Flames exploring trade market on three of their defencemen: report
The Calgary Flames are apparently working the phones on a few of their defencemen.
With the team off to a horrid 3-7-1 start and contract negotiations on hold with all their pending free agents, management is currently in a position where some tough decisions will have to be made.
There have been rumours swirling around the team that they could decide to shake up the core if things don’t improve.
Elliotte Friedman shovelled more coal into that fire on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast, saying that he believes the team has already started exploring the trade market for three of the team’s defencemen.
“Calgary could have three defencemen on the market, three good defencemen on the market, [with] Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov,” said Friedman. “I think [the Flames] have begun to make their phone calls, just to see what the market is.
“I don’t necessarily think anything is happening soon but I think they’re making their calls.”
This would certainly be a drastic change to what was being heard around the team at the beginning of the season when the Flames were reportedly seeking extensions for both Hanifin and Tanev.
Friedman went on to mention the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs as teams that could be interested in these players, though it would be surprising to see the Flames deal with some of their most intense rivals.
Friedman was heavy with the speculation that the Oilers could potentially part with some draft capital in a trade for one of these players, but Jeff Marek was a bit more skeptical.
“Honestly, [Friedman], I can’t see it,” said Marek. “Can you see it? Calgary throwing lifelines?”
No matter who ends up as the frontrunner for any of these players, this is an indication that Flames management may be leaning towards selling off some of their more valuable assets to either retool or rebuild the Flames.
If the Flames want to maximize the return on these pending UFAs, they will have to figure out a deal before the trade deadline, which is still a fair bit of time away on March 8.