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Brad Treliving

West Notes: Flames, Blues, Pettersson

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The Flames have had a busy summer up front with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri coming in to help replace Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.  Even with that type of turnover at the top of their roster, GM Brad Treliving told Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link) that the team is still looking to add to their forward group for next season.  Calgary is one of the few teams that still has a bit of salary cap flexibility with a little over $2MM in space, per CapFriendly with RFA center Adam Ruzicka still to re-sign and Cody Eakin already in on a tryout.  While Treliving won’t be able to add an impact forward with what space he has left, an upgrade to their bottom six should be on the table.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Blues GM Doug Armstrong has acted quickly to extend Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou but don’t expect that to be the case for any other of their pending free agents. As NHL.com’s Lou Korac relays (Twitter link), the current plan is to let the season play out and then see what they can do on the extension front.  Veterans Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko highlight their list of pending unrestricted free agents but with the raises for Thomas and Kyrou a year away from coming into effect, they’re going to have a hard team keeping their veteran core intact.
  • The Canucks are leaning towards using Elias Pettersson back at center this season instead of keeping him on the left wing, notes Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. Head coach Bruce Boudreau feels that Vancouver’s additions up front – including wingers Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko – give them the potential for three scoring lines.  If Pettersson does indeed shift back down the middle, that will only boost his value heading into extension talks next summer as centers often cost a premium to sign long-term.

Calgary Flames Re-Sign Trevor Lewis

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The Calgary Flames have re-signed a forward but it isn’t the one that fans want. General manager Brad Treliving confirmed to Salim Nadim Valji of TSN that Trevor Lewis will be back next season. Treliving added that the team is signing goaltender Oscar Dansk and re-signing Nick DeSimone. Chris Johnston of TSN reports that Dansk will be signing a one-year, two-way deal worth $750K at the NHL level and $300K in the minor leagues.

Lewis spent his first season in Calgary last year, notching six goals, 10 assists, and 16 points in 80 games. Although limited to a fourth-line role, the veteran of 810 NHL games is a favorite of head coach Darryl Sutter from his time in Los Angeles. He’ll likely reprise the same role as a fourth-line center/right wing as the Flames try to navigate post-Johnny Gaudreau life. At this point in his career, he’s purely a defensive specialist, but he does provide legitimate value in that regard.

Dansk, of Vegas Golden Knights lore, joins the Flames after a solid season in the KHL with Spartak Moscow, where he managed a .910 save percentage and 6-6-1 record. With a long track record of AHL success prior to that with the Chicago Wolves, Dansk gives the new AHL team in Calgary a strong one-two punch in net with top prospect Dustin Wolf.

DeSimone, while maybe not high on the organization’s list of potential call-ups, was a minute-muncher for Stockton last season. He’ll move with the organization up to Calgary and continue to play an important role in developing younger Calgary defensemen in the organization.

Latest on Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk

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There’s a significant sense around the league that teams are rushing to get their salary cap situations cleared up before the start of free agency next week. Moves like the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for spare change and the Minnesota Wild moving early on a Kevin Fiala deal are evidence of that.

Now, another team is joining that list of really trying to make headlines in the near future. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Calgary Flames are making “every effort” now not only to re-sign top pending unrestricted free agent forward Johnny Gaudreau but also restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.

While most of the public talk has centered around Gaudreau’s status, it makes sense that general manager Brad Treliving would want to get these deals done in a short window. Playing on the same line, Gaudreau and Tkachuk helped propel each other to career seasons. The Flames are likely hoping that keeping the two together will keep their level of play from declining after this season.

Finances are also a huge part of this equation too, though. Gaudreau and Tkachuk are surely bound to take up a gigantic chunk of Calgary’s offseason spending limit, likely at least $16MM of it. With a long list of other players to re-sign and/or spots to fill via free agency, Calgary needs a clear picture of how much cash they’ll be able to devote to players like Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington while still fielding a cap-compliant squad.

