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The Flames made some big moves ahead of the deadline, but they didn’t trade everybody
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Photo credit: © Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Mar 7, 2026, 15:30 ESTUpdated: Mar 7, 2026, 01:03 EST
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The Calgary Flames were one of the National Hockey League’s busiest teams leading up to Friday’s trade deadline.
Back in January, they traded veteran defender Rasmus Andersson, a pending unrestricted free agent, to Vegas for four assets. On Wednesday, they moved veteran defender MacKenzie Weegar, with five years remaining on his deal, to Utah for five assets. On Friday, they moved veteran centre Nazem Kadri, with three years left on his deal, to Colorado for four assets.
For a team that’s clearly committed to an overhaul after three seasons outside of the playoffs – and a fourth all but a formality now – the moves signalled a clear directive to continue, and even accelerate, their ongoing youth movement.
But not every veteran was sent out of town. Among those remaining were a pair of players that were frequent subjects of trade rumours: Blake Coleman and Zach Whitecloud. Also subjects to trade chatter were a trio of depth players: Ryan Lomberg, Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley. All remained Flames.
Flames general manager Craig Conroy commented on the veterans that remained during Friday’s press conference after being asked specifically about Coleman and Whitecloud.
“You know I think when you’re looking, you want to do what you think is going to be best, like I said, for the team and there’s a certain point where there you could have it’s great to have picks and it’s great.. You know this was kind of a pick day where, you know.. that you’re looking for hockey trades and they weren’t there today and I think with those two guys, they want to be a part of this moving forward. They’re good with, you know, they’re not good with where we are right now, but they’re okay with, hey, I want to be a part of the solution moving forward. And I think when you saw what the return was going to be, for sure it was, you know, but having them here with our guys, I thought having them here with our guys outweighed them actually leaving.”
Conroy has frequently discussed the need to get younger. But he’s also discussed the importance of getting value for the team’s veteran assets. Ahead of Friday’s deadline, he definitely got good value for Andersson, Weegar and Kadri.
Based on the offers for the other veterans, and the value of keeping them on the roster, Conroy opted to hold onto some players that many thought might be moved.
But for a Flames team that has traded away three alternate captains this season, and will be without another in Jonathan Huberdeau for the remainder of the season due to hip surgery, retaining some older players made sense on a roster that’s gotten a lot younger in a hurry. Retaining Coleman, who’s formed a superb two-way tandem with captain Mikael Backlund, is a big positive.
“Well, it’s huge,” said Conroy. “I think with Ryan Lomberg and Whitecloud, that really, I didn’t know, when Whitey came in, I didn’t really know him. But when I got to know him, I’m like, wow, this guy, you know, I think being in Vegas, leader, winning, I was very impressed. So I put him in that group. And, you know, I want those young guys to kind of jump into that group, too, and become leaders. We’re going to need them to step up and, you know what, not rely on Kadri to score a big goal. Okay, who’s going to be the next guy to do that for us? And that’s what we’re going to see now moving forward. Who’s going to rise?”
The Flames return to action on Saturday night when they host the Carolina Hurricanes.
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