When the 2024-25 regular season began, the general popular consensus was the Calgary Flames would be in the draft lottery mix.
But 45 games into the season, turns out that the popular consensus was stone cold wrong. The Flames are currently in a playoff spot, albeit the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference. They’re not home and cooled by any means, but they’re definitively in the mix in a season where hardly anyone thought they would be.
Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Jeff Marek mused about the Flames in his Sheet Blog:
I wonder how many teams have had to cast out bigger trade nets with the Calgary Flames still in playoff contention this deep into January? There was very much the belief that the Flames would have fallen apart by now and GM Craig Conroy would be setting up his deadline deals, but Calgary is in a Wildcard spot. That’s great for them, but teams hoping to get business done in Alberta are now having to look elsewhere.
For now.
The Flames (a) being in the playoff mix and (b) likely not making any sell-off moves are both a big departure from last season. Craig Conroy inherited quite a few iffy player situations when he was hired as general manager in May 2023. In particular, the Flames had seven pending unrestricted free agents on deals set to expire following the 2023-24.
What followed was one of the more significant periods of roster reconstruction in franchise history over the course of about 12 months:
  • Tyler Toffoli and Jacob Markstrom were traded to New Jersey.
  • Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm were traded to Vancouver.
  • Chris Tanev was traded to Dallas.
  • Noah Hanifin was traded to Vegas.
  • Andrew Mangiapane was traded to Washington.
  • Oliver Kylington left as a free agent, signing with Colorado.
The Flames had a ton of big decisions to make during the 2023-24 season – both in terms of player contracts and the organization’s direction. Well, those decisions are made now, and the club’s pending UFAs aren’t as alluring in the trade market as last year’s were.
The 2023-24 period had prominent goal-scorers, strong blueliners, and former runners-up for the Selke and Vezina trophies on offer. The Flames’ expiring contracts after 2024-25 include backup goalie Dan Vladar, depth defenders Joel Hanley and Tyson Barrie, struggling offensive forward Andrei Kuzmenko, injured forwards Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha, and fourth-line centre Kevin Rooney.
There’s value there, but you’re not likely going to get the same level of offers they received for last season’s players. And with the Flames’ retool seemingly bearing early fruit, there’s probably little appetite for entertaining offers for any of the club’s veteran players with term remaining on their deals.
In short: Marek’s likely onto something here. Teams likely were figuring early in the season that the Flames would be someone they could make deals with – like last season – but with them firmly in the playoff mix, it seems unlikely they’ll be entertaining a “fire sale” this season.
Sponsored by bet365: