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Flames fans react to the Blake Coleman trade
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Adrian Kiss
Jul 3, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 3, 2026, 01:51 EDT
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Another domino has fallen. The Calgary Flames announced Thursday that they have traded Blake Coleman, along with Olli Maatta, to the Minnesota Wild for defenceman Jake Middleton and a second, third and fourth round pick.
Coleman was one of two Flames remaining from the last time the team made the playoffs, leaving Mikael Backlund as the lone remaining member from those teams. As the rebuild continues and the Flames look to get younger, Coleman was one of the last big names the club had to move. Now, that move has been made.
While not drawing as much attention as the Rasmus Andersson trade rumours that circulated for quite some time, Coleman has also been a fixture in the Flames rumour mill for the past couple of seasons. For a player who had been a valued and respected member of the Flames for five years, and who had been the subject of trade speculation, you knew Flames fans were going to have plenty to say about the deal. Let’s see how they reacted.
Let’s get the bad out of the way first. Unfortunately, you can’t please everyone. It’s just not going to happen. At some point, we all play the role of general manager and form expectations about what a player is worth and what he should fetch in a trade. These fans were hoping for more.
Let’s be honest. We all wanted a first-round pick in return for Coleman, but we were never going to get one. The market hasn’t favoured wingers recently, even at the trade deadline when teams become desperate. Artemi Panarin fetched a first-round pick last year, but he’s a superstar. Coleman is an excellent 200-foot player, but he’s still not on Panarin’s level. Getting a second-, third- and fourth-round pick seems more than fair.
I can understand the confusion about adding a defenceman. There is already a logjam of young defencemen vying for playing time in Calgary. You see Maatta’s name going out and think it’s great because it creates space, but then you see Middleton coming back and that space is immediately gone.
That said, the Flames are likely far from done making off-season moves. You have to expect at least one of Joel Hanley or Brayden Pachal won’t be a Flame by training camp. Zack Whitecloud’s name also continues to surface in trade discussions. I think the Flames will make it a priority to give their young players a chance to play this season.
As for the money, that’s not something the Flames need to worry much about right now. According to PuckPedia, the Flames have roughly $22 million in salary-cap space. It doesn’t hurt to retain a little salary to make a deal work. It’s not like they’re going to spend that money otherwise.
Now let’s look at the other side of the reaction. The majority of Flames fans seem, at the very least, satisfied with the trade, if not outright thrilled by it.
There are a lot of good points here. Most fans are probably sick of the season-long “Should we re-sign him or trade him?” conversations. We went through it enough with Andersson. It’s nice to have it out of the way so everyone can focus on the hockey next season. And we’re all rooting for Coleman as he enters the next chapter of his career. He was a well-liked Flame, and we hope he finds success with the Minnesota Wild.
There also appears to be plenty of potential in the acquisition of Middleton. Everything that’s been reported about him has been largely positive. There are plenty of reasons to like the move.
Middleton essentially seems like the Ryan Lomberg replacement, except on defence. Let’s face it, the Flames need that, too. There’s not a whole lot of toughness on the roster right now. They’re building a lineup full of young players, and you need that layer of protection when things get messy. There’s also nothing wrong with adding a good locker-room presence.
On top of that, the Flames are bringing in another veteran who can mentor the young blue line. Middleton played a significant role in the development of Brock Faber in Minnesota. Now, there are several young Flames defencemen he could take under his wing this season.
As with every trade, there’s no telling how it’ll turn out. It’s not like this is the move that’s going to make the Flames contenders overnight. What it does do is free up a roster spot on the wing, bring in assets that could be moved in the future, and give the Flames a veteran who adds toughness and leadership. There’s still plenty of work to be done. It’s not a huge step forward, but it’s not a step backward, either. All we can do is see how it plays out.
Now that it’s been almost 24 hours, let us know in the comments how you’re feeling about the trade.

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