Brian La Rose

Devils Assign Three To AHL

February 8, 2025 at 5:29 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

With the Devils playing their final game before the break this afternoon, they’ve wasted little time setting their roster for the next couple of weeks until play resumes while freeing up a bit of extra salary cap space in the process. The team announced that goaltender Nico Daws and defensemen Simon Nemec and Santeri Hatakka have been assigned to AHL Utica.

Daws was recalled last weekend to serve as Jake Allen’s backup with Jacob Markstrom still sidelined due to a lower-body injury. He made a pair of appearances during that stint, one in relief with one start, turning aside 32 of 34 shots. Daws has been limited to just 21 games with the Comets due to injury where he has a 3.40 GAA and a .888 SV%. He’ll likely get a few starts during the break before being recalled when NHL play resumes as Markstrom might not quite be ready to return by then.

As for Nemec, he was brought up on Thursday with Jonas Siegenthaler banged up. He played in both of New Jersey’s games following his promotion but was held off the scoresheet. On the season, he has only played 11 games with the Devils after seeing action in 60 a year ago. Instead, Nemec has spent most of the campaign in Utica where he has been able to play a much bigger role. The 20-year-old has done well down there with 22 points in 32 games.

As for Hatakka, his demotion should come as little surprise after he cleared waivers earlier today. He has yet to play this season after missing the first four months of the campaign while recovering from shoulder surgery. He split last season between New Jersey and Utica and will now try to play himself into consideration for a recall for the stretch run.

Central Notes: Heinola, Dickinson, Blues, Wilsby

February 7, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

It has been a rough few years for Jets defenseman Ville Heinola. Once considered one of their top prospects, frequent injuries derailed that and now that he’s waiver-blocked, even playing time is hard to come by. Accordingly, Sportsnet’s Jacob Stoller argues that the time is right to move the 23-year-old even though his value is at an all-time low. Heinola has been a frequent healthy scratch in recent weeks and has just one assist in 16 games with Winnipeg when he has played this season. With the Jets atop the standings in the West, it stands to reason that they’re going to look to add some defensive depth before next month’s trade deadline which will push Heinola further down the depth chart and possibly out of a roster spot altogether. Accordingly, perhaps it makes sense to take what they could get for him now over potentially losing him for nothing later on via waivers.

Lightning Recall Dylan Duke

February 7, 2025 at 7:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

After returning winger Conor Sheary to the minors this morning, the Lightning wasted little time filling his vacated roster spot. The team announced that they’ve recalled forward Dylan Duke from AHL Syracuse.

It’s the first career regular season recall for the 21-year-old. Duke was selected late in the fourth round back in 2021 by Tampa Bay, going 126th overall. He spent three seasons at the University of Michigan, the last of which was a dominant effort coming last season that saw him record 26 goals and 23 assists in just 41 games, good for a share of 11th in Division I scoring. Duke also had a brief stint with the Crunch last season, getting into three regular season games and five playoff contests.

Duke has played exclusively with Syracuse so far in his first professional campaign. Through 36 outings this season, he has 13 goals and nine assists, ranking him tied for third in points on the Crunch while being their only double-digit goalscorer.

With the recall, Tampa Bay’s active roster now stands at 22 players but that likely won’t be the case for long. With the 4 Nations Face-Off break coming up next week, Duke will likely be returned to the Crunch at that time.

Pacific Notes: Englund, Clarke, Oilers, Kostin

February 7, 2025 at 7:26 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Since Drew Doughty’s return, the Kings have been carrying nine defensemen which is a rarity. But it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case for much longer. Mayor’s Manor suggests that Los Angeles will likely place blueliner Andreas Englund on waivers on Sunday for the purpose of assigning him to AHL Ontario. Englund has been limited to just 11 games this season and hasn’t reached the ten-minute mark in playing time in a game since late October. Still, with 173 games of NHL experience and a relatively low cap charge at $1MM, there’s a chance that someone could put a claim in to add some cheap depth if Englund ultimately does hit the wire this weekend.

One thing the Kings could do in the short term is to send Brandt Clarke to Ontario at the 4 Nations break. Doing so would allow them to bank some extra cap room with the trade deadline fast approaching. However, according to that same report from Mayor’s Manor, that won’t be the case and Clarke will remain up with Los Angeles through the break.

