Flames are back in a playoff spot after last night's win
The Calgary Flames may not be in sell mode just yet.
After their rough start to the 2023-24 season, it felt like only a matter of time before the Flames traded several of their pending unrestricted free agents, the most notable being Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov.
While some will argue that remains the best plan for this franchise to take, general manager Craig Conroy may be a bit more hesitant to do so with how his team is playing as of late. This resilient Flames squad has gone 5-3-2 over the last 10 games and recently defeated two of the Western Conference’s best teams in the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights.
With their 2-1 victory over the Golden Knights, the Flames were able to jump ahead of the Seattle Kraken to hold down the final wild card position in the Western Conference. That said, they have a long way to go if they hope to get back into a top-three spot in their division, as they trail the third-place Vancouver Canucks by eight points.
It will be interesting to see how Conroy goes about this situation. While the playoffs are certainly a possibility for this Flames team right now, it is still difficult to envision them going on a lengthy run. This would make holding onto the players mentioned above a major risk, as they could then leave as free agents in the summer with the Flames getting nothing in return. For an organization that recently saw that exact situation play out with Johnny Gaudreau, it would be nothing short of devastating.
On the other hand, you have a group that has shown great resiliency as of late and appears to be playing their hearts out for one another. Trading those four players would almost certainly result in the Flames missing the playoffs, which could lower the morale of those who remain on the roster.
This is obviously going to be a very difficult decision for Conroy as the season progresses. That said, if this team hopes to stay together past the deadline, the best chance it has is to continue winning games. The next opportunity to do just that will come on Thursday versus the Stars.
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