We’re less than one week away from the 2025 edition of the NHL’s trade deadline – which is 1 p.m. MT this coming Friday! – and it sure does seem like the Calgary Flames have done most of their heavy lifting.
Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Frank Seravalli updated his Trade Targets Board, with the latest edition swelling to 45 players! A longtime resident of the board has been Flames netminder Dan Vladar, who checks in at 41st on the list. (Seravalli uses a combination of “a player’s prominence with his likelihood of a trade” to determine their ranking.)
Why is Vladar on the list? Well, he’s a pending unrestricted free agent, with his two year deal with a $2.2 million cap hit set to expire on July 1. He’s also been the Flames’ second-best goaltender this season; that’s not meant as a slight, but Vladar and Dustin Wolf operated as a tandem for the first chunk of the season… and then Wolf grabbed hold of the net and hasn’t let it go. (Vladar’s main fault as an NHL netminder has been not being quite as good as Jacob Markstrom or Dustin Wolf.)
Why isn’t Vladar higher on the list? He’s played 23 games this season and posted an 8-10-5 record with a 2.98 goals against average, .891 save percentage and two shutouts. He’s been quite excellent at times – he was great against Washington, for example – but he’s also had some challenging evening. As Seravalli has noted, not a ton of teams have needed goalies this season, and Vladar’s performance hasn’t been strong enough to push him to the top of the list (despite being on a pretty affordable contract). It’s worth noting, though, that Vladar is the only goaltender on Seravalli’s list.
Should we expect much from the Flames before deadline day? Well, Seravalli chatted about the Flames with Jason Gregor on the DFO Rundown:
I think Calgary made their big move… I think they’re going to monitor the market and see if they can find something on the cheap that can help them maybe squeak in. Like, we’re talking last hour of the deadline or on deadline day, if there’s a pending UFA or two that haven’t moved and they can swipe, that’s what they’re going to do.
It could be a quiet week in terms of trades if you’re a Flames fan.
Get ready, hockey fans! The Daily Faceoff Deadline is happening on March 7th from 11 AM to 4 PM Eastern, and you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be LIVE, breaking down every trade and big move as it happens, with instant reactions and expert analysis from the Daily Faceoff crew. Plus, we’ve got special guests lined up throughout the show, offering exclusive insights from some of the biggest names in the game. From blockbuster trades to surprise moves, we’re covering it all. Tune in to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow Daily Faceoff socials on March 7th to catch all the action!