Blues Believed To Be Gauging The Market For Brayden Schenn

February 6, 2025 at 8:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 10 Comments

This is the time of year when many contending teams will be looking to augment their depth down the middle. At a minimum, many will look to add at least a bottom-six middleman to help on the penalty kill, win faceoffs, or generally just serve as extra insurance if injuries arise.

But not all contenders are set a little higher up the lineup. Some will be looking to add more of a second-line option, either to boost their current second line or to give them a deeper third line. While depth centers are generally acquirable at this time of year, more impactful ones are generally harder to come by and when they do move, they typically command a strong return.

To that end, it appears the Blues may be testing the market for one of their better pivots. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported in the latest Insider Trading segment that St. Louis might be gauging the market to see what type of interest teams would have in veteran center Brayden Schenn.

The 33-year-old has been a strong two-way player for the bulk of his career, one that is just six games away from reaching 1,000. While he isn’t as much of a scoring threat as he was earlier on, he still has 11 goals and 19 assists in 54 games this season heading into tonight’s action. And with three straight years of 20 or more goals before 2024-25, there’s still a recent enough stretch of goal production for a contending team to think he can come in and still be an impact contributor.

Of course, Schenn’s physicality also will endear him to potential suitors. He’s averaging just over 2.5 hits per game this season and while he’s not deployed shorthanded quite as much as he used to, he’s still capable of taking a turn on the penalty kill as well. Those elements will also be endearing to teams looking to make a bigger splash down the middle.

Schenn is signed at a $6.5MM price tag through the 2027-28 season so his acquisition would certainly be a lot different from the rental moves we typically see made at this time of year. With a big jump coming for the next three seasons in the salary cap, absorbing the higher cap charge will become a little more palatable than it might have seemed a few weeks ago. It’s worth noting that Schenn’s salary drops to $4.3MM in 2026-27 and $4MM in 2027-28 which could make him a bit more appealing to any buyers that are operating under more of a stricter budget.

That said, it would be surprising if St. Louis was willing to retain a part of Schenn’s salary as that would cost them one of their three annual retention slots for three-plus seasons. While a few teams have taken on a multi-year retention charge, it’s still pretty uncommon. If they don’t want to do so here, then it will be harder for a lot of contenders to take on the full freight of the contract without sending a player or two the other way to offset some of the money. Not all teams will be willing to move what would likely be an impact piece for fear of disrupting chemistry late in the season but some would undoubtedly take that chance.

Even if the Blues were to find a suitable trade, Schenn holds plenty of control here. He currently holds a full no-trade clause which gives him full veto power if he doesn’t want to go to the team St. Louis works out a swap with. That said, his trade protection drops this July down to a 15-team no-trade clause so the Blues would potentially have more options to move him at that time.

Presumably, it would take a substantial return for St. Louis to seriously consider moving Schenn. But this is the time of year when teams might get a bit more desperate which could play into their favor. With the deadline now just four weeks away, GM Doug Armstrong has some time to assess if this is the right time to cash in on Schenn or whether they’re better off holding onto him for at least a little while longer.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Buffalo Sabres

February 6, 2025 at 7:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR is looking at every NHL team and giving a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up is the Sabres.

Buffalo Sabres

Current Cap Hit: $82,494,010 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Zach Benson (two years, $950K)
F Jiri Kulich (three years, $886.7K)
F JJ Peterka (one year, $855.8K)
F Jack Quinn (one year, $863.3K)

Potential Bonuses
Benson: $650K
Quinn: $850K
Total: $1.5MM

Benson had a solid rookie season last year after somewhat surprisingly making the team out of training camp. However, his per-game output has actually dipped this season which isn’t ideal and has him on pace to miss his ‘A’ bonuses. At this point, it would be surprising to see the Sabres prioritizing a long-term deal on his next contract; a bridge pact with an AAV around the $3MM mark is the likelier outcome. Kulich is just starting out in the NHL which makes his next agreement difficult to forecast. Based on his early production though, he’d be trending toward a bridge deal as well.

