As we barrel headlong towards the trade deadline, the Calgary Flames have yet to make a big splash. But Flames executive Don Maloney revealed on Sportsnet that they almost made one on Sunday night.
Don Maloney telling me moments ago, the #Flames were “in on something big” last night but that it fell apart.
Again, they are not willing to use their high end prospects for a rental.
— Ryan Leslie (@ryanleslie73) February 25, 2019
Based on Maloney’s comments, it seems logical to presume that the Flames’ preference is to use their picks to upgrade their current roster rather than raiding their prospect cupboards. The Flames’ top prospects right now are players like Dillon Dube, Andrew Mangiapane, Juuso Valimaki, Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington. (You might be able to include USHL standout Martin Pospisil and NCAA freshman sensation Emilio Pettersen.)
Slinging picks has been enough for other Western Conference teams to land some fairly big pieces so far:
- San Jose spent a pair of picks on Gustav Nyquist
- Dallas spent a pair of picks on Mats Zuccarello
- Winnipeg spent a pick, a depth player and a conditional pick on Kevin Hayes
He was referring to Mark Stone here. So Calgary is out. And Winnipeg is out. https://t.co/wRgKL8H0LR
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 25, 2019
Saying the Flames are “out,” may be premature – they’re probably playing wait and see. The Senators asking price for Stone, reported by our pal Pat Steinberg as including multiple picks and a top prospect, is probably too high. But as the 1 p.m. MT deadline approaches, that price may drop.
