Throughout the season, the 2024-25 Calgary Flames have been compared to the 2014-15 Calgary Flames.
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Both teams were seen as rebuilding teams who punched above their weight and made a run for the postseason. A decade ago, the Flames finished with a 45-30-7 record with 97 points, placing them third in the Pacific Division. They defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the first round before falling in five games to the Anaheim Ducks but not before one of Johnny Gaudreau’s most memorable goals.
The jury is still out on what happens with the 2024-25 Flames. As of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Flames have a 26-21-8 record with 60 points, three games back of the Canucks for the final wild card position.
Going back a decade (I refuse to acknowledge that 2015 was a decade ago), the Flames had a 33-25-4 record on Mar. 1, with the trade deadline falling the next day. That begs the question, what did the 2014-15 Flames do at the deadline, and could the 2024-25 Flames have a similar type of deadline?
<h2>How did the Flames approach the 2015 trade deadline?</h2>
During the 2014-15 season, the Flames made three trades. The first came nearly two months before the deadline, as they acquired Drew Shore from the Florida Panthers for Corban Knight. Neither player had much of a National Hockey League career, as Shore played 11 games with the Flames in 2014-15 with a goal and three points. 
Shore played a handful of games with the Flames and the Canucks after the 2014-15 season before heading to Europe. Funnily enough, he returned for a brief stint in North America, playing four additional games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2020-21. Shore won the National League (Switzerland top league) title in 2017-18 with Zurich SC.
Knight only played 43 NHL games after the trade, scoring three goals and 11 points. However, he played for Team Canada at the 2022 Olympics where he scored two goals and three points in five games. Funnily enough, Knight’s final team was Bern SC in Switzerland.
Tangent aside, that deal didn’t do much. However, the Flames sold at the 2015 trade deadline. Their first move was trading pending free agent Curtis Glencross to the Washington Capitals for a 2015 second and third-round pick on Mar. 1. If you want to learn more about that trade tree, <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/news/throwback-tuesday-the-curtis-glencross-trade-tree-expanded-with-the-andrei-kuzmenko-trade">you can read the latest Throwback Tuesday</a>.
Before the trade, Glencross had nine goals and 28 points in 53 games. That was well off the pace he had set in an injury-filled 2013-14 season where he scored 12 goals and 24 points in 38 games. Glencross finished his career with the Capitals, playing 18 games with four goals and seven points, including 10 postseason games with a goal.
The following day, the Flames traded Sven Bärtschi to the Canucks for a 2015 second-round pick. This trade was a bit more shocking, not only because they traded him to a Pacific Division rival, but because Bärtschi was just 22 years old at the time.
Selected 13th overall by the Flames in the 2011 draft, the Swiss forward hadn’t quite found his game with the Flames, scoring eight goals and 28 points in 66 games over the course of three separate seasons. In the 15 games before the trade, he picked up four assists and managed to score two goals in three games after the trade.
Bärtschi broke out with the Canucks, scoring 56 goals and 106 points in 216 games from the 2015-16 season until the 2018-19 season. Unfortunately, Bärtschi received a hit to the head, cutting his 2018-19 season short. In 2019-20, he played just six games with the Canucks and one additional game with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021-22. He finished his career with Bern SC in 2022-23.
Wondering who the Flames selected with that second-round pick? None other than Rasmus Andersson. Depending on whether or not Andersson is traded in the future, the Flames may have two massive trade trees. Perhaps that’s a topic for a Throwback Tuesday?
<h2>What are the 2024-25 Flames working with?</h2>
In a way, the 2024-25 Flames have already traded their version of Bärtschi. On Jan. 30, they traded Jakob Pelletier, Andrew Kuzmenko, a 2025 second, and 2028 seventh-round pick for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.
Ignoring the picks and Kuzmenko, who hadn’t found much success with the Flames this season, Pelletier was in a similar situation to Bärtschi. The 23-year-old found better success than the Swiss forward, but Pelletier only had eight goals and 21 points in 61 games.
Instead of acquiring a second-round pick, the Flames acquired two young players who fit their age scheme for the rebuild and who can put the puck in the net. Farabee had 22 goals and 50 points in 2023-24 while Frost scored 19 goals and 46 points in 2022-23 (and had 41 points last season).
However, there’s no direct comparison to Glencross. The Flames have six soon-to-be-unrestricted free agents, but none of them will net a second and third-round pick. Anthony Mantha could’ve, but he hit the injured list early in the season and will be out for the year. Justin Kirkland, another UFA at the end of the season, is also out for the year.
That leaves 31-year-old Kevin Rooney, 33-year-old Tyson Barrie, 33-year-old Joel Hanley, and 27-year-old netminder Daniel Vladař. The latter has the most value for any soon-to-be UFAs, as goalies, even those with an .888 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average, have value. The Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes have been linked to netminders in recent times.
Moving Vladař would also allow the Flames to give Devin Cooley a run in the NHL, as he has a spectacular .927 save percentage and a 2.26 goals against average in 30 games played this season.
Although the 2014-15 and 2024-25 Flame teams are similar in ways, the approach at the trade deadline may be different. Either way, it’ll be fun 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:
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Throughout the season, the 2024-25 Calgary Flames have been compared to the 2014-15 Calgary Flames.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
Both teams were seen as rebuilding teams who punched above their weight and made a run for the postseason. A decade ago, the Flames finished with a 45-30-7 record with 97 points, placing them third in the Pacific Division. They defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the first round before falling in five games to the Anaheim Ducks but not before one of Johnny Gaudreau’s most memorable goals.