Quinn is someone who Buffalo likely hoped would be a candidate for a long-term pact but injuries last year didn’t help in that regard, nor have his struggles this year. A bridge contract could still land around the $4MM mark, however, and with there still being some uncertainty about him, it makes sense for both sides to lean that way. In the meantime, he’ll need to pick up the pace offensively to have a shot at any of his ‘A’ bonuses. Peterka is someone who should get consideration for a long-term deal, however. After putting up 50 points last year, he’s on pace to beat that this season and has established himself as a legitimate top-six winger. With another big increase in the salary cap coming, there’s a chance Peterka could become their highest-paid forward, surpassing the $7.15MM mark on a long-term agreement.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

F Nicolas Aube-Kubel ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Jacob Bryson ($900K, UFA)
D Bowen Byram ($3.85MM, RFA)
D Dennis Gilbert ($825K, UFA)
F Jordan Greenway ($3MM, UFA)
D Henri Jokiharju ($3.1MM, UFA)
F Ryan McLeod ($2.1MM, RFA)
G James Reimer ($1MM, UFA)
F Jason Zucker ($5MM, UFA)

Zucker has been a very nice pickup in his second straight year of playing on a one-year pillow contract in the hopes of restoring his market value. The last one didn’t go so well but this one has as he’s playing at an offensive pace close to his career year back in 2017-18. That should help his chances of securing at least a multi-year agreement this time around. However, because of his age (33) and his inconsistency with other teams in recent years, Zucker may be hard-pressed to command top dollar on that multi-year deal. Instead, that deal might not cost a whole lot more than what he’s getting now if teams have any doubts about his ability to fit in with them based on what happened elsewhere.

Greenway has shown flashes of being an impact player since being acquired two years ago but staying healthy has been a concern. Nonetheless, a 6’6 power forward is going to garner plenty of interest on the open market. Missing more than half the season so far with injuries won’t help his cause but even with that, a small increase in pay and another multi-year agreement should be coming his way.

McLeod has fared well in his first season since coming over from Edmonton and is nearing his career highs offensively from last year. Assuming he reaches those thresholds, the improved production and arbitration eligibility could push him closer to the $3.5MM range on a contract that buys a year or two of team control. Aube-Kubel has had some success as a fourth liner in the past but that hasn’t happened yet this year. He had enough of a market to garner more than expected last summer but recently cleared waivers and was sent to the minors where he still partially counts against the cap. As a result, his next deal seems likely to come in close to the minimum salary.

Byram is the headliner among the defensemen. He’s on pace to shatter his personal bests offensively, plays in all situations, and has stayed healthy which is notable for someone with his concussion history. While the Sabres could opt for another short-term deal, the likelier outcome is a long-term agreement. With his output this season and arbitration rights, that could push his price tag into the $7MM range. Can they afford that long-term with two big deals already on the books on the back end? That’s a decision they’ll have to make.

Jokiharju has seen his stock fall sharply. He’s no longer in Buffalo’s top four on the back end and his level of play has suffered for it, hardly ideal heading into his first trip through unrestricted free agency. Still, he’s going to be a rare 26-year-old UFA (thanks to reaching seven years of service time) and is a right-shot player who has logged 20 minutes a game in the past. Accordingly, even with his decline in performance, he could still come in pretty close to this price tag in July. Bryson took a greater than 50% pay cut to stay with Buffalo in the summer and has had a very limited role thus far. With that in mind, he’ll likely stay around this price point as will Gilbert who has played even less.

Reimer was originally signed to be the veteran third-string option but after being reacquired on waivers early in the season, the plan changed and he stayed in Buffalo while Devon Levi went to the minors to play more minutes. (While Levi has gotten a spot start here and there since then, he’s not on the verge of meeting any bonuses which is why he wasn’t mentioned with the entry-level players.) Reimer has played limited minutes and is more of a lower-end backup or third-string option so he could wind up coming closer to the league minimum of $775K next time out.

Signed Through 2025-26

D Connor Clifton ($3.33MM, UFA)
F Peyton Krebs ($1.45MM, RFA)
F Sam Lafferty ($2MM, UFA)
F Beck Malenstyn ($1.35MM, UFA)
F Alex Tuch ($4.75MM, UFA)

Tuch was a legitimate top-line point-per-game player in 2022-23 but hasn’t been able to produce at the same level since then and his numbers are down again this year. Even so, he’s still an all-situations player in a prominent role while making second-line money. Even with the drop in scoring, he’d likely pass the $7MM mark if he hit the open market today, a number that would only go up if he gets back to his level of production from a couple of years ago. Lafferty was brought in as part of the revamp on the fourth line and hasn’t been as impactful as the team expected. If that continues into next season, a small cut in pay seems likely though his overall track record is good enough to prevent him from facing any sort of steep drop.

