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Flames Hire Brent Seabrook As Player Development Coach

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A few days ago, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Vegas Golden Knights had attempted to acquire Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson last week. No deal came to fruition, and TSN’s Darren Dreger doesn’t believe that the Golden Knights were the only intra-divisional opponent to try to poach Andersson from Alberta.

Speaking on The Nielson Show, Dreger indicated that the Los Angeles Kings put together a formidable offer for Andersson at the 2025 NHL Draft. Dreger believes that the offer was compelling enough for the Flames that they brought it up to Andersson, but the nine-year veteran had no interest in playing for Los Angeles.

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  • Back in Calgary, the Flames have added a three-time Stanley Cup champion to their player development staff. Earlier today, the Flames announced that they’ve hired Brent Seabrook as a player development coach. Despite having no prior affiliation with the Flames organization, he has been serving as a development coach for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants since retiring from his playing career.

Flames Re-Sign Bishop

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  • The Flames announced that they have re-signed Clark Bishop on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K in the NHL. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the winger will make $350K in the minors and that the agreement has a $375K guaranteed salary.  The 29-year-old got into six games with Calgary this past season, his first taste of NHL action since 2021-22, scoring once.  He also put up his best offensive numbers in the minors, notching 19 goals and 19 assists in 66 games with the Wranglers.

Flames Sign Kevin Bahl To Six-Year Contract

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The Flames have locked up one of their pending restricted free agents as they announced that they’ve signed defenseman Kevin Bahl to a six-year contract with an AAV of $5.35MM per season.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the breakdown of the agreement is as follows:

2025-26: $2.35MM salary, $3MM signing bonus
2026-27 – 2030-31: $5.35MM salary; no-trade list from 2027-28 to 2030-31

The 25-year-old was a piece of the trade last June that saw New Jersey acquire goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Flames.  Bahl was added along with a first-round pick that was used on center Cole Reschny last night with the 18th overall selection.

A move to Calgary meant a move to bigger role for Bahl. After four seasons of battling for minutes on New Jersey’s bottom pairing, he immediately took to a top-end role for the Flames. Bahl averaged over 21 minutes of ice time a night through 73 games this season, while serving as the go-to partner for top Flames’ defenseman Rasmus Andersson. That role earned Bahl a career-high 20 points, complemented by a minus-six and 35 penalty minutes. Bahl also ranked third on the Flames blue-line in hits (109), third in blocked shots (116), and fourth in takeaways (24).

Landing a strong spot across the stat categories is great momentum for the young Bahl, who had only appeared in 148 games with the Devils prior to joining the Flames. He totaled 25 points, a minus-one, and 127 penalty minutes in those appearances – marks that he’s already outpaced, or outright broken, with the Flames. He’s an imposing, 6-foot-6 defenseman who’s adjusted well to playing away from the puck and jumping up into play at an NHL level. Those were the traits that many scouts questioned in the 2018 NHL Draft – forcing the large-frame defender down to the Arizona Coyotes’ selection at 55th overall. The Coyotes traded him to the Devils in their 2019 acquisition of Taylor Hall and Blake Speers.

Now, two teams later, Bahl has cemented an NHL contract that will carry him through his age-30 season. Bahl is a lanky, defense-first defender who played opposite a strong puck-mover all year long. That fact, and his physical upside, could set up a long career in tandem with aggressive scoring-defenseman Zayne Parekh.

Blue Jackets, Hurricanes Interested In Rasmus Andersson

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The Blue Jackets and Hurricanes are among the teams calling the Flames to have trade talks surrounding defenseman Rasmus Andersson, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports. Pagnotta mentioned the Senators as well – it’s not the first time in the past few months they’ve been tied to Andersson – but Ottawa is also reportedly on his six-team no-trade list.

Calgary and Andersson have already begun preliminary talks on an extension. He’s entering the final year of his contract at a highly team-friendly $4.55MM cap hit and becomes eligible to sign a new deal on July 1 to keep him in Calgary past 2025-26. However, those talks haven’t been particularly productive in their initial stages, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff last week. As a result, they’re listening to trade interest, but as has been the case for a while now, they’re in no particular rush to move him and could wait until next season’s trade deadline to get the value they want if they’re no closer to an extension.