The jury is still out on what happens with the 2024-25 Flames. As of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Flames have a 26-21-8 record with 60 points, three games back of the Canucks for the final wild card position.

Going back a decade (I refuse to acknowledge that 2015 was a decade ago), the Flames had a 33-25-4 record on Mar. 1, with the trade deadline falling the next day. That begs the question, what did the 2014-15 Flames do at the deadline, and could the 2024-25 Flames have a similar type of deadline?
<h2>How did the Flames approach the 2015 trade deadline?</h2>
During the 2014-15 season, the Flames made three trades. The first came nearly two months before the deadline, as they acquired Drew Shore from the Florida Panthers for Corban Knight. Neither player had much of a National Hockey League career, as Shore played 11 games with the Flames in 2014-15 with a goal and three points. 

Shore played a handful of games with the Flames and the Canucks after the 2014-15 season before heading to Europe. Funnily enough, he returned for a brief stint in North America, playing four additional games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2020-21. Shore won the National League (Switzerland top league) title in 2017-18 with Zurich SC.

Knight only played 43 NHL games after the trade, scoring three goals and 11 points. However, he played for Team Canada at the 2022 Olympics where he scored two goals and three points in five games. Funnily enough, Knight’s final team was Bern SC in Switzerland.

Tangent aside, that deal didn’t do much. However, the Flames sold at the 2015 trade deadline. Their first move was trading pending free agent Curtis Glencross to the Washington Capitals for a 2015 second and third-round pick on Mar. 1. If you want to learn more about that trade tree, <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/news/throwback-tuesday-the-curtis-glencross-trade-tree-expanded-with-the-andrei-kuzmenko-trade">you can read the latest Throwback Tuesday</a>.

Before the trade, Glencross had nine goals and 28 points in 53 games. That was well off the pace he had set in an injury-filled 2013-14 season where he scored 12 goals and 24 points in 38 games. Glencross finished his career with the Capitals, playing 18 games with four goals and seven points, including 10 postseason games with a goal.

The following day, the Flames traded Sven Bärtschi to the Canucks for a 2015 second-round pick. This trade was a bit more shocking, not only because they traded him to a Pacific Division rival, but because Bärtschi was just 22 years old at the time.

Selected 13th overall by the Flames in the 2011 draft, the Swiss forward hadn’t quite found his game with the Flames, scoring eight goals and 28 points in 66 games over the course of three separate seasons. In the 15 games before the trade, he picked up four assists and managed to score two goals in three games after the trade.

Bärtschi broke out with the Canucks, scoring 56 goals and 106 points in 216 games from the 2015-16 season until the 2018-19 season. Unfortunately, Bärtschi received a hit to the head, cutting his 2018-19 season short. In 2019-20, he played just six games with the Canucks and one additional game with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021-22. He finished his career with Bern SC in 2022-23.

Wondering who the Flames selected with that second-round pick? None other than Rasmus Andersson. Depending on whether or not Andersson is traded in the future, the Flames may have two massive trade trees. Perhaps that’s a topic for a Throwback Tuesday?
<h2>What are the 2024-25 Flames working with?</h2>
In a way, the 2024-25 Flames have already traded their version of Bärtschi. On Jan. 30, they traded Jakob Pelletier, Andrew Kuzmenko, a 2025 second, and 2028 seventh-round pick for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.

Ignoring the picks and Kuzmenko, who hadn’t found much success with the Flames this season, Pelletier was in a similar situation to Bärtschi. The 23-year-old found better success than the Swiss forward, but Pelletier only had eight goals and 21 points in 61 games.

Instead of acquiring a second-round pick, the Flames acquired two young players who fit their age scheme for the rebuild and who can put the puck in the net. Farabee had 22 goals and 50 points in 2023-24 while Frost scored 19 goals and 46 points in 2022-23 (and had 41 points last season).

However, there’s no direct comparison to Glencross. The Flames have six soon-to-be-unrestricted free agents, but none of them will net a second and third-round pick. Anthony Mantha could’ve, but he hit the injured list early in the season and will be out for the year. Justin Kirkland, another UFA at the end of the season, is also out for the year.

That leaves 31-year-old Kevin Rooney, 33-year-old Tyson Barrie, 33-year-old Joel Hanley, and 27-year-old netminder Daniel Vladař. The latter has the most value for any soon-to-be UFAs, as goalies, even those with an .888 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average, have value. The Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes have been linked to netminders in recent times.

Moving Vladař would also allow the Flames to give Devin Cooley a run in the NHL, as he has a spectacular .927 save percentage and a 2.26 goals against average in 30 games played this season.

Although the 2014-15 and 2024-25 Flame teams are similar in ways, the approach at the trade deadline may be different. Either way, it’ll be fun 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:
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Looking back at the rebuilding Flames at the 2014-15 trade deadline

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