Flames' best chance for future success involves selling pending UFAs
What fans hoped would be a bounce-back season for the Calgary Flames has been nothing short of a disaster so far.
Through nine games, the Flames have an ugly 2-6-1 record, and all the positivity that seemed to be back with this group in training camp is all but gone. Now, many fans are back to thinking like they did in the offseason, in that General Manager Craig Conroy needs to sell his upcoming unrestricted free agents (UFAs) rather than extending them.
The majority of the Flames fanbase was on board with selling over the offseason, though the Mikael Backlund extension seemed to change the minds of some. It seemed like extensions with Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin were closing in, giving some fans hope that this group was ready to turn things around after an ugly 2022-23 season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.
Instead of working towards these extensions, it sounds as though the Flames have put things on hold while their early season struggles are ongoing. This is the right decision from Conroy and the rest of the front office, as it makes very little sense to bring back the core of a team that is struggling for the second straight year.
Though ownership appears to be against the idea of a rebuild, moving some of their pending UFAs in Lindholm, Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov would allow the Flames to get several great pieces back, which in turn would help them go for more of a retool than a full rebuild.
The one issue that some point to with the Flames when it comes to selling the players mentioned above is that both Jonathan Huberdeau’s and Nazem Kadri’s contracts will still be on the books. While not ideal, the Flames may be forced to keep them around in hopes that they can get things going and perhaps gain interest from other teams around the league.
Regardless of what the future holds for Huberdeau and Kadri, it appears that at this time selling some of the players listed above is the best course of action. If, in the meantime, they are able to string together some wins and get back in the playoff hunt, extensions could be considered once again. As of now, however, it makes little sense to have such discussions.
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