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Your pre-draft rumour round-up
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Pike
Oct 6, 2020, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 6, 2020, 15:45 EDT
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We’re mere hours away from the 2020 NHL Draft and the rumours of player movement are running rampant! With the Calgary Flames reportedly in the mix for basically everyone and everything, here’s a quick snapshot of where things seem to be a few hours away from the opening round.
On Sportsnet 960 The Fan on Monday afternoon, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman characterized Brad Treliving as “having a lot going on” and looking at options in goal and on defense. Similarly, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun wrote that Treliving was one of the most active GMs out there right now.
Here’s LeBrun on Treliving (paywall):
I honestly don’t believe he went into this offseason thinking he wanted to trade either Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan, but not surprisingly those are the names I believe are most often brought up by rival GMs in their discussions with Calgary.
The challenge for Treliving is that while there may be an urge to shake up the apple cart on his team, you have to be careful you’re not making big moves just for the sake of it. These moves have to be calculated.
In his hit, Friedman noted (again) that the Flames aren’t going to make moves for the sake of just doing them.
Both LeBrun and Friedman noted that the Flames and Columbus have talked, which probably links in with the Flames’ desire for a long-term goaltending solution. From 31 Thoughts this past week:
Calgary is checking in on every available goalie. I think the Flames talked with Columbus, too, but that’s cooled down. Depending on what’s available, they could do a big revamp of their blue line. When talking about Taylor Hall with New Jersey, Noah Hanifin’s name was discussed.
(It’s worth noting that Hanifin is the only Flames player on Frank Seravalli’s trade bait board over at TSN.)
The Flames also have been linked to Taylor Hall, and Pierre Maguire noted on a radio spot in Edmonton that Hall landing in Alberta would make sense. (The Flames were the runners-up to Arizona in the trade market last fall, and the Cam Talbot signing shows that Treliving doesn’t stop liking players just because he doesn’t land them initially.) Arizona is reportedly shopping Hall’s negotiating rights.
Reporting from various sources has indicated that the club has made no formal contract offers to pending UFAs Cam Talbot, TJ Brodie and Erik Gustafsson. That’s not to say that the Flames don’t like any of these players but, as you can see from how many different things Treliving is looking into, there’s a lot of moving pieces and contingent elements involved.
Reportedly Vancouver is working hard to sign goalie Jacob Markstrom before Friday. If Markstrom hits the free agent market, the Flames are reportedly keen on him but Robin Lehner’s recent new deal in Vegas – five seasons at $5 million apiece – probably sets the conversation for a Markstrom deal.
Oh, and The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has been hearing that the Flames are interested in Connor Zary and Braden Schneider when talking to teams, but that’s obviously contingent on what happens in the 18 selections ahead of them.
In other words: there’s a lot going on right now.

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