At this point in the Calgary Flames season, even the NHL insiders are getting tired of talking about the rumours surrounding the team. The last few weeks Elliotte Friedman has almost been actively trying not to talk about the Flames during his various segments and podcasts, despite them being the centre of the NHL universe right now.
That being said, he couldn’t hurt sneaking in a few tidbits in the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts the Podcast and both parts were extremely intriguing.
Double deal for Calgary’s defencemen
One of the NHL teams that is most active in the trade market per Friedman is the Dallas Stars, as they view themselves as having the ability to win the Stanley Cup this season. On their wish list? A right-shot and a left-shot defenceman who could play on their second pairing.
If only there were two defencemen available on the market that make up a second pairing for an NHL team right now!
Per Friedman, the Flames have been reluctant to trade two players in the same deal as they believe they could get more from them separately. Add in the fact that both played phenomenally on Saturday night, their values could not be higher in individual deals. Trading separately is better, but sending both Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin to the Dallas Stars could be the best case for them as well.
Right now, the teams that appear to be interested in Hanifin mainly have empty cupboards in terms of potential assets. The Dallas Stars have an embarrassment of riches.
The team holds their first- and second-round picks in this year’s draft, as well as their first-round pick next year. They also have one of the best young prospect pools that includes Logan Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque, and Lian Bichsel. Now for a pure rental, the Stars could give up their first for Tanev who they have been linked to, but if you include Hanifin in that deal they could pry one of if not more assets out of the Stars. That sounds extremely intriguing.
That being said, the Stars would need some serious salary retention or to trade a roster player to make the money work which also makes things harder. Of course, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities the Flames could retain and gain more draft capital. This could be a deadline blockbuster in the making.
Calgary’s push for the playoffs isn’t over
The other interesting piece that Friedman mentioned was that the Flames have on occasion circled back to both Hanifin and Tanev to see if an extension is possible. It seemed like they have done it more with Tanev recently.
Although a trade for both seems more likely, Friedman noted that if they kept Tanev, re-signed him, and also did not trade Jacob Markstrom then an eighth-seeded Flames team could be extremely dangerous.
Many will look at that and scoff, based on the team still being five points out of a playoff position, but having a hot goaltender in the playoffs is the key to many team’s successes. Could it be out of the realm of possibilities for the Flames? No, but many would not want this team to make any “buying” decisions at the deadline to pursue this piece of fantasy.
