Former Calgary Flames who were moved at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline

The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline has passed, making it a perfect time to reflect on former Calgary Flames who were dealt. With Craig Conroy deciding to stay put, some great opportunities to acquire assets were missed. Instead, Flames fans focused on the moves involving former Flames. Here is a layout of the former Calgary Flames who were on the move.

Andrei Kuzmenko – Los Angeles Kings

Andrei Kuzmenko has had quite a journey over the past two seasons. He was originally traded to the Calgary Flames in January 2024. This was a significant trade for both teams as the Flames acquired Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, a 2024 first-round pick (Matvei Gridin), a fourth-round pick (Heikki Ruohonen), and Andrei Kuzmenko. The Vancouver Canucks acquired forward Elias Lindholm who signed with the Boston Bruins after the Canucks playoff run came to an end.

A year after being dealt to Calgary, Andrei Kuzmenko was traded again. This time he was on the move to the Philadelphia Flyers alongside Jakob Pelletier, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2028 seventh-round pick. The Calgary Flames improved their forward corps in this deal by acquiring forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. This trade has worked out well for both sides of the trade and Philadelphia acquired another asset for Andrei Kuzmenko.

The Philadelphia Flyers flipped Andrei Kuzmenko and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick in 2027. A key factor in this trade going through included the Flyers retaining 50% of Andrei Kuzmenko’s cap hit. This made him available at $2.75M for the Los Angeles Kings. Kuzmenko will join the Kings in a final push for the playoffs.

Oliver Kylington – Anaheim Ducks

Oliver Kylington was at one point, a valuable piece of the Calgary Flames defensive core. His best season was in 2021–2022 when he was a member of that awesome Flames team. This was the last year of Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm being Calgary Flames. After this season, he missed an entire season due to personal issues.

Oliver Kylington returned in January of 2024 to finish the last half of the season. In free agency, Kylington decided to sign with the Colorado Avalanche, which ended up being a terrible decision. Things simply did not work out in Colorado. This led to him only playing in thirteen games and even playing as a forward at one point.

Chris MacFarland added Oliver Kylington as a piece in the Brock Nelson trade. This sent Oliver Kylington, prospect Calum Ritchie, and multiple draft picks to the New York Islanders, in exchange for Brock Nelson and William Dufour.

The original reaction to this trade was for Oliver Kylington to get a better opportunity in New York, but that changed almost instantly. Just minutes later, Kylington was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations. He will get a great opportunity in Anaheim, as the Ducks continue to struggle amid a rebuild.

Dennis Gilbert – Ottawa Senators

Dennis Gilbert was not a memorable player for the Calgary Flames. He signed with the Calgary Flames in July of 2022. He went on to spend parts of two seasons with the Calgary Flames. Dennis Gilbert was a third-line defenceman on the team who was never afraid to play physically. Some of his best moments with the Flames were when he dropped the gloves and gave the team a boost of energy.

In free agency of 2024, Dennis Gilbert signed with his hometown Buffalo Sabres. After playing just 25 games with his hometown team, Gilbert was part of a massive trade between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres. This trade sent Dennis Gilbert, Dylan Cozens, and a 2026 second-round pick to Ottawa.

The Buffalo Sabres got a return of Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. Elliotte Friedman stated that this trade “caught him by surprise” as there were not a lot of rumours surrounding Josh Norris. Dennis Gilbert and Dylan Cozens will now join the Ottawa Senators in an intense playoff race.

Missed opportunities from Craig Conroy

Will these former Calgary Flames make a difference with their new clubs?

The Calgary Flames had $18M worth of cap space available at the Trade Deadline. This was a prime opportunity to take on some bad contracts. Craig Conroy could have acquired a couple of bad contracts to add some assets as well. When a team dumps a bad contract to another, there is usually at least one draft pick involved so both teams can benefit. The Calgary Flames could have added some draft capital to their name, but instead the front office sat back and did nothing.

Last year’s Trade Deadline was an exciting one for the Calgary Flames because they had multiple roster players on the move. Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin were moved near the deadline while Jacob Markstrom was dealt with in the summer. This was great for the Calgary Flames as they acquired some first-round picks and Kevin Bahl. Will the decision to do nothing at the 2025 Trade Deadline come back to bite the Calgary Flames in the long run?

What do you think Craig Conroy should have done at the 2025 Trade Deadline? No exciting news took place other than the former Calgary Flames getting moved.