Flames aren't in position to be buyers at NHL Trade Deadline
The Calgary Flames shouldn’t be buying before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline.
Flames general manager Brad Treliving, who hasn’t “given much thought” to trading the club’s first-round pick, simply isn’t in a position to buy before the March 3 deadline.
The team in front of him surely hasn’t done enough to put him in the purchasing mood.
“Listen, we’d like to add to our team, but the most critical part is where your team’s at, right?” Treliving told NHL.com earlier this month. “We’ve got some work to do to get ourselves into a better position than we currently are. We’ve been up and down. There’s been some inconsistency to our game. It’s hard to sit here and start making any proclamations about what you’re going to do at the deadline. We continue to watch our team.
“We’d like to help it, but you’ve got to be careful how far you chase it when you’re in the position we’re in.”
The position the Flames find themselves in is on the outside looking in.
Calgary, who has yet to piece together anything longer than a three-game heater this season, is three points back of the defending champion Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, with the latter having three games at hand.
The Flames are also four behind the Seattle Kraken for the first wild card, with Seattle holding a game at hand. They are also six back of the Edmonton Oilers for third in the Pacific Division, and eight back of the second-place Los Angeles Kings, too.
Within striking distance, an argument is easily made.
But an uphill battle nonetheless.
And Calgary, who has three games remaining before next Friday’s deadline, isn’t exactly inspiring confidence, with a 3-3-3 record coming out of the NHL All-Star break and a stretch of 12 games without back-to-back wins.
The Flames, who are in the market for a top-nine forward and depth defenceman, are on pace for 92 points.
The West’s wild card entries have averaged 96.7 points and 93.3 points, respectively, in the seven full seasons under the current playoff format. Third in the Pacific Division has averaged 98.0 points, too.
That shouldn’t inspire any splash come next Friday.
There’s not a lot in the cupboard that Calgary, who will have approximately $3.4 million in cap space to negotiate with on deadline day, should be spending that’d be an upgrade, either.
A first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft would surely entice, but it’s not a productive move for a team just as likely to be in the lottery draft as the postseason dance at this point. Nor would it make sense to move previous first-round picks Matt Coronato, the No. 13 selection in 2021, or Connor Zary, No. 24 in 2020.
There’s an argument to be made to hold onto the second-round pick in 2023, too, leaving just a fourth rounder, sixth rounder, and seventh round pick as bargaining chips at the table.
That won’t be enough to add an impact forward that’d bump budding prospect Jakob Pelletier, the No. 26 pick in 2019, down the depth chart, nor is it sufficient to bolster the bottom pairing with an upgrade on Michael Stone or Dennis Gilbert.
There’s not much for Treliving to sell off, either.
Which is why the Flames, who boast a 27-20-12 record with 23 games remaining, should simply stand pat at the deadline and roll the dice with the group as is.