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The Calgary Flames conclude their pre-deadline schedule with a game against the Detroit Red Wings.
It has massive implications on the season – it’s a game they simply have to have – but I’m not going to spend too much time previewing it. Even with the injuries, there are mismatches across the board in Calgary’s favor.
If the Flames can’t take care of business, what are we even doing here? Two points *should* just be a formality.
Assuming that’s the case, it sounds like the Flames will buy on Monday. At least they’ll try.
The Sportsnet crew was able to shed some light with regards to what GM Brad Treliving is looking to do
in the latter half of the Saturday Headlines double header.
Here are the cliffs notes:
• It is somewhat of a Pacific Division arms race for Tyson Barrie – Calgary, Vancouver, and Vegas are interested
• Flames would like to do a hockey deal more so than rentals; there are some big names they’re talking about but may be tough to do in-season/prior to deadline
The Barrie rumor is especially interesting. Given Toronto's need for a defenseman I'd imagine they'd like a Barrie deal to include a pending UFA of Calgary’s own like Travis Hamonic (health permitting) or T.J. Brodie. If possible I’d be willing to include the former – though he plays a more defensive/physical style the Flames don’t have as much of – because he’s not having a great year and I’m not sure he’s coming back.
I think trading Brodie for Barrie would be a mistake. Though Brodie may not bring as much raw production to the table, he has a lot of the same elements with the puck and is better without it. I know the Flames may want a true PP1 quarterback with Mark Giordano out right now but I would not part with Brodie to get Barrie.
What’s particularly interesting about the Barrie situation: if the Flames don’t land him, a division rival might. *If* Barrie gets traded and it’s in return for a futures package (where Toronto then flips those assets for a different player), it’d be a particularly tough pill to swallow. The Pacific is wide open; you don’t want direct competition getting better at your expense.
The latter note is not remotely surprising. TSN’s Frank Seravalli recently suggested the Flames offered Noah Hanifin in a package for Taylor Hall, presumably with the intention of trying to keep the latter around. That’d make it a hockey deal.
They have longed for a right-handed, top-6 forward so I would not be the least bit surprised if they were pushing hard for Palmieri. He’d help now, of course, but he’d also help next season. It’s easier for the Flames to justify pushing some chips into the middle of the table if the move is not a short-term gamble.
Sure, Calgary’s top-6 is finally clicking right now. But if they were to get their hands on a guy like Palmieri, they could try and ice three legitimate scoring lines. I envision something like this:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Guy
Tkachuk - Backlund - Mangiapane
Guy - Lindholm - Palmieri
With Mangiapane’s steady progression, you could argue this would give the Flames two legitimate top-6 scoring threats on three lines. That’d make them much tougher to match up against.
Palmieri’s defensive prowess is criminally underrated as well so he could help them in that regard.
Whether the Flames can land Palmieri, or another winger with term (they also targeted Ondrej Kase), remains to be seen. But it sure sounds like they’ll do everything they can to make it happen.
Tomorrow could be fun.
Recent posts:
Flames lose Mark Giordano for key stretch of games
Calgary’s three stars of the month for January
Five potential trade targets for the Flames
Flames sign Rasmus Andersson to long-term extension
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