The Calgary Flames continuously find themselves in offseason, preseason, midseason, postseason, and—well—really any-season predicaments. Right now, their biggest conundrum is figuring out what to do with their batch of unrestricted free agents. Approaching the midway mark of their season, there’s still no clear sign of direction.
With a plethora of players on expiring contracts this season, the Flames were presented with a wait-and-see approach to the 2023–24 year. If things went well out of the gates and the team looked competitive, then they could go ahead and take some rental flyers on their own free agents in hopes of a deep playoff run. If things went south, then it’d be all systems go for a fire sale—go all-in on the rebuild with express tickets to ride the tank.
However, as many could have guessed, the Flames find themselves in the middle of the tug-o-war with no clear pull in either direction and this is going to become a problem as the trade deadline rapidly approaches.
The clock ticks as Calgary still needs a direction
The Flames stumbled out of the gates to start the season—so much so that it put an outright pause on all contract talks as both the team and players were uncertain about what the fate of the Flames would be.
A team destined for greatness would retain its free agents as a perennial Stanley Cup contender attracts players; a team destined for a rebuild would see free agents fleeing in hopes of finding more success elsewhere.
The Flames, well, they’re neither. Not good enough to be true contenders. Not bad enough to outright tank. This isn’t a new situation for the Flames, they’ve been here before. However, it’s worth repeating: this year’s massive batch of free agents gives the Flames possibly their only chance in the foreseeable future to definitively pick a direction—and the obvious one is right in front of them.
Short-term pain for long-term gain
In the eyes of Calgary’s fanbase, other teams’ fanbases, analysts, pundits, and basically everyone who isn’t the Calgary Flames, the obvious thing to do is to sell. There isn’t total consensus on rebuilding versus retooling, but there’s pretty strong agreement in favour of change.
This is because, unfortunately, this team isn’t remotely close to being a year-over-year Cup contender. Truth be told, this team is built for Cinderella playoff runs at best, where vying for wild card spots will be how most regular seasons will continue to go.
No matter what the Flames do, their current roster represents an uphill battle to get into the playoffs every year. The Flames rarely look truly dominant, and any stretches of said dominance barely extend past single games, at times lasting just periods.
Meanwhile, other teams are putting up elite offensive, defensive, and goaltending results, and some have game-breaking talent that can change the tide of any game. The Flames as they are built now will really only ever get two out of the above four things at any given time, and it’s not consistently two either.
The best thing they can do right now is rebuild, or at the very least retool—get the best shot of getting a game-breaking talent so that they will always have at least one of the above categories covered on any given night.
The Flames are stuck in—please forgive this pun—puckatory. No clear path to the top, no clear willingness to take the path to the bottom. The only way for them to get out is to dig deeper.
Building for the Flames’ future
The reality of sports is that there will always be mixed reactions from fans. There will always be fans who will never give up on the team and any shot at the playoffs is welcomed. After all, the best way to watch any game is to actively root for wins. There will also be fans who begroan the perpetual mediocrity and would rather see the team commit to a rebuild.
In both cohorts, these fans aren’t giving up on the team, but the latter will definitely feel like the team has given up on the fans if they don’t take advantage of their 2024 contract situation to try and make high-impact changes. Many people will happily welcome a rebuild or retool. Hope sells. Commitment sells. Direction sells. Right now, the Flames are offering little hope, little commitment, and little direction.
If the Flames know what’s good for the team’s future, they’ll see that their best opportunity to pick the right direction will close shut at this year’s trade deadline, so acting now is of utmost importance.
Come on, Jarome Iginla, please specially advise Craig Conroy and get the Flames heading in the right direction once and for all.
