Friday morning saw the release of the latest Trade Targets article from Daily Faceoff, with two Calgary Flames players ranking on the list – netminder Daniel Vladař at 26th and Andrei Kuzmenko at 28th.

The Flames are notably not sellers this season, at least as of yet, as their 23-16-7 record with 53 points has them occupying the final Wild Card spot, three ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues. In turn, they’ve been unwilling to trade their player with the most value to contenders, namely Rasmus Andersson.

With that being said, it could make sense for the Flames to trade from their surplus, which both Vladař and Kuzmenko are at this point. Below is what was written about the two players:

Daniel Vladař

There isn’t a big goalie market this season mostly because so few teams (outside of Carolina) seem to be interested in a netminder. Colorado already did their shopping, and Carolina has checked in to understand the price. But the Flames are looking to get back at the very least what they spent to get Vladař from Boston, which was a third-round pick. Vladař has taken on the tougher workload this season in Calgary, but Devin Cooley is waiting patiently with the Wranglers as the owner of truly eye-popping AHL numbers.

Andrei Kuzmenko

What happened to Kuzmenko? His game has fallen off a cliff from bursting on the scene with a 39-goal, 74-point campaign as a rookie with the Canucks in 2022-23. He has 57 points total in the two seasons since and has been a regular healthy scratch in Calgary this year. It will be difficult for the Flames to mine value but he could be a solid buy-low candidate, even for a non-playoff team looking to learn more about him.

Vladař is in the final season of his contract and is will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. In 20 games played this season, usually against tougher competition, he has an .889 save percentage and a 3.03 goals against average, with a 6-9-5 record.

Dustin Wolf has become the guy for the Flames, as he has a .918 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average in 26 games played, with a 17-7-2 record and two shutouts. Fellow Californian Devin Cooley is also putting up great numbers for the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League, as the 27-year-old has a .933 save percentage and a 2.10 goals against average in 25 games played.

There’s no guarantee that the Flames repeat the year they’re having next season, so getting a pick for Vladař isn’t such a bad idea to help the rebuild.

As for Kuzmenko, he was traded to the Flames along with two defence prospects and two picks for Elias Lindholm last January. The Russian winger got off to a quick start with the Flames, scoring 14 goals and 25 points in 29 games to end the 2023-24 season.

The 28-year-old hasn’t been able to replicate that success this season, scoring two goals and 11 points in 34 games while sitting in the press box on several occasions. A pending unrestricted free agent who makes $5.5 million, Kuzmenko’s track record of scoring goals for his new team is of note. Perhaps a contender would trade for him at 50% retention?

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what the Flames do before the Mar. 7 trade deadline.

Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

Sponsored by bet365:

Editorials

Recent articles from Ryley Delaney

Cole Reschny receives camp invite for 2026 World Juniors: report

What’s Going On In the Pacific Division: The three Canadian teams sit at the bottom of the division

Throwback Thursday: Looking at the Flames’ three trades with the Wild

Daniel Vladař

Andrei Kuzmenko

Recent articles from Ryley Delaney

Breaking News