Rumour Report: The latest on the Flames’ expiring free agents and Jacob Markström
5 months ago
With the All-Star break, comes rumours.
The Calgary Flames have three pending unrestricted free agents and a goaltender who may be of interest to contending teams. While the Flames may only trade two of the four players, here is the latest on all four of them.
In this Rumour Report, we’ll look at an interview with Elliotte Friedman conducted by NHL Network. You can watch the full interview here, but individual timestamps will be embedded in each section.
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Latest on Elias Lindholm
Friedman reports that there’s a ton of interest in Lindholm and mentions the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche as players.
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Lindholm has had a bit of an off-year this season, as he has just nine goals and 32 points in 49 games. This is well off his career-season he had in 2021-22, which saw him score 42 goals and 82 points to help lead the Flames to a Pacific Division crown. Even last season, Lindholm has 22 goals and 64 points in 80 games.
The 29-year-old centre has a cap hit of $4.85 million this season, and the Flames can retain up to 50% to maximize their return.
Latest on Chris Tanev
According to Friedman, the Ottawa Senators are a team that is interested in Chris Tanev, despite being the second-last team in the Eastern Conference, noting that the team is interested in “true professionals.”
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Friedman reports that Tanev may not be interested in a move as of yet because there’s next to no chance Ottawa will make the playoffs, but they could be a team interested in signing him come summer time.
It’s also of note that there’s a big market for Tanev, with Rick Dhaliwal saying on Donnie and Dhali’s show that there are 10 or more teams interested in his services. (6:45)
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Tanev is among the elite shutdown defenders in the league, but may only get the Flames a conditional second-round pick that could become a first, reports Frank Seravalli on Barn Burner.
It’ll be interesting to see what Tanev can net the Flames before the Mar. 8 trade deadline.
Latest on Noah Hanifin
Friedman reported on NHL Network that it seemed like the Flames and Noah Hanifin were close to an agreement before the Flames went on a skid. However, the two parties have once again engaged in contract discussions and over the All-Star break, Friedman believes that the 26-year-old defenceman will have to make a decision on his future.
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This season, Hanifin has eight goals and 25 points in 49 games. On top of producing in the point department, Hanifin has played a ton of minutes (380.1) against elite competition, which is 42.4% of his ice time according to Woodmoney.
Out of the three soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, Hanifin likely nets the biggest haul due to his age and on-ice ability. However, he’s probably the player the Flames would like to re-sign the most.
Latest on Jacob Markström
The latest Friedman has heard about Jacob Markström is that the netminder isn’t a huge fan of trade discussions. Therefore, there’s a mutual understanding between the two parties that the Flames won’t ask Markström to waive his no-move clause unless the proposed deal is too good to pass up, or Markström wants out.
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This season, Markström has a .912 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average in 29 games played. He’s a big reason that the Flames are anywhere close to a playoff spot and there’s a chance he receives some Vezina Trophy votes.
Unlike Tanev, Hanifin, and Lindholm, Markström won’t be a unrestricted free agent until the end of the 2025-26 season. On top of the no-move clause, the netminder has a cap hit of $6 million for the next two and a half seasons, per Puckpedia.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Flames do at this year’s trade deadline, but there’s a high probability that they’ll be sellers to re-tool and be competitive as quickly as possible.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D.
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