With Tkachuk’s value through the roof after his 40-goal, 100-point season and Gaudreau likely able to net eight figures on the open market, Treliving faces his toughest challenge yet as GM in Calgary in order to keep this year’s Pacific Division champions at the top of the Western Conference.

Snapshots: Flames Negotiations, Wright, Brossoit

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The Flames’ season may be over, but the work for their front office is only just beginning. Not only is the beating heart of their franchise, Johnny Gaudreau, a pending unrestricted free agent, but they also have potential future captain Matthew Tkachuk as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent who is inching closer to his own unrestricted free agency. The next month is set to be one full of crucial negotiations for the Flames, and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the team would like to begin those as soon as possible.

Friedman reports that the Flames will move “aggressively” to extend those two players, in order to have a quick understanding of “what the landscape is” in terms of their futures. The Flames can hardly be blamed for their urgency, given the importance of both Gaudreau and Tkachuk to everything they have been building. Flames GM Brad Treliving has previously said that he would “move heaven and earth” to retain Gaudreau, and one has to assume he will carry that same attitude towards retaining Tkachuk. But as is the case with most contract negotiations in the NHL, Treliving’s “heaven and earth” will likely take a backseat to the most important factor: dollars and cents.

Now, for some other bits of news from across the NHL:

  • Before free agency can begin, there is another major event on the NHL’s calendar that will need to be completed: the entry draft. We previously covered how it’s not a guarantee that Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright will go first overall to the Montreal Canadiens, and there is now another development regarding that connection. Friedman reported yesterday that the Canadiens’ brass led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes will meet face-to-face with Wright at the NHL combine. Just as making the first overall selection comes with a lot of opportunity so comes a lot of responsibility, and the interactions between the Canadiens and Wright could go a long way towards making the team feel more comfortable in his projection if he does end up the number-one pick.
  • Injuries proved fatal for the Golden Knights this past season, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in their franchise’s history. One of the Golden Knights still dealing with an injury is goaltender Laurent Brossoit. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Brossoit had hip surgery and that the team is “hoping” that he will be available for the start of next season. With starter Robin Lehner already recovering from his own surgery and the late-season breakout of Logan Thompson in mind, it’s clear that Vegas’ future in net is anything but settled.

Update On Johnny Gaudreau

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The Flames have had a remarkable season this year, bouncing back from last year’s disappointment and clinching a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They sit sixth in the NHL with a 46-20-9 record and are in the conversation for the best team in the Western Conference. But despite these good times for the franchise, there is one looming uncertainty that could pose a serious threat to the team’s ability to compete after this season: Johnny Gaudreau’s pending unrestricted free agency. Gaudreau, 28, has been the most skilled player to don a Flames sweater in years, and he has reached a new dimension of production this season, with 105 points in 75 games. He has played himself into the Hart Trophy conversation and cemented his status as the team’s most important player. But after this season, Gaudreau’s $6.75MM AAV contract expires, and he is set to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

Naturally, that situation has been a consistent storyline all season for Calgary. The Flames reportedly began extension talks with Gaudreau last July, but those talks obviously have not borne fruit. After this season began both parties decided they would not negotiate a contract mid-season in order to remove all distractions for the team and player. As a result, Gaudreau’s contract situation still looms large over the franchise, so much so that in an interview with Sportsnet after his team clinched the playoffs, Flames GM Brad Treliving was asked about Gaudreau’s situation directly. Treliving stated that the two parties’ choice to “keep things quiet” on the extension front during the season “should by no means be taken as any indication” that the team does not want Gaudreau back. Treliving even goes further on that sentiment, saying that the Flames will “move heaven and earth” and “do everything [they] possibly can to get Johnny back.” Treliving communicated a general sentiment in his comments that the Flames’ overall philosophy is to try to retain and support the team’s most talented players rather than to trade them away or let them leave. These comments cannot be seen as anything but a strong indication that Treliving intends to apply that philosophy to the contract situation of Gaudreau.

