TSN’s Insider Trading panel expects the Calgary Flames to be busy

The busiest time of the National Hockey League calendar is about to kick off, with the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency smooshed together back into the same week in an effort to get the league calendar back to normal after several weird pandemic seasons.

On Tuesday’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading segment, Darren Dreger (and the whole panel) are expecting the Calgary Flames to be a busy club during this period.

Here’s Dreger, transitioning into the Flames’ discussion after chatting about the Winnipeg Jets:

CAA Hockey is mentioned by Dreger because Noah Hanifin, Mikael Backlund and Tyler Toffoli are all represented by agents from CAA. Hanifin and Toffoli are represented by Pat Brisson, while Backlund is represented by J.P Barry.

These gentlemen are three of the seven players set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2023-24 season – the other four are Elias Lindholm, Oliver Kylington, Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev. (Kylington is another CAA Hockey player, Lindholm and Tanev are represented by Newport Sports, while Zadorov is represented by Gold Star.) Flames general manager Craig Conroy has stated that his focus is asset management, specifically avoiding having key players walk away and the club receiving zero back for them.

So far, there’s been a good amount of chatter from the insider community regarding the two most prominent Flames on the 2024 UFA list, Lindholm and Hanifin. But aside from an appearance that Backlund’s agent made on the Got Yer’ Back podcast, and Backlund’s appearance on The Athletic’s trade board, there hasn’t been a lot of Backlund chatter yet. And Toffoli has hardly been mentioned by the various insiders at all.

The 2023 NHL Draft goes June 28 & 29 in scenic Nashville. Free agency opens on July 1.