The Calgary Flames—who suffered their first regulation loss of the season last night to the Carolina Hurricanes—find themselves in an interesting predicament. They simply have too many defencemen under contract, and it’s hurting the development of some of the younger ones.
This is a good problem to have, but it’s a problem nonetheless. The Flames traded Nikita Zadorov, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev mid-season last year and lost Nick DeSimone to waivers. Another trio of defencemen left via free agency in the summer: Oliver Kylington, Jordan Oesterle, and Dennis Gilbert.
That’s seven defencemen out the door. Somehow, inexplicably, the Flames have a pair of young defencemen who are not seeing any ice time at the moment. It actually is explicable; let’s take a look!
Young defencemen not getting ice time
Joni Jurmo is a 22-year-old former third-round pick who the Flames acquired mid-season last year in the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks. He played most of the last four seasons in the Finnish Liiga for four different teams. Very impressive to be playing that level of hockey at just 18 years old in his D+1.
Ilya Solovyov—a Flames’ seventh-rounder in 2020—turned 24 this summer. He’s spent the last three seasons in the AHL with the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers and even saw 10 games of NHL action with the Flames last year, picking up three assists.
Both defencemen have NHL size, listed at 6’3″ on EliteProspects. Both need ice time in the AHL to continue their development and have the potential to become solid depth defencemen. Unfortunately, they have combined for two AHL games so far this year. This isn’t a knock on either player but rather a testament to the Flames’ depth at this position.
Flames added depth on defence through many avenues
While the Flames lost seven defencemen, they were all replaced somehow. The team made a pair of waiver pickups in Brayden Pachal from the Vegas Golden Knights and Joel Hanley from the Dallas Stars.
The Flames also acquired Daniil Miromanov from Vegas in the Hanifin trade, Kevin Bahl from the New Jersey Devils in the Jacob Markstrom trade, and Artyom Grushnikov from Dallas in the Tanev trade.
Management decided that still wasn’t enough defencemen and opted to sign Tyson Barrie, Jake Bean, and Jarred Tinordi ahead of the season. Are you starting to get the picture? That’s eight defencemen in so far, with OHL star Hunter Brzustewicz making his way up to the Wranglers this year, too.
Breaking down the Flames’ defence depth
Naturally, Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar anchor the Flames’ blue line. After that, it’s really up in the air. Bahl and Pachal are the only other defencemen in the organization to suit up in every Flames game so far. Behind them, Bean and Miromanov have each played in six of the Flames’ seven games. After that, Barrie suited up for a pair of games, and Hanley has ridden the bench.
For the Wranglers, Yan Kuznetsov, Jeremie Poirier, Brzustewicz, Grushnikov, and Tinordi have played every game (and combined for two assists). Jonathan Aspirot has suited up for five of the six games, collecting three assists on his own. After that, Solovyov has two games in and a goal to his name, while Jurmo has yet to see any game action.
Both the Flames and Wranglers are currently carrying eight defencemen. Both have one who hasn’t played yet and one who has only played two games.
The Flames should trade from a position of strength
For various reasons, all of these defencemen should be intriguing to other NHL clubs. That’s not to say all of them should be on the block, but at least a few of them should be. The Flames have an incredible amount of depth on the blue line and should use it to augment positions of weakness.
Of the 18 defencemen, I suggest that only Weegar, Poirier, and Brzustewicz should be untouchable. Weegar chose to sign long-term in Calgary, and General Manager Craig Conroy has been vocal about wanting people who want to be in Calgary. Poirier and Brzustewicz both ooze offensive potential, and the Flames would be out of their minds to trade them right now, even with Zayne Parekh and Henry Mews in the pipeline.
Pachal is right behind that group, but Conroy should be open to a deal if the right offer comes along. Pachal is 25 years old and has been excellent for the Flames early on this year, posting a team-leading 55.3 Corsi For Percentage at 5v5 while averaging 15:41 of time on ice. If Andersson is traded—which I’ll discuss shortly—I’d love to see Pachal get more opportunities.
The Flames have eight defencemen with contracts expiring after this season. Poirier, Bahl, and Kuznetsov are all set to become restricted free agents. Barrie, Hanley, Pachal, Aspirot, and Tinordi are all set to become unrestricted free agents.
According to PuckPedia, Pachal and Aspirot are Group 6 UFAs and would retain RFA status should they play enough games for the Flames this season. Pachal needs to play 11 games, while Aspirot needs 80 games. The former will probably happen, while the latter is highly unlikely, especially given that we’re talking about the Flames having too many defencemen.
Andersson, Bean, and Miromanov all become UFAs after next season, while Jurmo, Solovyov, and Grushnikov become RFAs. The organization has a lot of defenders on short-term deals and should look to move some to make room for the younger players.
Who should the Flames look to trade?
There have been talks of the Flames trading Andersson, which made more sense before the Flames started this season 5–1–1. There’s still a lot of hockey left in this season, though, and that script could flip again. If the Flames end up being as bad as most expected before the season, it’s tough to picture Andersson wanting to stick around.
There are also rumours of Conroy looking for a centre, with his preference being one who is a right shot. Someone like Dylan Cozens from the Buffalo Sabres makes a lot of sense, but that would almost certainly cost the Flames Andersson.
Outside of Andersson, I think the best trade candidates are Barrie, Bean, Bahl, Kuznetsov, and Tinordi. Through very limited action so far, Barrie is second on the team in CF% at 5v5 with 54.4. He’s a player the Flames should showcase more; give him upwards of 20 minutes of TOI and top power play duties to prove he can still run a blue line, then trade him later in the season. Barrie is 33 and on an expiring deal; he doesn’t fit in the Flames’ future.
Bean has struggled to live up to the hype of being drafted 13th overall in 2016. However, through six games with the Flames, he has a goal and three points to go along with a 48.6 CF% at 5v5. He’s 26, playing well, and has term on his contract. Should he keep playing well, Stanley Cup contenders would surely seek his services to bolster their blue line.
Bahl is a different story. The 24-year-old has two assists but an ugly 39.6 CF% at 5v5. In his defence—pun not intended—he has started 69.3% of his shifts in the defensive zone. That’s not conducive to good possession numbers or offensive production. But he’s a 6’6″ defensive defenceman and has been very effective in that aspect of the game. Other teams will be salivating over him, and rightly so. He’s already highly sought after, given that the trade to the Flames is the second time in his young career he’s been traded.
Kuznetsov was a second-round pick of the Flames in 2020, but he hasn’t really taken a step forward at the AHL level yet. Maybe that’s this year, given he has an assist through six games and a plus-six rating. But the Flames have a lot of defencemen, and if they can get decent value for him to open up a roster spot for someone else, it’s worth considering. Still just 22 years old, he’s a 6’4″ physical defender that other teams would love to add.
The Flames’ signing of Tinordi was something of a head-scratcher. The organization was already loaded with defencemen, and now Tinordi is taking up a roster spot on the Wranglers. He’s got no points through six games and is a minus-one. I’m not sure what kind of value he’d have on the trade market, but if someone calls, the Flames should move him just to make room for Solovyov or Jurmo.
Who do you think the Flames should move? Let us know!