That means defense-needy teams, particularly those looking for added puck-moving depth, will have Calgary general manager Craig Conroy on speed dial until Andersson’s situation is resolved. Carolina and Columbus fit that bill, with Andersson’s cheap initial cap hit before a potential extension kicks in still providing both clubs a fair amount of flexibility to pursue other avenues of roster improvement this summer.

The Hurricanes’ defensive depth will have a few notable changes next season, regardless of whether they successfully land Andersson or not. They’re not offering pending UFA Dmitry Orlov a new contract, and it remains to be seen if veteran Brent Burns, a top-pairing staple alongside Jaccob Slavin in recent seasons, will be back with the club. If he is, it’ll presumably be in a reduced role after a tough 2024-25 campaign for the 40-year-old. Rookie Alexander Nikishin has likely been penciled in as Orlov’s replacement on the left side with Slavin and Shayne Gostisbehere after looking good in limited postseason action, but rookie righty Scott Morrow is a less surefire insurance option for Burns, at least out of the gate. If they’re not yet ready to entrust the 22-year-old with regular NHL minutes, it would make sense to pursue Andersson.

Unlike the Blue Jackets, the Hurricanes might be willing to make a deal without a guarantee of an extension, particularly if it’s done this summer. They have Morrow coming eventually, even if it’s not next season, and are still firmly entrenched in win-now mode.

Columbus’ interest similarly stems from the unknown future of a pending UFA. While things appear close on a deal for top-pairing righty Dante Fabbro, the same can’t be said for lefty Ivan Provorov, who might be forced over to his off-side if he stays anyway with up-and-comer Denton Mateychuk positioning himself for top-four minutes in the near future. Andersson, a legitimate needle-mover, would give the Blue Jackets a highly intriguing right side with Fabbro and Damon Severson in the mix as well while coming in at a much cheaper cost than a new deal for Provorov would require, at least initially.

Regardless, it might behoove the Flames to wait until the season starts to see if Andersson can bump his value. He’s coming off his worst offensive campaign in four years, although he did still produce 31 points in 81 games while averaging 24 minutes per night. His -38 rating paired with career-worst possession impacts doesn’t do much to help his case either, although a few teams could have confidence in that showing being an outlier from the 28-year-old.

Flames, Justin Kirkland Agree To Extension

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The Flames and pending UFA forward Justin Kirkland have agreed to a one-year extension worth $900K, the team announced. It’s a one-way deal for the pending UFA.

Kirkland, 28, has played exclusively on one-year contracts since being non-tendered by the Predators when his entry-level deal expired back in 2019. The long-time minor-league depth piece hasn’t spent back-to-back years with the same club since his first stint in Calgary, when he signed three straight two-way contracts to cover the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 seasons.

The 6’3″ Kirkland had historically been an AHL fixture and had just nine games of NHL experience entering 2024-25, so he was waived and assigned to AHL Calgary to begin this year as a result. He was recalled to the NHL roster before the AHL season even started, though, getting summoned in early October after an early-season injury to depth center Kevin Rooney. He stepped into the lineup and immediately grabbed hold of a spot, becoming a reasonably productive fourth-line piece with eight points in 21 games. While he averaged just 9:42 per game, he quickly developed somewhat of a cult following after going three-for-four in shootout attempts and playing a physical brand, registering 45 hits.

Unfortunately, Kirkland’s momentum came to a grinding halt when he sustained a knee injury in a Nov. 29 game against the Blue Jackets. He required season-ending ACL surgery as a result. He was still named the club’s nominee for the Masterton Trophy, awarded to the “player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey,” for grabbing hold of an NHL spot after eight professional seasons spent almost entirely in the AHL.

As such, Kirkland should be in a good position here to land the first one-way contract of his career. A third-round pick by Nashville in 2014, he also made one-year stops in the Ducks (2022-23) and Coyotes (2023-24) organizations in addition to his time with the Preds and Flames. He’s got a career 75-125–200 scoring line in 408 AHL games with 287 PIMs and a -62 rating. He also won a WHL championship in his junior days with the Kelowna Rockets in 2015.

The Flames have their forward group mostly fleshed out, though, and still have RFAs Morgan Frost and Connor Zary to sign. While Kirkland should start the year on the opening night roster, whether he’ll be in the lineup or in the press box remains to be seen. He’ll need to fend off competition from other veteran depth pieces like the recently extended Dryden Hunt as a result.

Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 was first to report the Flames and Kirkland were nearing an extension.

Flames Notes: Vladar, Andersson, Sutter

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Goaltender Daniel Vladar is arguably the most prominent pending unrestricted free agent that the Flames have and while Vladar said after the season that he’d like to re-sign, no deal is in place two months later.  Speaking with Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson, GM Craig Conroy noted that the two sides are still in discussions and are “continuing to plug away” at his file.  The 27-year-old started the season platooning with Dustin Wolf before the latter took over as the undisputed starter in the second half.  Vladar bounced back from a tough 2023-24 season, posting a 2.80 GAA and a .898 SV% in 30 outings this season.  At this point, he’s likely hoping for a raise from the $2.2MM he made over the last two seasons, especially since he projects to be one of the better options in what is a relatively thin free agent market for goaltenders this summer.

More from Calgary:

  • It appears that there’s a big gap to bridge in extension discussions with defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are not on the same page as things stand and while the team is content to have Andersson begin next season without an extension and potentially move him at the deadline, he could become movable now as well.  Andersson is entering the final year of a team-friendly deal that carries a $4.55MM AAV but he’s coming off a bit of a down year although he tied his career high in goals with 11 and averaged nearly 24 minutes a night of playing time.  It might make more sense for both sides to wait things out into the season to see if his early performance could shrink the gap with the potential to deal him increasing if they’re still not close at that time.
  • One of the AHL coaching vacancies has been filled as the Wranglers announced that Brett Sutter has been appointed as the third head coach in franchise history. The 38-year-old began his coaching career last season as an assistant with Calgary and will get his first chance to run a team in short order.  Sutter takes the place of Trent Cull who was promoted to a full-time assistant coaching role with the Flames earlier this offseason.

Calgary Flames Sign Dryden Hunt To Two-Year Deal

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The Calgary Flames are keeping a quality AHL scorer for the next few years. The Flames announced they’ve signed forward Dryden Hunt to a two-year, two-way agreement worth $1.65MM ($825K AAV).

The player from Cranbrook, British Columbia, joined the Flames organization through a minor league trade during the 2022-23 NHL season. A few months after Hunt was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Denis Malgin, Calgary sent depth player Radim Zohorna to Toronto in exchange for Hunt at the trade deadline.

Despite being an efficient scorer at the AHL level, Hunt has typically been deployed as a fourth-line winger at the NHL level. After debuting with the Florida Panthers during the 2017-18 season, Hunt has scored 18 goals and 54 points in 235 games, averaging 11:02 of ice time per game, and carrying a -31 rating.

His exploits in the AHL have been much better, particularly with the Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. Since making his professional debut in the 2016-17 season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, Hunt has scored 104 goals and 245 points in 318 games, with a +37 rating. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been on many successful teams, reaching the playoffs only twice in his seven-year career.

Calgary could have some moving parts toward the bottom of their forward core during the 2025-26 campaign, but it’s unlikely to affect Hunt. The Flames are leaning toward larger opportunities for Adam Klapka and Samuel Honzek, meaning Hunt should spend much of the year at the AHL level.

Flames Promote Peter Hanlon To Assistant General Manager

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The Flames are promoting Peter Hanlon to an assistant general manager role, the club announced Monday. He isn’t replacing an existing AGM, instead, he’s augmenting Craig Conroy’s current AGMs in Dave Nonis and Brad Pascall.

Saying the promotion is a long time coming for Hanlon would be an understatement. He’s been with the Flames for nearly three decades, all in the Vice President of Communications role he was hired into in the 1997-98 season. A move from the communications team to the GM suite is unconventional, but Flames’ President of Hockey Operations Dan Maloney emphasized Hanlon’s 30 years of experience in the sport.

Hanlon worked very closely with all levels of the Flames organization in his role, including serving as the liaison between players and media or fans for many years. Now, GM Craig Conry shares Hanlon will focus on all aspects of hockey operations, including player evaluation, recruitment, and strategic planning.

The VP of comms role was just the second front-office job in hockey Hanlon landed in hockey. He’d previously been the Maple Leafs’ AHL team manager between 1991-92 and 1995-96. He joined the Leafs on their two most recent runs to the Eastern Conference Finals in that span, and worked closely with players like Doug Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk, Mats Sundin, and Larry Murphy. Hanlon graduated from that role into a job with the NHL’s central office for a year.

