Way, way back in 2013, the National Hockey League and its players’ association hammered out a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the features of that new CBA was retained salary transactions, which allowed clubs to retain up to 50% of a contract’s cap hit and retain portions of up to three contracts at a time.

As a small-market Canadian team, the Calgary Flames built a reputation over the years regarding keeping their money on the ice and avoiding buyouts or retaining salary in player swaps. Since the introduction of the 2013 CBA, the Flames have pulled the trigger on 80 trades.

But if you’re someone who thinks the Flames never retain salary on deals, there have been four trades – three of them pretty recent ones – that saw the Flames retain salary to make the deal happen. Here’s a brief history of the times the Flames deemed it prudent to retain salary.

The 2020-21 season didn’t go very well for the Flames. Due to the pandemic’s impacts on cross-border travel, the Flames were part of the North Division with the other Canadian teams. And they just couldn’t find traction in the standings, ultimately missing the playoffs by four points.

As the 2021 trade deadline approached, the Flames opted to part ways with pending unrestricted free agent goaltender David Rittich. They retained 50% of his cap hit – $1.375 million – and traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 third-round pick. (The actual cash value of retaining salary for 27 days was $320,043.)

The Flames subsequently flipped that third-round pick to Chicago for Nikita Zadorov.

Flash forward to 2023-24, one of the more eventful seasons in recent history. After re-signing Mikael Backlund and naming him captain during training camp, the Flames entered the season with several pending UFAs, and they ultimately ended up trading all but one (Oliver Kylington, who left as a free agent).

On the final day of February 2024, the Flames pulled the trigger on a three team trade that sent pending UFA blueliner Chris Tanev to Dallas. The Flames retained 50% of his contract ($2.25 million cap hit) and traded him to New Jersey, who subsequently retained half of the remaining cap hit (25% of the total, or $1.125 million) and traded him to Dallas.

The Flames ended up acquiring Artem Grushnikov and a 2024 second-round pick (used to select Jacob Battaglia), while actually retaining just $585,938 cash. New Jersey ended up retaining $292,969 cash and got a fourth-round pick out of it.

A week after the Tanev trade, the Flames were involved in another three team trade that sent a pending UFA elsewhere. This time, Noah Hanifin was the player moved. On Mar. 6, 2024, the Flames retained 50% of his contract ($2.475 million cap hit) and traded him to Philadelphia. The Flyers retained half of the remaining cap hit (25% of the total, or $1.238 million) and traded him to Vegas.

The Flames received Daniil Miromanov and a 2026 first-round pick, while retaining $554,297 cash. (A conditional third-round pick wasn’t converted.) The Flyers retained $277,149 cash and received a fifth-round pick in the process.

Following the 2023-24 season, the Flames continued to work on facilitating a youth movement. Just before the 2024 NHL Draft, the Flames worked out a trade with New Jersey that sent Jacob Markstrom to the Devils. The Flames retained 31.25% of Markstrom’s cap hit for two years – $1.875 million per season of salary, or $3.75 million total – while receiving Kevin Bahl and a conditional 2025 first-round pick.

At the press conference following the acquisition of Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost from Philadelphia in late January, Flames general manager Craig Conroy mentioned the possibility of being involved as a third party, using their cap space to facilitate other teams’ trades…. for a price. History shows that the Flames have been willing to retain salary in trades when they’ve felt there’s been value.

The 2025 NHL trade deadline is Friday at 1 p.m. MT.