Unless you’ve been living underground with no cable or internet, you may have noticed that the trade deadline arrived early this season.
Over ten trades of various degrees have gone off in the past three weeks. To those who haven’t noticed, the Western Conference has shipped out a huge amount of star power. Timo Meier, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, and Tanner Jeannot all have made the Flames players’ lives more difficult in the past on the ice. Hell, even Sam Lafferty has cost the Flames a couple of points in the standings.
If reports are to be believed, soon we’ll see Patrick Kane head to New York as well. Rangers defenceman Braden Schneider has been sent down to the AHL in a move required to clear a roster spot for the star winger.
Back in Calgary, we have a rather awkward wildcard race to worry about. Seattle and Winnipeg have been plummeting of late and if the Flames can just manage to lose ten or fifteen more games in overtime, they may squeeze into a playoff spot once it’s all said and done.
With such a crazy flurry of trade activity and the overall underperformance of the Calgary Flames, let’s look at some of the more relevant executed trades and evaluate whether the Flames should have thrown their hat in the ring.
After all, general manager Brad Treliving has a reputation for being involved in most potential trade talks.
Trade One — The Barbashev Deal
To Vegas Ivan Barbashev
To St. Louis Zach Dean — 2021 30th overall pick
Should Treliving have made this move? Many fans would be upset to see 2020 24th overall pick Connor Zary go. Especially for a rental who will likely score less than 20 goals this season. Ivan’s ten goals and 19 assists are fine, but I think most of us would agree this is a “pass….
Would the Blues have made this deal with the Flames? There isn’t much reason they wouldn’t. Zach Dean has better wheels than Zary, but it might just come down to who the Blues organization likes more.
Trade 2 — The Kravtsov Deal
To Vancouver RW Vitali Kravtsov (875K, pending RFA, 2018 9th overall pick)
To New York W Will Lockwood Vancouver’s 2026 7th-round pick
Should Treliving have done this move? We can save a bit of time and say that Kravstov’s advanced stats aren’t great with the Rangers this season. Most Rangers saw their CF% jump when he’s not on the ice. He gets out-chanced in high-danger situations at a 42.50% rate. His three goals and three assists while averaging 11:25 a game aren’t great.
He’s soft. 11 hits through 28 games. He has a bad attitude. He’s asked to be traded a number of times. He averages about one shift on the powerplay per game, 0:34, and has one primary assist through 15:56 of powerplay ice time.
In other words, he’ll probably play second line on the Canucks next season and get a 1.5x2 contract this offseason.
Would the Rangers have made this trade with the Flames? Treliving would simply have to offer more than a red shirt AHL contract and a 2026 7th-round pick.
Trade 3 — The Neidereiter Deal
To Nashville RW Nino Niedereiter
To Winnipeg Winnipeg’s 2024 2nd round pick
Should Treliving have moved on this trade? Neidereiter would likely be a nice fit in the lineup. He was tied for second on the team in goals before being traded with 18. 15 of those coming at even strength.
The problem is that his contract carries a four-million-dollar annual average through next season. He would need to be flipped after the playoffs or likely another player would need to be traded to make room.
Would Nashville make this deal with the Flames? Add a 5th and they probably would, but it’s worth noting that Nashville sits two points behind the Flames with three games in hand. How embarrassing would it be to be passed by a team selling off core players?
Trade 4 — The Tarasenko Deal
To New York RW Vladimir Tarasenko — 50% retained D Niko Mikkola
To St. Louis St. Louis’ or Dallas’ conditional 2023 first-round pick (Whichever picks later) St. Louis’ conditional 2024 fourth-round pick (Becomes a 3rd if the Rangers make the playoffs)
Should Treliving have moved on it? Tarasenko wanted to go to New York, so this is a non-starter. Niko Mikkola, on the other hand, is big, mean and exactly what the Flames blueline is in need of. It would likely have cost a 2nd or a 3rd.
Would St. Louis have traded Mikkola to the Flames? Provided Treliving made a hard sell, they likely pry Mikkola out of the Tarasenko deal prior to it being executed.
Trade 5 — The O’Reilly/Acciari Deal
To Toronto C Ryan O’Reilly (75% retained – 50% St. Louis, 25% Minnesota) RW Noel Acciari RW Josh Pillar
To St. Louis C Mikhail Abramov W Adam Gaudette Toronto’s first-round pick in 2023 Ottawa’s third-round pick in 2023 Toronto’s second-round pick in 2024
To Minnesota Toronto’s 2025 4th-round draft pick
Should Treliving have made an offer? O’Reilly wanted to go to Toronto, but he didn’t have any clauses in his contract providing control of where he went. The Flames could have matched this offer and helped their chances.