While an assistant general manager role will mark new opportunity, Hanlon’s roots in hockey are plain to see. He’ll assume his new role beginning on July 1st, right as Calgary looks to start spending their wealth of $26.9MM in projected cap space.

Dustin Wolf Earns All-Rookie Nod

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G Dustin Wolf  (Flames) – Wolf finished second in Calder Trophy voting after a superb rookie campaign. The 24-year-old netminder finished the year with a 29-16-8 record in 53 starts with a .910 SV% and 2.64 GAA. Furthermore, Wolf finished with 15.1 Goals Saved Above Average according to Hockey Reference, and nearly backstopped the Calgary Flames to the postseason despite expectations of a rebuilding year.

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Canucks Have Shown Interest In Marco Rossi

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A handful of Canadian teams have spoken with the Wild regarding pending RFA center Marco Rossi, but the Canucks are the club with the highest level of interest in the youngster, writes Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun adds the Flames have also expressed a mild degree of interest but are looking for a pivot with more size to complement their top six, while the Canadiens have kicked tires but haven’t been remotely progressive in their pursuit.

Rossi is one of the biggest names to watch on the trade market over the next few weeks, especially among centers, unless Vancouver decides to shop their own Elias Pettersson again before his no-trade clause takes effect on July 1. Minnesota has been more aggressively soliciting calls on Rossi since the season ended, after previously denying they were looking to move the 23-year-old pivot. There’s been widespread interest so far, but no team has emerged as a true frontrunner.

That’s due mostly to Rossi’s disinterest in a bridge deal and a desire for a long-term contract worth $49MM over seven years for a $7MM cap hit, according to reports. He’s coming off a strong platform year, finally elevated into consistent top-six deployment and responding with a 24-36–60 scoring line in 82 games despite not having superstar Kirill Kaprizov available on his wing for half of the season. He was second on the Wild in points and only three goals behind Matt Boldy for the team lead. He also hasn’t missed a game since emerging as a full-time NHL option in 2023-24, a notable development for someone who experienced significant post-COVID complications shortly after being drafted No. 9 overall by the Wild in 2020.

Rossi’s leap in production, especially since he was able to shoulder the responsibility of being Minnesota’s top center for a decent portion of the campaign with Joel Eriksson Ek missing time as well, still points to the Austrian having a point-per-game ceiling (or close to it). There’s one limiting factor he has to overcome: his size. Checking in at 5’9″ and 182 lbs, teams generally prefer to have that type of skillset on the wing. Whether justifiable or not, his evaluation by the Wild has been negatively impacted. His minutes were slashed in the postseason as he was reduced to a fourth-line role, still managing three points in six games against the Golden Knights despite seeing a decrease of over seven minutes per game from his regular-season deployment.

The lack of cost certainty and the fact that Rossi only has two full years of NHL experience also hurt, not help, his trade value. As such, it’s hard to identify a solid comparable deal to speculate a return. The Wild have no intention of taking a step back in their competitiveness level next season, though, so as Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff speculated earlier this month, they won’t just be looking for futures in return. If they’re losing center depth, they’ll look to bolster their skill on the wings to compensate.

Few destinations make more sense for Rossi than Vancouver. The Canucks are in desperate need of more offensive depth at every forward position but particularly at center, where they took a temporary hit by swapping J.T. Miller for Filip Chytil in an in-season blockbuster with the Rangers. Slotting in Rossi as their No. 2 center behind Pettersson, as they await the latter’s return to form, would allow Chytil to drop down to a much more comfortable third-line role to begin 2025-26 and give Vancouver three legitimate scoring threats down the middle.

It’s unclear who Minnesota might want in return on the wing, though. They’d presumably prefer a similarly-aged piece to Rossi but the Canucks wouldn’t likely value him high enough to deem him worth parting ways with top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki. A return based around the 23-year-old Nils Höglander, plus other assets to equal Rossi’s higher trade value, would be more realistic.

That’s a decent step back in offensive ceiling for Minnesota, but Höglander is cost-controlled at a $3MM cap hit through 2027-28. That would still allow the Wild to be aggressive in pursuing a name like Matt Duchene or Mikael Granlund in free agency to replace Rossi down the middle, while the Canucks would still open up more flexbility compared to a futures-based return and might still have the space to pursue a replacement for Höglander on the wing on the open market.

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