The bad news continues to pile up for the Calgary Flames. With players unwilling to commit to the team, new general manager Craig Conroy is in a tough spot as he entered the offseason with seven key players who will become unrestricted free agents (UFA) in 2024. Many questioned whether the organization would or should rebuild because of this mess or try to re-tool. But, after the Flames traded Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round pick, Conroy’s plans remain unclear.
Before the 2022 Trade Deadline, the Flames acquired Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens, and it cost them a 2022 first-round pick (26th overall, Filip Mesar), a 2023 fifth-round pick, Tyler Pitlick, and Emil Heineman. The first-round pick is by far the most valuable asset moved in either of the Toffoli trades. The problem is that it was a part of the package the Flames paid for the top-six winger and not the other way around.
Could the Flames have waited until the 2024 deadline to trade Toffoli and get a much better return? Yes, but there are other factors involved. The Flames might not want to trade players, but Conroy said that he wanted to deal with players who didn’t want to sign long-term before next season.
This isn’t a good start to Conroy’s tenure; it seems that he will not be able to keep any of the 2024 UFAs around and will have to restructure the team. With the acquisition of Sharangovich, the Flames got younger and less experienced, so all we can do right now is look at past success, compare the players, and offer our best guess at what the future holds.
Close Look at the Toffoli/Sharangovich Trade
The Flames gave up a first-round pick, a recent second-round pick (Heineman), and more after Toffoli’s 20-goal, 49-point season. The Flames then moved him just over a year later after a 34-goal, 73-point season for a third-line player (Sharangovich) and a third-round pick. While other teams and players have capitalized on career years, the Flames did not (from “‘He’s only getting better’: Flames get Sharangovich, third-round pick in trade for Toffoli”, June 27, 2023).
Sharangovich is a 25-year-old who was passed over in the Devils’ lineup when games started to matter. He was a healthy scratch for most of the postseason and played only three games in two rounds, averaging less than 11 minutes of ice time per game and recording no points. Now, it might be tempting to look at Toffoli and Sharangovich’s 2021-22 seasons and compare them, but don’t be fooled. Sharangovich played with Jack Hughes in the top-six when the team really didn’t have a ton of better options. He did score 24 goals and 46 points, mainly at even strength, but when his ice time dropped to that of a third liner, his production went with it, scoring 13 goals and 30 points this season.
Related: Flames: 3 Trade Destinations for Tyler Toffoli
Don’t get me wrong, he is a decent player and has room to grow and develop, but the Flames didn’t do themselves any favours by trading down from a first-line player who led the team in goals and points by a fair margin to a third-liner coming off a mediocre season. According to Eric Francis, Toffoli said he wanted to sign an extension in Calgary, but requested a trade after contract talks weren’t initiated.
“I was waiting for an extension conversation and there was none coming and didn’t feel like there was one in the future. It didn’t sound like there was any sort of need for me, or want in a way, so it was a personal decision. I thought it was time for myself and my wife to experience something different and move forward.”
Tyler Toffoli
This is a big blunder on the Flames’ end, as all they had to do was open the conversation with their leading scorer. Instead, it seemed like Conroy and company prioritized others over Toffoli, leading to this mess. If the Flames are diving into a rebuild, the trade makes a bit more sense because of the age gap, but nobody expected the return to be as little as it is perceived to be right now, rebuild or not.
Conroy and the Flames will have to do much better moving forward if their team doesn’t want to fail over the next few seasons. They have some talented young players who are not sure things yet, but there’s hope if the proper moves are made, and the returns are better.