Would the Blues have traded them to Calgary? Likely. The Blues are writing-off the season and both players going to Toronto are UFAs after the playoffs.
Trade 6 — The Orlov/Hathaway Deal
To Boston D Dmitry Orlov (75% retained – 50% Washington, 25% Minnesota) RW Garnet Hathaway
To Washington RW Craig Smith Boston’s first-round pick in 2023 Boston’s third-round pick in 2024 Boston’s second-round pick in 2025.
To Minnesota Boston's fifth-round pick in 2023
Should Treliving have tried on it? We’re looking at a steep price for Orlov and Hathaway, both rentals. The deal would have consolidated quite a bit of depth, but what a cost. This is the type of deal that only a true contender should make.
Would Washington have made the trade with Calgary? They absolutely would have if Boston’s offer was topped.
Trade 7 — The Meier Deal
To New Jersey RW Meier D Scott Harrington D Santeri Hatakka
To San Jose D Shakir Mukhamadullin D Nikita Okhotiuk F Andreas Johnsson F Fabian Zetterlund New Jersey’s 2023 first-round draft pick New Jersey’s conditional 2024 first-round pick (extension condition) New Jersey’s 2024 seventh-round pick
Should Treliving have made an offer? That’s potentially three first-round picks including Mukhamadullin. Then we have to factor in that San Jose would want more assets if Meier is staying in the Pacific Division. Meier is good, but is he worth all of that? Especially given there currently isn’t room for his +9 million dollar salary next season?
Would San Jose have made this trade with Calgary? If the value was there. Surely, they would answer the phone. The scariest part of this trade is that Treliving likely made an offer.
Trade 8 — The Jeannot Deal
To Tampa Bay RW Tanner Jeannot
To Nashville Tampa Bay’s first-round pick in 2025 (Top 10 protected) Tampa Bay’s second-round selection in 2024 Tampa Bay’s third-round pick in 2023 Tampa Bay’s fourth-round pick in 2023 Tampa Bay’s fifth-round pick in 2023
Should Treliving have made an offer? Would Brad Treliving offer this for Tanner Jeannot? Not in a million years.
Would Darryl Sutter offer this for Tanner Jeannot? Probably — and I personally wouldn’t hate him for doing it. Jeannot is a one-of-a-kind player. He throws massive hits, he fights anyone, and he scored 25 last year when he wasn’t hindered by injury.
Would it hurt to lose a 2025 first, a second next year and a big chunk of the 2023 draft? Sure, but Jeannot is just so fun to watch. Milan Lucic could teach him a lot about being the apex predator in the NHL. Jeannot would likely fit into the Flames’ cap situation due to his low production this year — five goals and nine assists.
Would Nashville have made this trade with Calgary? Probably. Calgary’s picks are earlier than Tampa Bay’s.
His nickname is The Oxbow Ox! Screw the picks! He belongs on a Sutter team!
Trade 9 — The Lafferty/McCabe Deal
I couldn’t finish this piece without another trade going down.
To Toronto C Sam Lafferty D Jake McCabe (50% retained) Chicago’s conditional 2024 fifth-round pick Chicago’s conditional 2025 fifth-round pick
To Chicago 2025 first-round pick (Top 10 protected) 2026 second-round pick F Joey Anderson F Pavel Gogolev
Should Treliving have made an offer? Sam Lafferty is quite the depth add. You might look at his ten goals and 11 assists over 51 games and think “they paid what for this guy?…, but there is some context.
Sam played through a back injury in November and December. In 20 games over those two months, he had zero goals and two assists.
Sam Lafferty — When Healthy Games Played: 31 Goals: 11 Assists: 9 Points: 20
20 points in 31 games while playing an average of 16:02 per game is pretty decent. Especially on a 1.15 annual average value salary contract. He’s also a big factor in whether the Blackhawks could win a game. He has 15 points in the 19 wins he’s played in this season. When Chicago loses, he has six points in 32 games.
Jake McCabe is an alright defenceman who got thrown in way over his head this season being out on Seth Jones’ pairing. It’s kind of funny to see Toronto media suddenly validating +/- because it’s one of Jake’s only redeeming stats — a team-leading +7. The eye test says the opposite. This writer has seen him get walked or caught blowing coverage in front of the net too many times this season.
Should Treliving have made an offer? Lafferty’s 1.15 annual average value through next season is enticing, but there is really no reason to get into the arms race that these Eastern Conference general managers are falling into.
Would Chicago have made this trade with Calgary? See: Jeannot. Chicago would take the earlier picks, but this trade is too pricey.
The Flames are at it tomorrow against the Bruins. This piece will be attached to it to give others time to read it.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via capfriendly.com, nhl.com, and naturalstattrick.com.