But despite Treliving’s intention to “move heaven and earth” for Gaudreau, like with any unrestricted free agent, the decision is not his alone to make. Gaudreau has had a fantastic platform season as he enters the open market, and he looks in line to command a massive contract. The Flames have a Matthew Tkachuk extension to consider after this season and are heading into the final two years of Elias Lindholm’s team-friendly $4.85MM AAV deal. There is definitely room for the Flames to give Gaudreau that extension, especially if the team can find a way to move Sean Monahan and his $6.375MM cap hit, but it won’t be easy.

Additionally, one external factor complicates things as well. Gaudreau is from southern New Jersey and has in the past flirted with the idea of playing for the Flyers. The Flyers will be under significant pressure this offseason to build a team that can win in 2022-23, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on a 32 Thoughts podcast that the Flyers’ strategy for dealing with the financial pressures of losing is typically to “go out and get something shiny” that “the fans find attractive.” What would be more attractive to the Flyers fanbase and sponsorship base than a Hart Trophy candidate who grew up rooting for the Flyers?  With all those factors in play, one has to wonder if the Flames are in the position to win a potential bidding war against a highly motivated Flyers club that has that hometown advantage over their player. But if Treliving’s comments from yesterday are any indication, the Flames look set to make a major push this offseason to retain their homegrown star.

Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Matt Coronato To Return For Sophomore Season

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Though it had been trending this way for a while, it appears as though a final decision has been made. Eric Francis of Sportsnet reports that Matt Coronato will return to Harvard for his sophomore season, meaning the Calgary Flames will need to wait at least one more year to get their hands on him.

He’s committed to Calgary, he explains to Francis, but Coronato is still looking to develop his game at the college level before turning pro. Flames general manager Brad Treliving supports the decision, and is still supremely confident that they will get the young forward signed at some point down the road.

Coronato, 19, was the 13th overall pick in 2021 and exploded onto the NCAA scene this season, scoring 36 points in 34 games as a freshman. He would have played a key role at the World Juniors for Team USA had the tournament not been canceled soon after it began, robbing him of an opportunity to play for his country for the first time. While he is slightly undersized, Coronato is a fearless puck handler that weaves through traffic and can create chances for himself and his linemates with equal frequency.

Given some of the other departures from Harvard, namely Nick Abruzzese, Coronato will be asked to do even more next season for the Crimson. That should only help his long-term development, even if it does scare Flames fans a little bit, given the memory of their last Harvard standout that kept going back to school. Adam Fox, selected by Calgary in the third round in 2016, played three seasons there before ultimately orchestrating a move to the New York Rangers, where he eventually signed. It was clear that Fox was willing to go through the four years of school that would have made him a free agent instead of signing with the Flames, something that has never really been on the table for Coronato to this point.

Instead, it seems likely that an NHL entry-level contract will be waiting for him next spring if he wants it, after what should be a season to remember. Coronato should be expected to be in the Hobey Baker mix (at least as a nominee).

Injury Notes: Kessel, Kinnvall, Crookshank

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The Arizona Coyotes will be without top scorer Phil Kessel for the next few weeks after he suffered a foot injury in his offseason training. Kessel’s current timeline is two to three weeks, as GM Bill Armstrong explained to reporters including Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports. Three weeks from today would mean a return on the eve of the Coyotes’ regular season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Missing a few weeks of training camp isn’t a big deal for most players, but remember that Kessel is currently on a streak of 900 consecutive games played. The veteran forward has played every single game in each of the last 11 seasons, starting his streak way back in November of 2009. That’s the fifth-longest streak in NHL history and could be in jeopardy if he doesn’t return in the expected timeline.

  • Johannes Kinnvall of the Calgary Flames suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s prospect camp, and GM Brad Treliving described it as “significant” today at his opening press conference. The 24-year-old defenseman will not be able to participate in the main training camp, obviously a big blow to his chances of making the team to start the year. It was always a long shot, but Kinnvall has played extremely well over the last two seasons in the SHL, racking up 62 points in 83 games.
  • Angus Crookshank suffered a major knee injury at the Ottawa Senators prospect camp and will require surgery. The young forward will miss the next four to six months according to GM Pierre Dorion, ending any bid he had of making the club. The 21-year-old Crookshank was a fifth-round pick in 2018, partly because of the competition he faced in the BCHL, but started climbing prospect charts with a strong three-year career at the University of New Hampshire. By the time he was joining the Belleville Senators earlier this year he was on a roll and instantly became a top offensive option for the team. In 19 AHL games, Crookshank registered 16 points, a level of production he’ll have to try to get back to after this long rehab.

Pacific Notes: Patrick, Bischoff, Larsson, Flames

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Golden Knights center Nolan Patrick remains unsigned with training camps on the horizon.  This is generally the time where talks start to pick up but Patrick’s agent, Rich Evans, told David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that there is no update on the status of contract discussions.  Patrick was acquired by Vegas in the offseason as part of a three-team deal that saw Cody Glass join Nashville.  The 2017 second-overall pick returned last season after missing all of 2019-20 with a migraine disorder but struggled, notching just nine points in 52 games which certainly limits his negotiating leverage for these discussions.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Still with the Golden Knights, Schoen adds in a separate report (Twitter link) that defenseman Jake Bischoff is injured and isn’t expected to participate in training camp. The 27-year-old played in just seven games last season, all with AHL Chicago but also spent more than a month on the taxi squad with Vegas.
  • As part of their attempts to re-sign him, the Oilers offered defenseman Adam Larsson a fifth year, reports Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. However, the veteran opted for a fresh start, ultimately inking a four-year, $16MM contract with the Kraken during the expansion draft negotiation window.  Matheson suggests Edmonton’s offer for Larsson likely exceeded the money he received from Seattle as well.
  • While many expected the Flames to shake up their core this summer, that didn’t exactly happen aside from the departure of defenseman Mark Giordano to Seattle in expansion. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis spoke with GM Brad Treliving who commented that a lack of viable options is what played a role in no big moves being made: “I know everybody screams for change, and we talked about that, but we can only do things that are available to you. I can’t click my heels and make things happen. You have to have a trade partner. Nobody is ever done in this business — you’re always looking for ways to improve. But it has got to make sense.”  Calgary did make some additions to get tougher this summer, adding Blake Coleman, Nikita Zadorov, and Erik Gudbranson, giving head coach Darryl Sutter a grittier roster to work with.

Milan Lucic Agrees To Waive NMC For Expansion Draft

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The Calgary Flames have an extra protection slot for the upcoming expansion draft. Eric Francis of Sportsnet reports that Milan Lucic has officially agreed to waive his no-movement clause, meaning the Flames will not be forced to protect him from the Seattle Kraken. Lucic told Sportsnet that he wants to stay in Calgary but “didn’t want to handcuff” GM Brad Treliving.

We recently examined the issue Calgary was facing if Lucic did not agree to waive his clause, but that won’t be an issue now that the power forward will be exposed. It is incredibly unlikely that the Kraken will select Lucic given his contract, which still carries two years at a $6MM cap hit. As much as he has rebounded somewhat this season, recording nine goals and 20 points in 50 games, Lucic still doesn’t represent the kind of performance that Seattle would need for that kind of cap commitment. As Francis explains, before he was even acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in 2019, Lucic told Treliving that he would be willing to waive for expansion draft purposes.

Importantly, he will also now fill one of the exposure requirements for the Flames. Each team must expose at least two forwards that are both under contract in 2021-22 and fill a games played requirement. Currently, only Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, and Lucic meet those requirements, meaning another player will likely be extended in the coming weeks. The first six on that list are all likely to be protected–as long as they’re still on the Flames roster come draft day.

