Welcome back to another edition of CapFriendly Friday! The Calgary Flames continue to tread water with a record of 11–14–5. Right now, they sit sixth overall in the draft lottery. It’s not a position anyone thought they would be in, but this team just doesn’t have it. Regardless of whether they start to win some games or not, the Flames should commit to at least trading their three major UFAs before the deadline. I recently looked at what the value for these three UFAs should be based on past comparables, so we have a good baseline. Now we head over to CapFriendly to see what users think the value for these three players among other Flames is.
If you are unfamiliar with CapFriendly Friday, it involves looking at trade proposals submitted on CapFriendly.com‘s Armchair GM feature. The Armchair GM feature lets users, like you and me, become the GM of their team, and make whatever moves they see fit. Before you read on, check out Q&A with CapFriendly to get insights on the inner workings of the site and some fun stories all about NHL contracts.
As you can probably imagine, some of these CapFriendly Friday proposals get our minds thinking and might make sense at the NHL level, while others are just straight up bonkers. I like to cover a little bit of both, so sit back, grab a snack, relax, and let’s laugh as we dive into some trade proposals. Let’s start it off with a Flames defencemen heading to the Toronto Maple Leafs:
Tanev heads to the Maple Leafs
The consensus value for Tanev would likely fall somewhere around this trade. The Leafs are the only team that is rumoured to be interested in Tanev that could make the deal tomorrow. They are able to because of John Klingberg and his $4.15M salary being placed on LTIR.
According to TSN and The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, Calgary is in no rush to trade Chris Tanev. However, with his recent injury and the way he plays, I wouldn’t be upset if they move him sooner rather than later, assuming the right price is there. LeBrun kind of hinted that if the Leafs float their 2024 first-rounder, Calgary probably does it now. That puts Treliving in a bit of a pickle. Other interested teams will continue to accrue more cap space the longer he waits. But, the Leafs are already without their 2025 first- and 2024, 2025, and 2026 second-round picks.
By moving the 2024 first-rounder, Treliving doesn’t have any chips left to add. I don’t think there’s a better fit for Toronto than Chris Tanev. I think this makes sense for both sides. Unless there’s some ill-will from ownership on trading with Treliving given the way he left the organization. Does Tanev’s value drop at all with this latest injury?
Hanifin puts on a New Jersey
Comparable deals have Hanifin’s value around a first- and second-rounder and young defenceman. So, this is likely an overpay from New Jersey, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility if there is a massive bidding war. We can also assume Hanifin is signing an extension with the Devils. Seamus Casey is an intriguing defensive prospect who has a ton of value. I would put him around a second-round pick or higher in comparable value. Brendan Smith is a big physical presence, but is included in this deal to make the cap work with his salary of $1.1M. Taking out the 2026 second-rounder probably makes this deal pretty fair. I would be pretty happy if the Flames got both Casey and a first-round pick for Hanifin. Targeting a first-round pick and a very good defensive prospect should be on Craig Conroy’s list.
Calgary trades a couple Swedes for… not much?
This is an absolutely crazy proposal. One, I don’t think the Avalanche should be moving Girard while he is in the Player Assistance program. Two, this value might be bang on if you sub in Nazem Kadri instead of Lindholm and Markstrom. The value just isn’t there for a package of Lindholm and Markstrom. Markstrom has rebounded well this season so I wouldn’t think he’s in cap dump territory. Lindholm has a lot of value. On the Colorado end, Girard is a good defenceman but currently away from the team, Annunen is a fine young goalie, and Johansen was traded for nothing this past summer. This would be a fireable offence of a deal. No. Just no. Again, if the Flames choose to rebuild and Kadri wants out, this deal makes sense for cap and Kadri’s contract. But there’s no value for Markstrom and Lindholm here.
Lindholm heads to Winnipeg
This is about as realistic of a deal as I think I’ve ever seen. The comparable trades for Lindholm have him at a first-rounder, good prospect, and cap dump or player in need of a change of scenery. We can assume Lindholm is signing an extension with the Jets. That comparable value is pretty much bang on here. You have the first-rounder, a good prospect in Brad Lambert (who was drafted 30th overall in 2022), and Rasmus Kupari, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade and is still only 23 years old.
The Jets have been really good this season at a 17–9–2 record. They do have a glaring hole at second line centre after moving Dubois in the summer. Enter Elias Lindholm. Schiefele, Lindholm, Lowry down the middle with their defence and Connor Hellebuyck in net is a pretty darn good team. If the Flames aren’t a fan of Lambert, there are a ton of prospects to choose from, like Colby Barlow, Chaz Lucius, Nikita Chibrikov, and Elias Salomonsson. The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. All aboard the Lindholm to Winnipeg Jets train?
Rasmus Andersson to the Sabres
Andersson isn’t one of the pending UFAs, but I wanted to throw this one in here as well because it’s an interesting conversation. Andersson hasn’t been as good as in past seasons, but at 27 years old and signed for two more seasons after this one at a $4.55M AAV, he’s got to have a ton of value. Given where the Flames are at, would it make sense to cash in on that value now? I’ve seen a ton of Sabres fans throw his name around for a few years now, given their need for a RD to pair with one of Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power for the future. As the Sabres begin their upward trajectory, Andersson would make a lot of sense to target long-term.
As for the package coming back, both Rosen and Krebs are good young forwards with upside, while Jokiharju definitely fits the young defenceman who needs a change of scenery mould. A couple of picks coming back are also nice. I’m not sure what Andersson’s value would be, but I feel like they could get more. You’d have to imagine almost every team would be interested in a 27-year-old top pairing defender who makes a very reasonable cap hit for a number of years.
Hanifin to the Leafs for… a bad package
You are probably not far off from Chris Tanev’s value with this deal, but definitely not Noah Hanifin. As mentioned in the second deal, Hanifin’s value should be around a first-rounder, second-rounder, and young defenceman. This is definitely not that. Thank you, next.
Selling season
The Flames are much closer to a top-five pick than they are to the playoffs. In a year with so many UFAs, selling is the prudent move for the near and far future. Let’s see what types of trades Conroy is able to pull off for Calgary.
Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire
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