato or Zary should be moved as they have trade value and many Flames don’t.
5 year rebuild and hope for McKenna to create a McD vs McK Battle of Alberta.
How do you know McKenna is McDavid and not Lafreniere? I mean, yeah, all for the tanking but there are currently signs pointing to McKenna not being that kind of needle-moving player.
Fair concern.
At the end of the day, you don’t control the pool, so you just have to jump in and hope the water is deep enough.
Re: McKenna specifically…yeah, the part where he’s not a C in college, let alone the NHL is concerning.
Agree and disagree.
Conroy has had a little over 2 years to set his footprint. He’s been cleaning up Brad Treliving’s mess thus far. And Huska hasn’t had a chance to build “his team’ thus far. Conny get about 2 more years, to build his team after cleaning out Trelivings team, Huska has til the end of the year to show some improvements.
As per the McKenna comment, many top prospect analysts are lowering his rating and suggesting one of the other top 3-5 may overtake his #1 spot. He’s not the elite we may have thought he may be.
Has he made a single good move?
I can’t name it.
Elias Lindholm for Kuzmenko, Brzustewicz, Jurmo, a 1st, and a 4th seems like a pretty good trade in his favor.
Hanifin for Miromanov, a 1st, and a 3rd.
Markstrom for a 1st and Bahl.
All those seem like wins to me.
Seem like run of the mill 1st and warm bodies for actual good player deals.
Those are non-bad moves.
To be fair, since I brought it up McKenna may or may not be a great player, a very good one, solid or a disappointment. That all remains to be seen. Schaefer didn’t emerge as the number one til mid last season and he’s been spectacular, and I also go back far enough to remember guys like Alexander Daigle, who was supposed to be generational and never quite got there, but carved out a solid career.
But as for Huska, he did a great job last year, but the argument from here is that Conroy subtracted more from last year’s team than he added to this year’s team. So I’m not there with Conroy yet. He’s done a good job piling picks up, but GMs make their $$$ plucking guys like Brock Faber with a 45th overall.
I think you could do a series of articles about teams needing to pick a direction. You could write similar things about the Flyers, Islanders, Bruins, Rangers, Predators, Blues, Canucks, and Leafs.
Craig Conroy has flip flopped on the rebuild more than once, He says rebuild, And then the Flames win 4 in a row, And he panics, It oozes Inexperience.
Despite what Maloney says, the rebuild is afoot in Alberta. Best grab it by the tail, sell Rasmus & Kadri, and reap the benefits in a few years. If he wants to follow the follies of Vancouver let your talent walk or flip it for similar but blemished pieces…