The trade deadline has come and gone and the Calgary Flames made zero trades. That was to be expected. Prices for rentals were very high. And Flames general manager Craig Conroy stated publicly that we had no intention to trade veteran players.

That’s what happened. Let’s dive into some thoughts on the lack of action by the Flames.

1. Smart front offices around the NHL have one thing in common. They don’t let their emotions get in the way of making tough decisions. That cannot be said for the Calgary Flames. They are clearly not a good team. They are in year one of a rebuild. They should have been sellers. But they let their emotions get in the way of prudent decision making because they don’t want to upset the dressing room.

2. If there were any draft picks offered for the likes of Dan Vladar, Joel Hanley, Jake Bean, Brayden Pachal, Daniil Miromanov, and Kevin Rooney, the Flames should have taken them.

3. Elliotte Friedman reported that teams had interest in Joel Hanley. The fact the Flames didn’t cash in on a 33 year old defenceman, who the Flames claimed off the waiver wire, who is having a career year is insane. Even if it was for something like a 5th round pick. That is the type of player you have to cash in on when you’re in a rebuild.

4. Craig Conroy said the Flames were not interested in in retaining salary on contracts that had another year remaining on the deal which I think is fair. It makes sense to have two slots open for next season. But they have to actually use them. Whether it’s in a Rasmus Andersson trade, or in salary retention trades next season, they have to use it to their advantage. So many other teams weaponize their cap space, why don’t the Flames?

5. I’m going to speculate that Murray Edwards played a role in this year’s trade deadline strategy. Common sense would tell you that you that the Flames needed to be a seller today. Especially when you consider the prices some players were going for. But the Flames stood pat and are going to try to make the playoffs with this group.

6. One thing you have to be happy about is the fact the Flames did not trade draft picks for depth players that aren’t going to help the team long term. Giving up picks for a guy like Luke Kunin would not have made any sense. That’s the type of trade you make when you’re a legit contender.

7. It’s going to be fascinating to see what Conroy does this summer. That’ll give Flames fans a better indication of what the plan is for the future of this team. Do they end the rebuild after two seasons like they did in 2015? Or do they take a more patient, thoughtful approach?

8. Speaking of the plan, what is “the plan” in Calgary? It feels like it is all over the place. They are in a re-tool, but they desperately tried to re-sign aging, pending UFAs like Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and now Rasmus Andersson. Imagine if Conroy had signed this players? They want to build for the future, but won’t sell any assets this season. They want to weaponize cap space, but they never do it. They are rumoured to want to take some big swings in free agency on guys like Rantanen and Marner after less than two years of being in a rebuild. It feels like they are on a collision course with mediocrity for a long time.

9. The biggest win for the Flames today was the fact Mikko Rantanen signed a long term contract in Dallas. There have been rumblings that Conroy would have tabled Rantanen a “competitive offer” in free agency for the soon to be 29 year old winger. That offer likely would have been $14+ million on a 7 year deal. That is not the type of move the Flames should be making at this stage of their team building cycle.

10. The Flames better make the playoffs. They didn’t sell at the deadline. They didn’t take advantage of prices contenders were paying for players. The worst possible outcome of missing the playoffs and losing their first round pick looks like a very strong possibility. It once again begs the question what exactly is this team trying to accomplish?