What a crazy week to be a Flames fan. It all started with the Flames organization celebrating Nazem Kadri playing in his 1,000th NHL game. It was awesome to see Kadri get to share that incredible moment with this family and friends. And unlike Mikael Backlund’s 1,000th game, his teammates actually showed up this time and put in a solid effort that led to a 5-1 win over Sean Monahan and the Columbus Blue Jackets

Things took a turn for the worse the next day when TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Calgary Flames majority owner Murray Edwards has no intention of trading Nazem Kadri and that he “loves the core of this team”.

This set the fan base off, and for good reason. This is team that has missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and is currently in dead last in the NHL standings. I’m not sure how anyone associated with the Flames could “love this core.” This team features some good players, and they’re all good people in that locker room. But they’ve had very little success since being put together in the summer of 2022. It’s not a group that you want to double down on.

This type of report is a sign that ownership is not in touch with the feelings of their most important stakeholders: the fans.

All Flames fans want is for their team to turn into a legitimate cup contender with some superstar talent, like so many other NHL fan bases have got to experience over the last 35 years.

Since 1990, the Calgary Flames have made it past game five of the 2nd round of the playoffs one time. It was 2004. That’s it. ONE TIME!!! It’s mind boggling how little success this franchise has had in the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989.

This is where you want to see Flames ownership and upper management try a new strategy. And that’s bottoming out for a couple years. What they have been doing over the last 35 years clearly hasn’t worked. This is an organization that has refused to do a full on rebuild as they’re only one of three franchises to never pick in the top three. The other two are in Vegas and Utah which are eight and one years old respectively.

What’s the definition of insanity? It’s doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result.

It’s time for the Flames to embrace bottoming out. Every team has to go through this type of pain in order to build the next core group of your team that’s going to get you to the promised land.

Let’s take a look at some other Flames topics from the past week.

You have to feel for the Flames 2024 9th overall pick who was injured in Friday’s game against Chicago

Parekh was making a routine play along the boards, keeping the puck in the offensive zone for his team. Little did he know, 38 year old Nick Foligno was bearing down on him. He finished his check on an unsuspecting Parekh who was standing a couple feet away from the boards which led to an awkward collision that put the young defenceman on injured reserve.

It hasn’t been an easy transition going from the OHL to the NHL from a physical perspective. Parekh has taken some big hits since joining the NHL. From the outside, it looks like Parekh is having a hard time dealing with the size, speed and physicality of NHL players.

It’s also been tough being in a fishbowl environment where every play you make is being dissected by the fans and media. Fans are so honed in on this player because he represents the idea better days ahead for this team. The team is dead last in the standings. Fans aren’t fixating on guys like Joel Hanley and Yegor Sharangovich. They’re watching Parekh. Which you can argue is totally unfair for the 19 year old, but it’s the way it is right now.

He needs to get out of Calgary for a bit and the best place to do that is at the World Juniors, health permitting, of course.

It would be a great experience for Parekh to play with players his own age, play in a hostile environment, and be the go to guy on Team Canada’s blueline. Hopefully that will get his confidence and swagger back, two elements he needs in order to be successful in the NHL.

The most obvious player to be traded this season is Rasmus Andersson. And Craig Conroy might want to move him sooner than later.

It’s been an entire calendar year where Andersson has struggled and not played up to the level that we all know he is capable of. Because of that, it feels like his trade value is diminishing as the days go by.

Since November 1st of last season, Andersson has only put up 26 points in 88 games and is a -41 which is the worst +/- in the NHL over that time. The Flames have been outscored 65-42 with Andersson on the ice at 5-on-5. His decision making is not where it needs to be as you see him routinely out of position both in his own end and getting caught deep in the offensive zone which leads to odd man rushes the other way.

He is not the player he was from 2020-2024.

If you’re a pro scout or general manager watching Andersson over his last 88 games, I’m not sure how you could part with the assets the Flames are looking for to bring in the right shot defenceman.

It’s going to have to be a case where the acquiring team thinks they can turn him back into the player he once was, similar to when the Florida Panthers acquired Seth Jones last trade deadline.

One positive to come from the last week of Flames hockey is the emergence of Yan Kuznetsov. It’s a small sample size of only three games, but he’s looked really good. The thing that stands out when you watch Kuznetsov is his size and skating. He moves well for such a large frame. He plays a smart, simple, straightforward game where he makes a lot of quick plays and minimizes mistakes.

The numbers show that he has made a positive impact when he is on the ice. At 5-on-5, high danger chances are 9-1, and scoring chances are 20-13 in the Flames favour. He has an expected goals percentage of 70.16% which leads all Flames defencemen.

Kuznetsov is making the most of his opportunity. Hopefully he can keep it going because moving forward, the Flames desperately need help on the left side of their blueline.