The Calgary Flames went out and got several jobs done this week. Starting with contracts for Oliver Kylington, Andrew Mangiapane, and the exclamation point eight-year contract for Jonathan Huberdeau, the Flames are checking things off their offseason to-do list like it’s nobody’s business.
Assessing trade proposals on CapFriendly
So after a groundbreaking week from the Flames front office, we are going to sit back, grab a snack, relax, and laugh about some trade proposals from CapFriendly. If you don’t already know about CapFriendly, go check them out as they are a perfect resource for everything you need to know about the NHL.
The website has a feature called Armchair GM where you can take hold of a team, sign, trade, buyout and do whatever you want, and post it afterwards. If Brad Treliving perused the site, the acquisition of Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and the 2025 first-round pick might have been a proposal that would have been under a lot of scrutiny or even laughed off.
With the Armchair GM, nothing is off limits and it gives users all the power to be realistic, or be bold. Sometimes, really bold. With great power comes great responsibility, and it is time for us to judge some trade proposals involving the Flames.
Acquiring Jason Robertson
Our first trade sees the Flames send middle-six forward Dillon Dube and prospect Mathias Emilio Pettersen to the Dallas Stats in exchange for first liner Jason Robertson.
This is bad. This is so bad.
Emilio Pettersen is a 2018 sixth-round pick by the Flames, and finished a 26-point campaign with the Stockton Heat over 59 games played last season. Not bad for the now 22-year-old, 5’10″ 170 lbs forward, but definitely nothing special.
Dillon Dube is a 2016 second-round pick who was drafted by his hometown Flames, and has played parts of four seasons with the club. In 2021–22, Dube played mainly on Calgary’s third line and had 32 points in 79 games (0.405 P/GP) which set career-highs.
Jason Robertson is a 2017 second-round pick by the Stars, who has only gotten better as the seasons go by. In the shortened 2020–21 season, Robertson put up 45 points in 51 games played (0.882 P/GP). In 2021–22, Robertson burst onto the scene and put up 79 points in 74 games (1.07 P/GP) while on a line with Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski.
Essentially, the Stars are trading a 23-year-old bonafide first line winger who was over a point-per-game last season for a 30- to 35-point third liner and a low-tier prospect.
To top it off, this user also extended Robertson to a six-year, $5.75M AAV contract, which is a significant underpay.
If Brad Treliving can somehow make this trade and extended Robertson to that contract, he can have the keys to the city of Calgary. I wouldn’t put very high odds on this happening though, since it’s quite… one-sided.
Sending Chris Tanev away
Trade #2 sees the Flames trading one of the best defensive defencemen in the entire league Chris Tanev for a few draft picks and an injured Micheal Ferland.
This is straight up bonkers. Chris Tanev is one of the most important Flames right now, and signed to a fantastic contract for another two years at $4.5M AAV. With Calgary looking to contend now, I don’t see how they would trade their top defenceman for a couple mid-round picks, and an LTIR forward.
Michael Ferland was a huge fan favourite in Calgary for the part he played in the 2015 playoffs against the Canucks. But Ferland has battled a variety of injuries and hasn’t played since 2019–20. Unless the Flames are somehow acquiring the likes of Connor McDavid today and need to make cap room, this trade is just completely asinine.
Acquiring Jonathan Drouin
In Trade #3, we see the Flames acquiring Jonathan Drouin from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Dillon Dube and Noah Hanifin at 45% retained salary.
This trade—like the ones before it—is also just bonkers. Drouin was the third overall pick in 2013, but he hasn’t worked out exactly as planned. Drouin has dealt with injuries and has played 27, 44, and 34 games respectively in the last three seasons. Drouin has severe deficiencies on the defensive side of the ice, so it is hard to fathom he would be a good fit under Darryl Sutter.
Drouin has one more season at a cap hit of $5.5M. On the Flames end, they give up Dube whom we talked about in Trade #1, and also giving up a top four defenceman in Hanifin. Hanifin is signed for another two years at a cap hit of $4.95M, and just set a career-high in points last season with 48 points in 81 games (0.592 P/GP).
You would have to convince me to just trade Dube for Drouin straight up, considering Dube is on a much cheaper contract and is much more consistent, so throwing Hanifin in on top of that is just plain silly. I love that this user decided that the Flames should also retain 45% of Hanifin’s contract for the next two seasons, just because.
Decidedly bold trade proposals
These three proposals are definitely bold to say the least—maybe even bold and brash. There’s no planet where these would go through. But just cause they are bold doesn’t mean we can’t talk about them. Besides, we’re still waiting to see when Treliving’s burner account will pop up, who knows what else he has up his sleeve?
