It wasn’t just the Calgary Flames that stood pat at the 2025 trade deadline.
As it stands, six of the eight spots are all but guaranteed at this point – The Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Minnesota Wild. That leaves two spots up for grabs for five teams, one of them being the Calgary Flames.
The Flames made their only trade earlier this season on Jan. 30, trading Jakob Pelletier, Andrei Kuzmenko, the 2025 second-round pick, and the 2028 seventh-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. With the cap space the team had, it seemed as if they could’ve taken on some salary or acquired a cheap rental, but no moves were made on Friday.
Kuzmenko was on the move again, as the Flyers sent him to the Los Angeles Kings. As of Saturday, the Kings have a 31-20-9 record with 71 points, five behind the Edmonton Oilers (with two fewer games played) and three points ahead of the Flames – also with two fewer games played.
The Vancouver Canucks didn’t do a whole lot at the deadline as most of their moves were made a month before it. Notably, they traded J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil and the Rangers’ 2025 first. They then flipped that to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. Aside from that, their only move was trading defenceman Carson Soucy to the Rangers for the San Jose Sharks’ 2025 third-round pick.
It seemed as if the Canucks could’ve been sellers at the trade deadline as they had valuable soon-to-be unrestricted free agents in Brock Boeser and Pius Suter, while Elias Pettersson has been in trade rumours for a while, but they stood pat. Whether they figure it out before the end of the season is anyone’s best guess.
Then you get to the teams lower than the Flames in the standings. The only notable move this season for the 31-27-6 St. Louis Blues saw them acquire Cam Fowler for a 2027 second-round draft pick in mid-December. Like the Canucks, there were a few players they could’ve sold high on – namely Brayden Schenn and Jordan Binnington, but they stood pat. The Blues have 69 points in 64 games, tied with the Flames.
Before Friday’s trade deadline, the Utah Hockey Club made one trade, getting Shea Weber’s contract off the books with a pair of young players, and sending them to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2026 fifth-round pick.
Although they weren’t active in the trade market, they did re-sign a handful of their players in March. Olli Määttä, Ian Cole, Alexander Kerfoot, and Karel Vejmelka all were soon-to-be free agents, but they were locked down for at least the next season. With a 28-25-10 record and 66 points, time will tell if the Hockey Club’s roster is strong enough to make the post-season.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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