With the Calgary Flames entering the All-Star break five points out of the playoffs and 24th in the NHL, a looming fire sale is at the forefront of everyone’s mind in Calgary. With the trade deadline just under a month and a half away and the Flames holding some major trade chips it could get quite busy for Craig Conroy sooner than later.
Conroy’s getting ahead of the busy days by already executing a major trade with the Vancouver Canucks by acquiring Andrei Kuzmenko and more for Elias Lindholm.
Given the position the Flames are currently in as one of, if not the biggest sellers on the market, there have been a ton of trade proposals involving Flames players in recent weeks. Using the Armchair GM feature on CapFriendly.com, I pulled some of the most realistic Calgary Flames trade proposals to analyze if they make sense for both sides.
Proposal: Chris Tanev to Toronto
- Calgary receives: Nick Abruzzese, Pontus Holmberg, 2024 third-round pick (NYI)
- Toronto receives: Chris Tanev (50% salary retained)
Calgary is likely to target NHL ready prospects or players in trade returns instead of just draft picks, so this deal would make sense in that regard. Nick Abruzzese is a former teammate of Matt Coronato at Harvard and has put up 76 points across 107 AHL games over the past two seasons. He’s far from a blue-chip prospect, but he’s posted solid AHL numbers and would provide the Flames with some youth down the middle.
Pontus Holmberg meanwhile is a useful depth player at 24 years old and the Flames also add some draft capital with a third-round pick. I’d prefer getting purely draft picks in return for Tanev, but this isn’t a terrible move for the Flames. For Toronto, they don’t lose much in terms of current NHL talent and add the veteran top-four defenceman they covet so badly.
Proposal: Noah Hanifin to Detroit
- Calgary receives: Olli Maatta, Jared McIsaac, 2024 second-round pick (DET), 2024 second-round pick (DET)
- Detroit receives: Noah Hanifin
Assuming Noah Hanifin is a pure rental, this trade isn’t terrible but it lacks any high-end pieces like a top prospect or a first-round pick that the Flames should be targeting. Getting two second-round picks is a solid starting point, but the issue is the rest of the deal is pretty meh if you’re Calgary.
Olli Maatta is a solid defensive defenceman who fills an immediate need for Calgary but he’s nearly three years older than Hanifin. Jared McIsaac meanwhile was once a highly touted prospect, but after some major injuries over the past two years, he’s now more of a reclamation project and not a surefire NHL player.
If the Flames are set on remaining competitive and getting NHL players in return for their UFAs, this deal would achieve that goal. That said, Conroy should certainly be able to get some higher-end assets for Hanifin making this a no from Calgary’s side.
Proposal: Hanifin to Arizona
- Calgary receives: 2024 first-round pick (ARI, top 10 protected), 2025 second-round pick (EDM), 2025 second-round pick (TOR)
- Arizona receives: Noah Hanifin with eight-year, $7.0M AAV extension
If we look at recent trades for top-four defenders in their 20s, this is right on the mark. If you recall the Flames sent a first-round pick and two seconds to Boston for Dougie Hamilton in 2015 and to the New York Islanders for Travis Hamonic in 2016. Just last year the Ottawa Senators picked up Jakob Chychrun for the same package.
The Flames would pick up some serious draft capital including a first-round pick that has a great shot of being in the #11–16 range, as well as two seconds next year. The Coyotes meanwhile have an absurd 10 second-round picks over the next three years and would have no issues spending some to bolster their up-and-coming blueline. I think this trade is a perfect example of a win-win and both teams would be happy.
Not to mention another sign-and-trade deal for Calgary, in which the team was involved in the first-ever deal of its kind in NHL history.
Proposal: Hanifin to Boston
- Calgary receives: Mason Lohrei, 2025 first-round pick (BOS)
- Boston receives: Noah Hanifin
Like the above, I think this is a deal that serves both teams very well. Getting a first-round pick should be a starting point for Hanifin and instead of two second-rounders, the Flames get a real solid blueline prospect in Mason Lohrei—something they desperately need in their system right now.
