The Calgary Flames likely still aren’t done subtracting after trading Andrew Mangiapane

Still think this isn’t a rebuild?

The Calgary Flames made yet another significant subtraction to their lineup late Thursday afternoon, sending 28-year-old winger Andrew Mangiapane to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Mangiapane set the world on fire with a career-high 35 goals in the 2021-22 season, but he failed to match that total over the following two seasons combined and is now just one year away from becoming an unrestricted free agent.

The Flames have now traded Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Jacob Markstrom, and Mangiapane over the course of the last 12 months. They took passes at signing some of those players, but in the end, all of them had to go — and, thanks to Craig Conroy, they did.

Trading those seven guys has netted the Flames three extra first-round picks over the next three drafts, plus two seconds, three thirds, a fourth, and a collection of other players and prospects (including Yegor Sharangovich, Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Kevin Bahl, and Daniil Miromanov). It’s also opened up approximately $29 million in cap space for the Flames to play with this off-season.

Don’t be surprised if the Flames go hard after Jake DeBrusk in unrestricted free agency. The 26-year-old winger scored 19 goals and 40 points with the Boston Bruins in 2023-24 and recently bought a house in Calgary; according to multiple sources, a four-year deal with a cap hit just north of $6 million could be in the cards if DeBrusk chooses to join the Flames. (On Thursday night’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested that after the Mangiapane trade, that “maybe the Jake DeBrusk to Calgary talk is real.”)

But for the most part, the Flames will be focused on selling the pieces they still have, particularly if there’s a pathway for them to add another first-round pick this year or move up from either the No. 9 or 28 spots.

With Mangiapane now gone, Rasmus Andersson has been separated from one of his best friends for the first time in a decade. The two played together with the OHL’s Barrie Colts, the AHL’s Stockton Heat, and, of course, here in Calgary.

Andersson, 27, is arguably the most valuable trade chip the Flames have left. He has two years remaining at his bargain $4.55 million cap hit — and his modified no-trade clause doesn’t kick in until July 1. If anyone on this Flames team can return another 2024 first-rounder in a trade, it’s probably Andersson.

What is there to prevent the Flames from flipping Andersson for a haul and then signing someone like Tyson Barrie or — dare we say — TJ Brodie to replace him in free agency? No, they’re not as good as he is, but this team isn’t overly concerned with finishing high in the standings. After all, the conditions set out in the Sean Monahan trade directly incentivize them to finish bottom-10 in 2024-25.

At this point, all these guys are stopgaps anyway. If they do trade Andersson, their next move after that would likely be to trade his veteran replacement a year or two later, and so on and so forth — at least, until a prospect proves himself capable of taking the reins. That could be Brzustewicz, Jeremie Poirier, Artem Grushnikov, or anyone else.

Speaking of stopgaps: Andrei Kuzmenko is also entering the final year of his contract and will turn 30 in the first year of his next one. The Flames did exceptionally well in prying him away from the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Lindholm trade, and he rewarded them with 14 goals and 25 points in 29 games down the stretch in 2023-24.

Is Kuzmenko a good player? Absolutely! Can he help out a good team? Probably! Are the Flames likely to be that team? Almost certainly not. Unless he wants to sign another short-term deal to help rebuild his stock after how his tenure in Vancouver ended, Kuzmenko will probably be dealt at some point between now and the 2025 trade deadline.

The Flames also have Kevin Rooney, Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt, Joel Hanley, and Dan Vladar entering the final years of their respective contracts, and it’s entirely possible that any of those players move at some point around the deadline if the interest is there. Getting a pick for even one of those guys would be a win.

That brings us to Yegor Sharangovich, who is also one year away from hitting free agency. The 26-year-old forward is coming off a career year with the Flames and is eligible to sign an extension come July 1. At this point, it feels more likely than not that he and the Flames strike a deal, but anything can happen.

Much has been made on this very site and others about how the Flames don’t currently have a core. In many ways, it’s true, although they’ll take a big step toward building a new one for real on Friday. What that means is that, with very few exceptions, no one on this roster is truly safe. Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar, Blake Coleman — you name it, they could probably go under the right circumstances.

That doesn’t mean the Flames shouldn’t have any good players. They need to be able to ice a team, and they should be plenty bad enough to pick as high as they’ll need to for the next few years. Once again, they’ve already traded seven key players.

But don’t be surprised if they aren’t done.

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