Remember back in April, when the Calgary Flames’ players had their exit interviews and suddenly everybody on an expiring – or soon to expire – contract was running for the hills? Well, since that time the Flames have made some changes, naming Craig Conroy general manager and Ryan Huska head coach. Mikael Backlund signed a two-year extension and was named captain.

And while talks continue with Elias Lindholm on a potential new deal, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Flames have “started to look” at new deals for Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

The update came as part of Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek’s tour around all 32 NHL clubs.

Here’s Friedman:

Friedman went on a short tangent discussing people sending him notes objecting to Lindholm getting $9 million per season and noting that’s around where it ends up, before pivoting to other Flames notes.

Tanev turns 34 in December. Friedman theorized that the Flames will be careful on term due to his age. And Friedman noted the surprise about Hanifin being a possibility – Friedman didn’t elaborate, but there were multiple off-season reports that Hanifin told the Flames that he wasn’t interested in re-signing – but perhaps that’s another player whose views changed over the summer.

The Flames entered the off-season with seven prominent players on expiring deals that would make them unrestricted free agents on July 1, 2024: Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov and Oliver Kylington. Toffoli was traded to New Jersey. Backlund signed an extension. And the Flames seem to be working down their to-do list in terms of figuring out how all these pieces fit in long-term.

The Flames begin their 2023-24 season when they host Winnipeg on Wednesday night.