The Calgary Flames head into the rest of the summer having checked a lot of boxes on their off-season to do list. One thing they haven’t been able to do is acquire a bad contract in exchange for an asset.

There have already been a few of these moves made in the NHL this off-season.

The Calgary Flames should be making these kinds of trades. They are at the beginning of a rebuild where they need to acquire as many draft picks as possible to help them build a a true Stanley Cup contender in the future. They have the second-most cap space in the NHL as of July 11. Taking on bad contracts should become a priority between now and the 2025 trade deadline.

Here are three players on cap strapped teams who the Flames could target.

The Colorado Avalanche have major salary cap issues. They are currently $1,337,500 over the salary cap and still need to sign two forwards to get to 12 on their NHL roster. They desperately need to shed cap space, especially if both Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin are on the opening night roster.

Ross Colton seems like an obvious cap dump for Colorado. He has three years remaining on his contract that pays him $4 million per year.

Colton scored 17 goals and 23 assists in the 2023-24 season. He is a solid middle six centre who brings speed, physicality and a little bit of skill to the table. He would be a good fit with the Flames as a second- or third-line centre. In a year or two they could trade him again for more assets.

The tricky part of this deal would be convincing Colton to leave Colorado for Calgary as he has a no trade clause. But the Flames could sell Colton on an increased role in the lineup and could move him to a contender in a year or two if they decide to trade him again.

It’s no secret that the New York Rangers have been trying to move their captain and his $8 million cap hit this off-season. It sounds like Chris Drury is looking to open up cap space to sign Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider this summer, and K’Andre Miller next off-season.

Trouba has a 15 team no trade list as part of his current contract. I would say the likelihood of Calgary being on that list is very high. But could the Flames convince Trouba to come to Calgary for the next season or two with a handshake agreement that they will trade him within the next two years to a contender? They convinced Andrei Kuzmenko to come to Calgary as part of the Elias Lindholm trade.

Trouba would play a big role on the Flames at 5-on-5 and the penalty kill. He could bring a veteran presence to a team that’s looking to go young. And he’d bring more physicality and toughness to the Calgary blueline which would be welcome.

The Edmonton Oilers are in salary cap hell. They are $354,167 over the salary cap and they still need to sign Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to new contracts. There is no guarantee that they will be able to put Evander Kane on LTIR. They need to shed a contract and Ceci seems like the obvious choice.

Ceci is an adventure on the ice. When he is on his game is a decent third pairing defenceman who can play 16-18 minutes a night. However, when he is not on his game, he is a mess in his own end and is prone to turning the puck over. That’s not the worst thing for a rebuilding Flames team.

If he can have a decent season, the Flames can move him during the season or at the trade deadline. Stanley Cup contenders are always looking for 6’3″, right shot defencemen.