Isn’t bad news supposed to be saved for Friday afternoons?
Several bombs were dropped by the media today. Four players now are stating they’re either outright not re-signing in Calgary or that that they’re leaning against it. Let’s get to it.
Let’s just take this chronologically.
Around 9:00 am of Thursday, June 22, Frank Seravalli reported that Elias Lindholm is still leaning towards finding a new organization after his contract concludes next season. Earlier in the week, Elliotte Friedman stated that he considers Lindholm’s commitment to the team as the “lynchpin… in whether the Flames will continue to strive towards being a contender.
A few minutes later, Seravalli reported this:
The organization received confirmation that defender Noah Hanifin is not re-signing after the season. We all expected this, but now it’s confirmed.
Frank wasn’t done there.
Now we have at least strong rumblings that Backlund likely will be departing as well. Two high quality centers and top four defenceman. Already, this had Flames fans calling for the plug to be pulled on this competitive window.
Bah God! That’s Elliotte Friedman’s music!
This one came out of left field. The leading scorer of last season, Tyler Toffoli, has requested a trade. The right winger had a career year with 34 goals and 73 points in 82 games.
Shortly after Friedman dropped that square on Calgary fans’ heads, Chris Johnston grabbed the layup and slam dunked this home.
You have to laugh. The 31 year old veteran sniper simply wants out of Calgary. He doesn’t care where — he just wants off the bus.
You have to imagine there is still a decent amount of toxicity circulating among the roster. It’s possible that cliques within the team didn’t agree on the termination of head coach Darryl Sutter. It’s also possible that words were said during one of the countless rock bottom moments last season that simply can’t be taken back.
It’s brutal news for those who support the team. Those people shelling out money to go to games and follow the storylines. Those that follow the character arcs and have fun watching people play a game.
Here’s one suggestion when processing all of today’s news:
Try to have fun.
Trades are always exciting and interesting to see play out. Rookie general manager Craig Conroy now has to make a few of them. There is now room for younger players to not only get into the lineup — there’s going to be an opening or two on the powerplay units.
Change doesn’t exactly sound like a bad thing at this point in the Post-Gaudreau Era. Maybe the organization will change enough that the players will start enjoying their time at the rink. Something about all work and no play, right?
One last bit of news.
Nothing in stone here, but it looks like former Flame Marc Savard will be joining the team in some capacity.
We’ll gather up some precedent and start projecting what all of these players might go for. What direction would you like to see this team go?
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld