Probably the toughest job in the NHL right now is general manager (GM) for the Calgary Flames. It has been well-documented that they have five unrestricted free agents (UFAs) this year (Trevor Lewis, Milan Lucic, Nick Ritchie, Troy Stecher and Michael Stone) and eight next year (Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, Dennis Gilbert and Oliver Kylington). Also, they have barely enough cap space to re-sign even one of them. There are ways for the Flames to create cap space; for the most part, these would entail either contract buyouts or trades.
The buyout option is not open to the Flames because the length of the contracts would make them cost prohibitive. That only leaves the trade option viable for consideration. “Luckily” some of the UFAs have already indicated they have no intention of re-signing with the Flames. Most notably they have already given permission to Lucic to consider offers, Hanifin has given notification he wants out to an American team and Toffoli has requested a trade. In addition, Lindholm and Backland have both indicated a desire to move on. I think that moving Hanifin, Toffoli and Jacob Markstrom before this week’s NHL Entry Draft would be most prudent and decisions regarding Lindholm and Backstrom could then be made without pressure prior to the 2024 Trade Deadline.
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I suggest that Markstrom would make a good candidate for trade as the Flames are looking to make room for Dustin Wolf on their roster. The question is if Markstrom is really worth the $5 million cap hit over Wolf to warrant his retention. He does have a no-trade clause in his contract but this could be circumvented.
Trade With the Buffalo Sabres
As they play in different conferences, it makes perfect sense for the Flames and the Buffalo Sabres to partner up in what could be a blockbuster pre-Draft trade. The Flames would trade Markstrom along with Hanifin to the Sabres in exchange for the Sabres’ 2023 first-round pick (13th overall) plus goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The advantage for the Flames is they open up close to $10 million in cap space, satisfy Hanifin’s desire to play in the U.S. and add a young goalie with 46 games of NHL experience to their prospect depth. In addition, they would also gain a first-round pick in this year’s deep draft.
This trade would also be beneficial for the Sabres. Markstrom is a proven elite goaltender with 435 NHL games and career numbers of a 2.72 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. The real steal of this trade would be Hanifin. At only 26 years of age, he has already played eight full NHL seasons and 598 regular season games. He plays a very sound defensive game with an offensive upside. He has scored 49 goals and added 190 assists, and is a solid and very fluid skater who is at home on the power play as well as the penalty kill. He is also a bonafide top-four defenseman with the ability to move up to the top pairing. On his own, he is well worth the first-round pick.
Trade With the Detroit Red Wings
For the same reason as the previous one, this trade is also between conferences and makes good sense. With a year left on a team-friendly $4.25 million contract, Toffoli would be a very good addition to the Detroit Red Wings. The 31-year-old right-winger is coming off a career-best year having scored 34 goals and 73 points and is showing no indication of slowing down. In his 733 NHL regular season games, he has tallied 227 goals and amassed 466 points. He also won a Stanley Cup with the LA Kings in 2014.
In exchange for Toffoli, the Flames would receive the Wings’ second-round pick. This would open up another $4 million plus in cap space and add a prospect to their depleted depth chart.
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Without adding any players other than American Hockey League (AHL) call-ups, the Flames should still be able to ice a pretty solid roster after training camp. They could re-sign Stecher and Ritchie and still be in a much better salary cap position than they are today. They would have plenty of time to work on contracts or trades for Tanev, Lindholm, Backlund, Kylington, Zadorov and Kylington prior to next season’s trade deadline.
