The vibes were good in Calgary. A tumultuous 2022-23 season had seemingly been cleansed from the organization with the appointments of Craig Conroy in the GM’s chair and Ryan Huska behind the bench. Players were buying in, too – with Mikael Backlund signing a three-year extension in accordance with the captaincy and extension talks kicking off with top-pairing defenseman Noah Hanifin, who said last summer he wasn’t willing to consider remaining with the Flames.
Then the season started, and Sportnet’s Eric Francis is now reporting the Flames have paused all extension talks with their 2024 class of UFAs, which includes Hanifin and first-line center Elias Lindholm. A 2-6-1 start has the Flames seventh in the Pacific Division and 15th in the Western Conference, only ahead of the lowly San Jose Sharks. They’ve allowed more goals in the same amount of games than the defensively-challenged Blackhawks – and even that’s with netminder Jacob Markström rebounding, albeit slightly, from last season’s poor form. Daniel Vladar has been limited to just two starts thanks to a sieve-like .842 SV% and 4.51 GAA, however.
What’s worse is that two familiar refrains from last season have come back to haunt them. The team is controlling possession well, holding 53.9% of Corsi events at five-on-five and over half of all scoring and high-danger chances, but it hasn’t mattered. Star players are again underperforming, with many downright snakebitten.
In the second season of a seven-year, $49MM deal, Nazem Kadri has just two points through nine games and a -11 rating. 2021-22 NHL assists leader Jonathan Huberdeau, in the second season of an eight-year, $84MM deal, is barely averaging over 17 minutes per game and has two goals and three assists through nine games. Perhaps the only one of their recent big-time acquisitions is performing up to par – defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who may have just three points but is controlling possession better than almost anyone on the team with a 57.5% Corsi share at even strength.
Lindholm is also one of the few doing his part, tying for the team lead in scoring with six points and averaging over 21 minutes a game, although he hasn’t been worth the rumored $9MM AAV price tag that’s been bandied about in the past few weeks. Things aren’t going well for the Flames’ other notable pending UFAs, both defensemen – Chris Tanev has been held off the scoresheet through nine contests and has a -6 rating, while Nikita Zadorov is projected to sit as a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s game against the Stars.
If the Flames don’t find themselves close to the playoff picture by the March 8, 2024, trade deadline, they could become one of the biggest players near deadline day in recent memory. All four of Lindholm, Hanifin, Tanev, and Zadorov have the pedigree to fetch anywhere between decent and extravagant returns, even if one or all is still having a down season by the time February rolls around and trade discussions begin in earnest. With another strong slate of prospects expected to be available in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Flames would do well to help retool their franchise on the fly with a few high-end prospects injected into their system.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.