Trade Rumors: Pearson, Flames, Capitals, Bruins

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As the Vancouver Canucks’ season descends further and further into an inescapable disappointment, TSN’s Darren Dreger states on “Insider Trading” this evening that no impending free agent in Vancouver is off limits to suitors. However, that doesn’t mean that all current impending free agents will remain as such through the trade deadline in just over five weeks. Dreger notes that the Canucks would prefer to re-sign forward Tanner Pearson, who is coming off a career year in 2019-20. Negotiations on a new contract have not yet begun, but GM Jim Benning would like to start talks as soon as possible in order to have a clear picture ahead of the deadline. If there is no meeting of the minds on a potential extension and seemingly little chance of progress ahead of the deadline, the Canucks will have to trade Pearson. The two-way winger is their most valuable rental trade chip, as depth options Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, and Jordie Benn have lofty cap hits relative to their value and veteran defensemen Alex Edler and Travis Hamonic have No-Movement Clauses that they may not be eager to waive. If the Canucks can’t re-sign Pearson before the deadline, or at least get a handshake agreement in place, trading him to a contender is their best chance of leaving the deadline with a nice haul of picks or prospects without having to move a term player.

  • The rival Calgary Flames are currently buyers and their biggest need is a winger, but Pearson doesn’t meet their most important criteria. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Calgary GM Brad Treliving is on the hunt for a right winger and, more specifically, a natural right-handed shooting right winger. The Flames’ best right-shot forward is Elias Lindholm and, while he has played on the wing many times before, the team prefers his fit at center. Unfortunately, that leaves the club with a lack of top-six caliber righties to put on the wing. Josh Leivo, Brett Ritchie, and the recently-waived Dominik Simon (a lefty) have not been the answer. The team also prefers to keep top-nine lefties like Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube on the left side if possible and certainly do not want both on their off side. As a result, Calgary is seeking a trade partner. Seravalli does not address whether the Flames are only seeking rentals or if, seeing as the righty problem isn’t going away, they are looking at all options. The team already faces some difficult Expansion Draft decisions in regards to its deep forward corps, so a term acquisition could prove problematic. Among rentals, New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri and Nikita Gusev or Detroit’s Bobby Ryan stand out as the few top available options at a shallow position on the market.
  • Seravalli notes that another team with a very specific need could be the Washington Capitals. While Washington has received a stellar performance in net from rookie Vitek Vanecek, pressed into the starting role temporarily while Ilya Samsonov was sidelined, both Samsonov and Vanecek lack a crucial component to playoff success: experience. Seravalli wonders if the Capitals trust the young tandem enough to ride them into the playoffs, with veteran Craig Anderson as the third-string, or if the team needs to make a trade. Bob McKenzie echoed this same concern on NBC Sports on Wednesday. Experienced rental options include Devan Dubnyk, Antti Raanta, Jonathan Bernier, and possibly Pekka Rinne. But the question becomes whether or not any of these older goalies are an upgrade to Vanecek based only on experience, as only Rinne has outplayed him this season.
  • While it should come as no surprise to anyone who has reviewed their salary cap status, Bob McKenzie appeared on NBC Sports’ broadcast on Wednesday night and essentially stated that the Boston Bruins have the cap flexibility to do whatever they want at the trade deadline. He added that the team is in this situation “by design” and that GM Don Sweeney is open to any and all possibilities. The Bruins have dealt with injuries on defense and at forward and have experience concerns on the back end and scoring issues up front, so fans were happy to hear McKenzie say they could add a prominent defenseman or forward, “or both”. Currently pressed by injuries, the Bruins have just under $3.5MM in cap space which still prorates to nearly $8.7MM at the deadline, per CapFriendly. However, the Bruins banked cap space earlier this season when they had fewer injuries and could still get healthier before the trade deadline. With no one on the injured reserve eating up cap space at the deadline, CapFriendly estimates that Boston could have upwards of $12.7MM in prorated cap space. For context, that could be enough to add top-priced rental Taylor Hall and a defenseman like Ryan Murray while staying under the cap. The Bruins will be a team to watch over the next five weeks.

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