Could Moving Mikael Backlund Be A Cost-Cutting Option?
With the Flames facing a big summer of spending ahead of them with Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Andrew Mangiapane among those in need of new contracts, there’s an expectation that they will need to free up some money to keep the rest of the core intact. To that end, Hailey Salvian of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that center Mikael Backlund could be a candidate to be moved this summer. The 33-year-old has seen his production tail off slightly in recent years but he still put up 39 points in 82 regular season games before having a strong showing in the playoffs with eight points in a dozen contests. Backlund has two years remaining at a $5.35MM AAV and with the center market not being particularly deep this summer, there could be some interest in him at some point as a fallback plan as long as they’re not on his partial no-trade list.
Snapshots: Flames Negotiations, Wright, Brossoit
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.
Calgary Notes: Tkachuk, Injury Updates, Monahan
After the conclusion of the Calgary Flames’ season on Thursday, the team took some time to digest and spoke to the media today in their end-of-season media availability, touching primarily on injury news, some known and some not, as well as topics for this offseason. One of those offseason topics comes with the status of superstar forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is a RFA after finishing a three-year, $21MM contract this season. Tkachuk impressed over the life of the contract, capping it off with an incredible 42 goals and 62 assists in 82 games this season. Keeping the forward in the fold long-term is absolutely a priority for the Flames, however they also have to focus on re-signing superstar Johnny Gaudreau, who is a pending UFA, and give fairly significant raises to forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Oliver Kylington.
Calgary did seem to clear one hurdle today, as Tkachuk himself told the media, when asked about an extension, that he would love to sign a long-term deal with the Flames, expressing his love for the team, the city, and the fanbase. Tkachuk’s sentiment is no small feat for the Flames considering the league has seen a number of superstar players depart their teams in free agency in recent years. Though a RFA, Tkachuk could opt for a shorter-term bridge deal and hit the unrestricted free agent market sooner than later, which would put Calgary in a tough spot, with forwards Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Backlund, and Elias Lindholm, as well as defensemen Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev all set to become UFAs after the 2023-24 season. All of that before considering what an extension with Gaudreau would include. Keeping Tkachuk long-term won’t ease the burden of his cap hit, but will provide Calgary with the security of knowing a superstar is staying put for a certain salary while they navigate that predictably difficult 2024 offseason and the future of the franchise.
- Sportsnet’s Eric Francis provided injury updates on several Flames players, including Tkachuck, Mangiapane, Tanev, Milan Lucic, and Nikita Zadorov. Lucic, who had struggled to just one assist in 12 playoff games has an AC sprain. Tkachuck had an injured hand and Mangipane a bad wrist. Perhaps most notably, Zadorov, who had done an excellent job shutting down both Edmonton and the Dallas Stars, did so in some part with two broken ribs. Despite the number of injuries for Calgary, it appears that Tanev, who has a torn labrum, separated shoulder, and sprained neck, will be the only one having surgery (link).
- More from the injury front, as The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian also provided an update on forward Sean Monahan, who had hip surgery in the first week of April. Flames GM Brad Treliving told Salvian that Monahan’s recovery was about 5-6 weeks ahead of schedule as compared to where he was with his hip surgery last offseason, and the forward should resume skating in the coming weeks. With opening night over four months away, we will have to wait a while to see Monahan back in the Calgary lineup at full strength. However, the update on Monahan, who has struggled more and more over the past three seasons while dealing with injury, is absolutely encouraging, and getting him back to the form that saw him hit a career-high 82 points in 2018-19 could work as a “free” addition for the Flames, who are currently at-risk of losing Gaudreau in free agency this offseason.
Chris Tanev Will Miss Four To Six Months Due To Labrum Surgery
- On Friday, the extent of the injuries for Flames defenseman Chris Tanev was revealed – including a torn labrum and a dislocated shoulder. Today, the veteran told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link) that the recovery time for the labrum surgery he’ll be undergoing next week carries a recovery time of four to six months. If things go well, the 32-year-old would be ready around the start of training camp but if the recovery time is towards the back end of that range, he could miss more than a month of the regular season.
Calgary Flames Send Four To AHL
4:32 pm: Additionally, the team has assigned defenseman Juuso Valimaki to Stockton, giving a huge extra boost to their farm team. The 23-year-old defenseman had an assist in three playoff games before getting called up to the Flames’ reserves, and he’ll return there for the rest of their run.
2:46 pm: Now that they were eliminated from the NHL playoffs, the Calgary Flames can help out their AHL affiliate. The team has sent Connor Mackey, Adam Ruzicka, and Adam Werner to the Stockton Heat, as the minor league club continues its chase for the Calder Cup.
The Heat, which will be relocated to Calgary next season, are up 2-0 in their best-of-five series against the Colorado Eagles, with game three set for this evening. Though this is technically the third round, they’ve only won one series to this point after earning a bye to the Pacific Division semifinals.
A player like Mackey will be a big help, after he scored 36 points in 53 games to lead all Stockton defensemen this season. Ruzicka too was an extremely strong contributor, though he played only 16 games in the minor leagues as he spent most of the year with Calgary. He had 11 goals and 20 points in those games, as the big forward is starting to come into his own at the age of 23.
The success of Stockton is part of what made the Flames’ season so impressive. There is a lot more talent on the way, including names like Jakob Pelletier and Connor Zary, first-round picks from the last few years. The Heat going all the way would certainly be a good thing for the development of those players, and the future of the Flames in general.
Dmitri Zavgorodniy Clears Unconditional Waivers
May 27: Zavgorodniy has cleared waivers and will have his contract terminated.
May 26: The Calgary Flames have placed Dmitri Zavgorodniy on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The young forward had one year left on his entry-level contract.