Lohrei, who was a second-round pick of the Bruins in 2020, would immediately become the Flames’ best blueline prospect and could jump right into their lineup this season. He projects as a second-pairing defender in the NHL and fills a big need for Calgary
For Boston, they spend yet another first-round pick and ship out one of their only notable prospects but add a solid top-four defenceman in Hanifin who bolsters their blueline and helps them contend right now. The fact he’s a hometown kid also makes it likely that Hanifin would sign an extension too. To me, this deal makes sense for both sides.
Proposal: Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey
- Calgary receives: Graeme Clarke, Vitek Vanecek, 2024 first-round pick (NJD)
- New Jersey receives: Jacob Markstrom ($1.5M retained)
The Flames have made it clear that they aren’t shopping their number-one goalie and will only consider moving Jacob Markstrom if they receive an offer they can’t refuse. I don’t think this is the offer, mainly due to the cap aspects of the deal.
Getting a first-round pick would be a big win for Calgary especially considering it could land at the beginning of the first round with the Devils outside the playoffs right now. Graeme Clarke is an intriguing prospect who’s had two really solid seasons in the AHL and fits a positional need for Calgary but he’s yet to make the jump to the NHL. The big issue is the money in this deal.
The fact Calgary is retaining $1.5 million or 25% on Markstrom for two and a half seasons is a tough pill to swallow. When you also add in the fact they’ll have Vitek Vanecek on the books for another season and would have to clear space for Dustin Wolf, this deal looks even more iffy. In a full-on rebuild, this is a deal worth accepting, but we all know that’s not the direction Calgary will go.
Proposal: Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey 2.0
- Calgary receives: Seamus Casey, Vitek Vanecek, 2024 fifth-round pick (NJD)
- New Jersey receives: Jacob Markstrom ($1.0M retained)
This is essentially a mirror image of the 2017 trade that sent Ben Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings for a fifth-round draft pick and top prospect Erik Cernak. In this case the Flames receive one of the Devils’ top defence prospects in Seamus Casey. The 20-year-old Casey has been a star at the University of Michigan and has legit top-four potential. For a team with an incredibly shallow blueline prospect group, he’d be a big add.
Past Casey, though there isn’t much here. Vanecek is a pure cap dump but is still under contract for a full season, and the fifth-round pick is a lottery ticket. Like the above deal, even with less retention, it’s hard to see the Flames retaining on Markstrom and taking Vanecek’s contract in one deal.
If you’re firmly on team tank, this is a deal worth considering for the Flames to add some much-needed youth to the organization. That said, I’d be shocked if they traded Markstrom for futures.
Proposal: Noah Hanifin and Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey
- Calgary receives: Alexander Holtz, Vitek Vanecek, 2024 first-round pick (NJD), 2025 second-round pick (NJD)
- New Jersey receives: Noah Hanifin (with extension), Jacob Markstrom ($1.5M retained)
To close it off we’ve got a blockbuster. With the Devils needing help on the blueline and in net, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a Hanifin plus Markstrom package deal could work for both sides. I think if you’re the Flames this would be a homerun of a deal. Not only does Calgary pick up first- and second-round picks, but they also land a potentially elite talent in Alexander Holtz.
Holtz’s name has popped up in trade rumours recently as the 2020 seventh-overall pick has struggled to fully establish himself in New Jersey. As a right shot, right winger he’s quite literally the exact type of player the Flames need in their organization right now. Even with the retention on Markstrom, this deal is worth it to get a player like Holtz.
For New Jersey, having Hanifin come with an extension in place helps soften the blow of losing their former seventh-overall pick. This is a giant package to give up, but if New Jersey is serious about competing and winning right now, this deal helps them do that in a big way.
Let the selling begin
The Flames got a tidy piece of business done in trading Elias Lindholm. But the trade is the first domino of several that should all be falling soon. There should be lots of noise around Calgary between now and the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
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