Craig Conroy has made it known to Flames fans that he is in the market for young, talented players to expedite his retool. He’s already made deals for players who are 25 years old or younger like Yegor Sharangovich, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Kevin Bahl.
You know he’s going to continue to make these kinds of trades. With that in mind, who are some young players who could potentially be on the market?
One name to keep an eye on is Brandt Clarke of the Los Angeles Kings.
Clarke is a 6’2, 200 pound, right shot defenceman who was the 8th overall pick in the 2021 draft. This is his rookie season. He has played in 53 games putting up four goals and 21 assists.
His underlying numbers are even more impressive.
Clarke has shown at the age of 22 that he is a high end skater and puck mover at the NHL. The ceiling for this player is very high.
Why would the Kings be potentially willing to move a player like Clarke?
Rob Blake is in a tough position. He and his Kings look like they’re on a collision course with the Edmonton Oilers. It would be the fourth year in a row they play each other in the first round of the playoffs.
The Kings desperately want to take down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatil. And they might be willing to sacrifice long term assets in order to achieve short term success.
Nick Kypreos reported that the Kings might be open to the idea of trading Quinton Byfield.
“Staying in the West, I hear the Kings are desperate to shake things up to give themselves the best shot of getting out of the first round of the playoffs and not suffer another defeat against Edmonton. Quinton Byfield isn’t a name we’ve heard come up in trade rumours until this week, but suddenly he could be in play. Perhaps he is the player Los Angeles can move to change their look for an opening playoff round”
Kevin Weekes reported that the Kings could be looking to move on from their 22 year old defenceman because of a lack of ice time with Drew Doughty returning to the lineup.
Those two reports tell me that the Kings are desperate to win now. Is there a chance that the Flames could take advantage of that?
Conroy has some intriguing win now pieces to move in a deal with the Kings.
It starts with Rasmus Andersson. The top four, right shot defenceman has one year remaining on his contract making $4.55 million. Adding Andersson would give the Kings a lot of depth on defence, especially the right side.
Retaining upwards of 50% of Andersson’s cap hit could make the deal palatable for the Kings.
The Flames could add some pieces on top of that to make a deal work. It’s going to cost Conroy a lot to acquire a player with the age and talent level of a Clarke.
Here is a hypothetical deal that might at least pique the Kings’ interest.
To Calgary: Brandt Clarke
To Los Angeles: Rasmus Andersson (Retain $2,275,000), Yan Kuznetsov, 2025 2nd Round Pick
Conroy has stated publicly that he wants to re-sign Andersson this summer. But if there is a chance to acquire someone like Clarke, who could be a cornerstone of the Flames defence for 10+ years, you have to do it.
Clarke has the potential to be a top pairing defenceman. This type of trade could be franchise altering for the Flames. A defensive core that features the likes of MacKenzie Weegar, Brandt Clarke, Zayne Parekh, Kevin Bahl, Hunter Brzustewicz, Henry Mews, and Ilya Solovyov has the potential to be lethal long term.
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