Krebs hasn’t been able to become an impactful producer just yet at the NHL level. One of the key pieces of the Jack Eichel trade, he has been more of a depth middleman than a top-six center of the future. He’s at least doing better than last season which should buy him more rope from a development perspective but it’s hard to see him landing a long-term agreement on his next deal if this continues. But with arbitration rights, doubling his current price tag is doable. Malenstyn was the other player brought in to change up the fourth line and has fit in well in that role while playing less than he was in his career year with Washington last season. If he remains a prominent hitter, he could push past $2MM in 2026.

Clifton’s contract was a bit of a headscratcher at the time and it hasn’t panned out thus far. Being a right-shot defender certainly helps his value but being limited to third-pairing duty doesn’t. Assuming he stays in this role moving forward, he might land closer to $2.5MM next time out, even with a higher salary cap by then.

Signed Through 2026-27

None who aren’t on an entry-level contract.

Signed Through 2027-28 Or Longer

F Dylan Cozens ($7.1MM through 2029-30)
D Rasmus Dahlin ($11MM through 2031-32)
D Owen Power ($8.35MM through 2030-31)
D Mattias Samuelsson ($4.286MM through 2029-30)
F Tage Thompson ($7.143MM through 2029-30)

Thompson’s contract seemed risky at the time considering he only had the one breakout year. But he followed that up with an even better showing in 2022-23 and after a down year last season, he’s close to the point per game mark in 2024-25. Having a top-line middleman locked up at this price tag is certainly well below market value and taking the risk with the early extension in 2022 has yielded a nice reward. The same can’t be said for Cozens, however. He signed his deal when he was in the middle of a career year, one that saw him put up 68 points in his second full season. But his output dropped sharply last year and is down again this season. Even if he can get back to second-line production, this deal should hold up okay but he has some work to do to get there.

Going with a bridge contract worked out quite well for Dahlin. After his entry-level deal ended following his quietest season yet, the two sides opted to do a short-term second contract, one that saw Dahlin become a three-time All-Star and become one of the better offensive blueliners in the league while stepping into a legitimate all-situations number one role. With only one year of club control left coming off his bridge agreement, Dahlin had the hammer and was able to make himself one of the highest-paid defensemen in NHL history. It’s a lofty deal to live up to and it’s hard to think it could be called a bargain but if he keeps playing as he has in recent years, they’ll do just fine with his contract.

While Buffalo went the bridge route with Dahlin, they didn’t with their other top pick on the back end, handing Power one of the priciest post-ELC deals given to a defender. His first two NHL seasons were pretty strong and his output pretty consistent. For his role and output now, the deal is a little on the high side but as is often the case with these contracts, the expectation is that the contract will become team-friendly before too long as he continues to improve. Samuelsson signed this deal when he only had 52 career NHL games under his belt with the club hoping he’d become a lockdown defender at a below-market price before long. That hasn’t exactly been the case as he has spent a lot of time on the third pairing and has even been a healthy scratch this season. He’s only 24 and can turn it around still but this feels like a deal they might like to try to get out of.

Buyouts

F Jeff Skinner ($1.44MM through 2025-26, $6.44MM in 2026-27, $2.44MM from 2027-28 through 2029-30)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Best Value: (non-entry-level) Tuch
Worst Value: Samuelsson

Looking Ahead

GM Kevyn Adams wasn’t able to spend much over the offseason despite plenty of efforts to do so, meaning Buffalo entered the season with ample cap space and they’ve banked lots more since then; they project to have over $25MM in room before the trade deadline. That has them well-positioned to add if they want to try to make a splash or to perhaps act as a facilitator and add some money that way depending on how much budget space they have.

Turning to next summer, the Sabres have a little over $62MM on the books, giving them around $32MM in space to work with. RFA deals for Byram, Peterka, and Quinn will eat up more than half of that while they’ll want to retain or replace Zucker as well but there will still be enough flexibility to try to take a swing and add a core piece again. As far as cap situations go around the league, theirs is one of the cleanest overall.

Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.

Metropolitan Notes: Tippett, Kuzmenko, Pelletier, Fabbro, Crosby

February 6, 2025 at 6:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

Flyers winger Owen Tippett has been ruled out of Philadelphia’s final two games before the 4 Nations Face-Off, notes Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 25-year-old suffered an upper-body injury last Wednesday against New Jersey and hasn’t played since. After setting new career highs last season offensively with 28 goals and 25 assists, Tippett has been a bit quieter this season with 14 goals and 20 helpers through 52 games although his 30 points still put him third on the team in scoring.

Snapshots: Zegras, Cozens, Timmins, Shine

February 5, 2025 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has been in trade speculation dating back to last season, a year in which he struggled and battled injuries. That speculation isn’t going away as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (video link) Anaheim is still listening to offers for the 23-year-old. Unfortunately for them, Zegras has also battled injuries this season and has struggled when in the lineup. A year ago, he had six goals and nine assists in 31 games, numbers that were underwhelming for a two-time 60-plus-point player. However, that also happens to be his stat line so far this season which can’t help his value. Zegras is signed through next season at a $5.75MM price tag and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights in the 2026 offseason. Given his struggles, Anaheim may have to sell low if they opt to move him before March 7th or hope for a better market in the summer.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

Sabres center Dylan Cozens did not take part in practice today with what head coach Lindy Ruff called a lower-body aggravation, notes team reporter Jourdon LaBarber. His status for Saturday’s game against Nashville is up in the air as a result. It has been a quiet year for Cozens who has 10 goals and 16 assists in 53 games, numbers that are underwhelming for one of their top-paid forwards which has resulted in plenty of trade speculation.
Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins won’t play on Thursday against Seattle due to an upper-body injury sustained on Tuesday versus Calgary, relays David Alter of The Hockey News. Timmins was able to return to the game last night but they’ve decided to shut him down at least for this next contest. The 26-year-old has a goal and six assists in 44 games this season while averaging 16:25 per night.
The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned winger Dominik Shine to AHL Grand Rapids. Detroit signed the 31-year-old to a two-year, two-way deal last month, his first NHL contract which came on the heels of a strong first half with the Griffins that saw him record 32 points in 40 games. Shine got into four games with Detroit while being up with the big club, picking up an assist and four hits in a little under nine minutes a night of playing time.

Canucks Sign Marcus Pettersson To Six-Year Extension

February 5, 2025 at 8:04 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

The Canucks wasted little time getting pen to paper on a deal with one of their new acquisitions. The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Marcus Pettersson to a six-year extension that will carry a cap charge of $5.5MM. GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement:

In just a couple of games, Marcus has already shown us the type of leadership, poise and character that we want in a top four defenceman,” said Allvin. “He has a calming influence on the ice, uses his long reach and hockey smarts to break up plays and has a good first pass to help us create more offensively. We are extremely happy to get this deal done and look forward to working with him in both the short term and long term.

Of course, Allvin’s familiarity with the 28-year-old is much more than just a couple of games. He was with Pittsburgh at the time that then-GM Jim Rutherford (who now is in Vancouver’s front office) acquired him so they are quite familiar with what Pettersson brings to the table. That familiarity undoubtedly played a role in the Canucks flipping the first-round pick they acquired in the J.T. Miller trade last week (along with Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, and Melvin Fernstrom) to Pittsburgh for Pettersson and Drew O’Connor.

Pettersson has played in 49 games this season between Pittsburgh and Vancouver, potting three goals and 15 assists along with 86 blocks and 60 hits while logging more than 22 minutes a night of ice time. That has him at a 30-point pace which would match his career-high offensively from last season; that uptick in production certainly didn’t hurt his value as he was heading toward his first run at unrestricted free agency this summer which is now on hold for a long time.

For his career, Pettersson has played in 493 NHL games over parts of eight seasons between Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and now Vancouver. After struggling early in his tenure with the Penguins, he has since established himself as a legitimate top-four blueliner for the last three years. That track record was good enough for Vancouver to target him and waste little time locking him up through the 2030-31 season.

The deal represents a nice raise for Pettersson. He’s in the final year of a five-year contract signed back in 2020, one that carries a cap hit of just over $4MM. He’ll add nearly $1.5MM per season to that number now while also landing some extra security. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that Pettersson will have a full no-move clause in the first three seasons of the contract. In the final three years, his trade protection will come in the form of a 15-team no-trade clause.

With this signing, Vancouver now has a little under $76MM in commitments for next season, per PuckPedia. Included in that is nearly $27MM in spending on their top five blueliners with Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, and Carson Soucy all signed through at least 2025-26 as well with the latter now in trade speculation. That should only intensify with Pettersson now guaranteed to be sticking around for the long haul.

Trade Deadline Primer: Calgary Flames

February 5, 2025 at 7:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

With the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about 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.

This season hasn’t quite gone as many anticipated in Calgary. But unlike some underachieving things, not going as expected is actually a good thing. The Flames went into the season as expected sellers but instead enter tonight’s action with a share of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. As a result, we’ve seen them make one buyers move already although they could look to play both a buying and selling role as the deadline approaches.

