In this edition of Calgary Flames News & Rumors, we’ll look at the supposed rumblings that Matthew Tkachuk wants out of town. One former NHL defenceman suggested Tkachuk could be moved to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Vladimir Tarasenko. That isn’t the only trade rumour circulating about the Flames. TSN’s Darren Dreger said he believes Sean Monahan may be on his way out this summer and was nearly traded last offseason. Last but not least, we’ll look at Mark Giordano’s future the club as the Seattle expansion draft gets closer by the day.
Tkachuk Rumours Circulate
Tkachuk’s name began circulating after The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford suggested he may want to play for the Blues in the future. The rumours escalated when former NHL defenceman Shane O’Brien went on Steve Kouleas’ podcast and suggested the Flames may try to move Tkachuk for Tarasenko.
O’Brien later clarified on Twitter that it would be more than just Tarasenko coming back to Calgary, not just a one-for-one swap. Since O’Brien’s comments, including that Tkachuk may want out, there has been plenty of chatter about where the 23-year-old might end up. Meanwhile, the Flames have stated that these claims are untrue and that they have no intention of moving Tkachuk, which Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes to be accurate.
Monahan on the Move?
Another Flame who has been the subject of recent trade rumours is Monahan, who is coming off of a very disappointing 2020-21 campaign in which he scored 10 goals and 28 points in 50 games. To be fair, he was playing injured for a good chunk of the season and recently had hip surgery to repair the damage, but it sounds like the Flames may be ready to move on from the 26-year-old regardless.
On The Instigators podcast, Dreger recently said he believes that if one core player from the Flames is going to be moved, it will be Monahan. Dreger also mentioned that the Flames nearly traded Monahan last offseason for former Columbus Blue Jacket Josh Anderson.
Considering how weak the Blue Jackets are at center, it’s surprising that they chose to deal Anderson to the Montreal Canadiens for Max Domi. This could be because Monahan’s value dropped after his 2019-20 season when he scored 22 goals and 48 points in 70 games. If that’s the case, you have to wonder what type of return he could fetch now, given that he has had two off seasons in a row.
Tough Decisions Ahead on Giordano
The Seattle Kraken expansion draft is less than a month away, and the chatter is picking up about what the Flames will do with their captain. By almost all accounts, they will use the 7-3-1 protection format, meaning they can protect three defencemen. While they certainly don’t want to lose the veteran blueliner, they have more valuable assets to protect in Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Rasmus Andersson.
Of course, exposing Giordano doesn’t guarantee he will be selected, but given the fact he has one season left on his contract and that he’s still a very solid player, it seems likely. That is what makes this so difficult. All 949 games of his NHL career have been in a Flames uniform, and he’s been their captain for the past eight seasons.
One option, which we saw many teams do during the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft, is for the Flames to offer the Kraken some compensation to ensure they don’t select Giordano. However, that’s also tricky since Calgary won’t want to give up a ton of value for a player who will be 38 by the time the 2021-22 season begins. We’ll keep an eye on this storyline as we inch closer and closer to the July 21 draft date.