Zavgorodniy, 21, was a seventh-round pick of the Flames in 2018 after coming over to play in the QMJHL and was something of a surprise signing when he inked his entry-level deal in 2019. The undersized forward ended up playing in just 41 games for the Stockton Heat, scoring one goal and five points. He also played in a handful of KHL games in each of the last two seasons, suggesting that a termination like this might be on the horizon at some point.
Now, he’ll be able to go to the KHL full-time, though the Flames will no longer hold his exclusive rights. Should he clear waivers, he will be an unrestricted free agent, meaning if his development overseas improves at all, he’d be able to find a new opportunity somewhere else down the line.
Still, an NHL career seems extremely unlikely at this point, given how poorly his time in the AHL has gone. For Calgary, clearing the contract off the books is likely worth more than any chance he turns things around.
Chris Tanev Expected To Undergo Surgery
It was obvious that Chris Tanev wasn’t at full strength as he tried to gut out the end of the Calgary Flames’ second-round series. The veteran defenseman was dealing with multiple injuries, according to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV, who tweets that Tanev had a torn labrum, a separated shoulder, and a sprained neck. He’ll go in for surgery next week, according to Dhaliwal.
Tanev, 32, was a horse for the Flames during the regular season, playing in all 82 games, setting a new career high with 28 points, and blocking 158 shots. He unfortunately was injured in game six of the first round against the Dallas Stars, and was limited to just two matches against the Oilers. Incredibly, he was still a +3 in those games, as the Flames outscored the Oilers 6-3 with him on the ice at even strength.
Among the very best shutdown defensemen in the entire league, Tanev does have a long history of serious injuries. In fact, this was the first time he had ever played more than 70 games in a single season, missing huge chunks nearly every year while with the Vancouver Canucks. After suiting up in every regular season game the Flames have played for two years, his luck finally ran out, and he’ll have to undergo a long rehab period once again.
Tanev has two years left on the contract he signed in 2020, which carries an average annual value of $4.5MM.
Calgary Flames To Relocate AHL Affiliate
While the headlines surrounding the Calgary Flames are all about their Battle of Alberta playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, the organization does have some major unrelated news as well. The American Hockey League announced today that its Board of Governors has approved the relocation of the Flames’ affiliate, the Stockton Heat, from Stockton, California to Calgary. The league’s official announcement read as follows:
American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Howson announced that the AHL Board of Governors, convening last week for its Spring Meeting, has approved the relocation of the franchise owned by the Calgary Flames from Stockton, Calif., to Calgary, Alta., beginning with the 2022-23 season.
Details relating to the transfer are in progress and the AHL and the Flames will provide more information when finalized. Division alignment for the 2022-23 AHL season, which will begin October 14, will also be finalized at a later date.
There is no word on yet on where the Flames’ affiliate will be playing in Calgary, but this move comes as part of a larger trend towards moving AHL affiliates closer to their NHL parent clubs. The Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks are all teams that have moved their AHL affiliates closer to their home markets in the past.
The Canucks example is particularly relevant for the Flames because of the success of their move from an established AHL market in Utica, New York to Abbotsford, British Columbia. Patrick Williams of TheAHL.com notes that the success of the Canucks’ move to Abbotsford gives confidence that the Flames’ move will prove a success. Because optimizing for easier travel and smaller travel costs is so important for the health of minor league sports, the fact that the success of the Canucks and their move can serve as a blueprint for the Flames’ move is no small factor. At the very least, this relocation will make it so the logistical challenge of the Flames calling up AHL-ers on short notice will be significantly reduced.
Milan Lucic Not Expected To Receive Supplementary Discipline
When Calgary Flames forward Milan Lucic received a match penalty last night for colliding with Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mike Smith, it came with an automatic review from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. It appears as though there will be nothing more to come from the incident, as Emily Kaplan of ESPN tweets that there will not be supplementary discipline from the league.
The 15 minutes of penalties that Lucic was officially credited with were nearly twice as many as he actually played last night, as the veteran forward has been pushed down into a very limited role so far in the series. In three games he has yet to record a shot on net against his former team and now has racked up 21 penalty minutes in the second-round series.
Smith, meanwhile, was forced from the game by concussion spotters but returned a few minutes later to wild applause from the Rogers Place crowd. The Oilers managed to win the game and take a 2-1 series lead, with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evander Kane once again leading the way offensively.
Some fans will remember another collision between Lucic and a goaltender that did not result in a suspension, though the two incidents came in very different on-ice situations.
The two teams will be back at it Thursday night.
Minor Transactions: 05/21/22
Most of the day-to-day roster shuffling is now complete but there have been a handful of moves made. We’ll keep track of those here.
- A day after sending him back down, the Flames have recalled defenseman Juuso Valimaki from AHL Stockton, per the AHL’s transactions log. It’s the third time this week that the 23-year-old has been recalled although he hasn’t seen any game action. With the Heat set to start their next series on Monday, there’s a good chance that Valimaki – who played in just nine games with Calgary this season – will be sent back down soon.
- The Avalanche have brought up goaltender Hunter Miska from AHL Colorado and had him at practice today, relays Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link). Miska will serve as the emergency goalie for the Avs for the time being although with their next series in the minors starting on Monday (against Calgary’s affiliate), he could be shuffled back and forth over the next few days. At the moment, both Miska and AHL starter Justus Annunen are up with the big club.
- A year after deciding to try his hand overseas, John Quenneville is looking for a new home after Zurich of the Swiss NLA announced in their transactions log that he has been released. The 26-year-old has played in 42 NHL games over parts of four seasons and could be a candidate to return to North America on a two-way deal this summer after a decent season with the Lions that saw him collect 20 goals and 17 assists in 46 games.