Record

26-20-7, T-4th in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Long-Term Buyer, Possible Short-Term Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$78.698MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: FLA 1st*, NJ 1st, COL 2nd, CGY 3rd, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th
2026: CGY 1st, VGK 1st, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, VAN 3rd, CGY 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th

*-Depending on how the Draft Lottery falls, it’s possible that Florida’s first-round pick will go to Montreal in which case Calgary would keep their own. There is also a remote chance that the pick won’t be conveyed to the Canadiens until 2026. This is from the Sean Monahan trade in 2022.

Trade Chips

There’s a big difference between what teams want Calgary’s trade chips to be and what they’re actually going to be. It was recently reported that the Flames have been receiving calls on top veterans Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar, and Rasmus Andersson but GM Craig Conroy has been rebuffing those efforts, telling inquiring teams that those players aren’t available. While Andersson’s contract is up after next season, early indications are that the team believes they can get him signed to an extension. So those players, as well as their other top ones, are off the table.

It’s not a great group of rental players for Calgary as many of the ones on shorter-term deals were moved out already over the past 13 months or so. But one that might draw some interest is goaltender Daniel Vladar. After undergoing hip surgery last season, he has played a bit better this season, shaving more than a half-goal off his GAA while adding six points to his save percentage. Early on, he was platooning with top prospect Dustin Wolf but the youngster has taken full hold of the top spot now. At $2.2MM and on an expiring deal, Vladar could be a lower-cost acquisition for a team looking for extra depth or a short-term option if one of their options goes down. While it might seem strange for a team with playoff hopes to move a goalie, they do have one in the minors who is more than making a case for an extended look.

That player is Devin Cooley. The 27-year-old is signed through next season at the league minimum and has been dominant with AHL Calgary this season, posting a 2.24 GAA and a .928 SV% and playing a big role in putting the Wranglers atop the Western Conference at the All-Star break. If Vladar is moved, Cooley will likely get the chance to make a case for the full-time backup spot next season. But it’s also possible that teams will come calling about Cooley with the intent of evaluating him for their own second-string slot next season. The Flames would undoubtedly need another AHL goalie as part of any return but if there are teams who feel he’s NHL-ready (or want to keep their goalie costs down), he might actually have more suitors than Vladar.

Among their healthy veterans on expiring deals, the most notable ones are blueliner Tyson Barrie and center Kevin Rooney. Barrie, on a $1.25MM deal, has been a frequent healthy scratch and his value, if there is any, would be for a late-round pick at most. Rooney hasn’t had a great year but he can kill penalties and play with some grit. He’s the type of late-deadline depth addition a couple of teams might consider and with a $1.3MM price tag, he’d be affordable but again, the return would be minimal. They also have the RFA rights to Nikita Okhotyuk, the 24-year-old playing in the KHL but has 67 career NHL games under his belt. If Calgary wants to add a low-cost addition, he’s someone they could potentially dangle instead of parting with a draft pick or prospect. But all things considered, if the Flames aren’t selling, they don’t have much in the way of physical trade options to work with.

But they do have cap space. More than any other team than Columbus, in fact. Conroy might be able to add some extra draft picks by taking on an expiring contract or being a third-party retainer to facilitate another team’s trade. If they don’t do anything goaltending-wise, their open cap space might be their best chip to play.

Team Needs

Left-Shot Top-Four Defenseman: Usually, it’s the right side of the back end that teams often need to upgrade at. But with Weegar in the fold long-term and the Flames believing they can re-sign Andersson, that side should be in good shape for a while. (One of their top prospects, Zayne Parekh, also shoots from the right.) But the left side isn’t anywhere near as secure. Jake Bean, Kevin Bahl (currently injured), and Joel Hanley are among those who have seen top-four time on the left side of the back end and that’s not a core group of a contender. If Conroy wants to make a short-term buyer move, adding a rental who can fill that void would go a long way. Failing that, it will be near the top of their to-do list over the summer.

Continue Growing Young Core: Conroy has talked before about wanting to add more players around the same age as some of their younger core group. That played a role in their recent pickups of Morgan Frost (25) and Joel Farabee (24) while also leveraging some of their financial flexibility. It’s fair to say that a longer-term roster goal will be to try to continue to add players around that age. Those generally don’t move too often in-season but expect Calgary to kick the tires on more moves like their recent one with Philadelphia.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.

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