Eight Calgary Flames players have active clauses restricting trades

The 2024 trade deadline is nearly upon us. The Calgary Flames are entering a transitional phase – a “retool on the fly” is the preferred nomenclature – and as a result, there have been changes to their roster… and probably will continue to be.

However, the Flames’ hands are tied somewhat in terms of player movement, as eight Flames players have clauses in their contracts restricting their movement to other teams.

Backlund has a full no-movement clause. Originally this season was supposed to be only a modified no-trade clause where he would list 10 teams that he would accept a trade to, but when he signed his contract extension with a future no-movement clause, it automatically superseded this season’s clause (and gave him an extra year of no-movement protection).

Coleman has a full no-trade clause this season. Starting in 2024-25, it changes to become a modified no-trade clause where he names 10 teams he would accept a trade to.

Huberdeau has a full no-movement clause.

Kadri has a full no-movement clause in his contract, running from this season through 2025-26. In 2026-27, it becomes a modified no-trade clause where he names 13 teams that he won’t go to.

Kuzmenko’s contract has a modified no-trade clause where he lists 12 teams he won’t go to.

Mangiapane’s contract has a modified no-trade clause where he lists eight teams he won’t go to.

Markstrom’s deal has a full no-movement clause.

Weegar has a full no-trade clause for this season that runs through 2026-27. Starting in 2027-28, his deal has a modified no-trade clause where he names 10 teams he won’t go to.

One Flame has a clause in his deal that isn’t active yet:

Finally, a note on clauses. They’re not necessarily impediments to moving players – Andrei Kuzmenko waive his no-trade clause to join the Flames, after all – and all they do, in practice, is theoretically keep cap hits slightly lower by giving players a bit of control over where they play during their unrestricted free agent years. (Players can only have these clauses in years of their contracts where they would have been UFAs.)

For a player with a clause to be moved, a player must sign, scan and submit an addendum to their player’s contract confirming that they’ve waived that specific clause. When a trade is processed via a trade call, the league has to confirm that players involved in the trade who have such clauses have consented to waive them. However, those clauses remain in effect after that player is being moved; they’re waiving the clause for that specific trade, not removing them from their contracts altogether.