With a final day off between Monday night’s 6-5 victory over the LA Kings and tomorrow night’s faceoff against the Tampa Bay Lightning, let’s have some fun examining a few options pertaining to a rumour confirmed by both Elliotte Friedman and Frank Seravalli.
That being the notion that the Calgary Flames have been shopping for a winger since mid-August.
While it would certainly be fun to look at sell-the-farm options, it might be a good idea for Flames General Manager Brad Treliving to hold on to his first round pick given the perceived strength of the 2023 draft class.
Not to mention that the Flames sit barely within a playoff spot and the success of the team may ride on a few select core players staying healthy. If there is one lesson to gather from Calgary’s dismal seven game losing streak — perhaps it’s that Chris Tanev’s value cannot be understated. The stalwart from Toronto, Ontario was absent for five of the seven losses.
If Tanev missed substantial time, we’re talking about the Flames picking in the top ten.
Without further ado, let’s look at a few winger options.
Jack Roslovic — Columbus Blue Jackets
Cap Hit: $4,000,000 until the end of next season.
Shoots: Right
A healthy scratch for motivational purposes last night as the Blue Jackets brought down the Flyers 5-4 in OT, you have to wonder if Jack is happy with his situation in Columbus.
Whether he is or isn’t, the team found a rare victory without him and that has to sting.
Roslovic hasn’t been great this season. One (shorthanded) goal and five assists in 14 games. That puts him well off pace from the 22 goal, 45 point season he had last year.
It would be a tough pill for the organization to swallow given that he is from Columbus, but exchanging the 25 year old and his four million dollar cap hit for, say, the Flames’ second round pick this year, may be a solid move in the long term.
While his stats aren’t impressive, you have to imagine Darryl Sutter could get the right shot winger motivated into frequently beating defenders with his speed. Getting a regular shift with Jonathan Huberdeau may be enough motivation in it’s self.
A deal for Roslovic would need to be done closer to the deadline in order to fit his cap hit. The Flames currently have $856,376 in space.
Mike Hoffman — Montreal Canadiens
Cap Hit: $4,500,000 until the end of next season.
Shoots: Left
While Hoffman isn’t a right shot, he certainly has some experience playing right wing. The 32 year old forward has five goals and one assist in 14 games this season. Four of those goals were scored within a recent three game stretch between Nov. 8-12.
A pure sniper with plenty of NHL experience wouldn’t hurt the Flames by addition. If the cost could be kept below a first round pick, it’s worth considering.
Brandon Tanev — Seattle Kraken
Cap Hit: $3,500,000 until the end of 24-25.
Shoots: Left
The fact of the matter is that there aren’t that many high quality right shot forwards available around the league. Brett Ritchie is 33rd in scoring among right shot right wingers with four goals and six points. You could make a case to just promote Ritchie to better minutes instead of paying picks and prospects for a 5.5 million dollar Josh Anderson, 4.725 Kevin Labanc or even three million dollar Jesse Puljujarvi, who has three points in 16 games.
No, Brandon Tanev doesn’t shoot right, but he does skate like the wind. His ten points in 16 games may price him out of the equation, but two Tanevs would be glorious fun to watch.
Seattle trading him would also require the team coming down to Earth after an 8-5-3 start.
A couple non-winger options.
Luke Schenn — Vancouver Canucks
Cap Hit: $850k until the end of this season.
Shoots: Right
We all enjoy a nice campfire once in a while. The Canucks this season are more of a bonfire so hot that it’s dangerous to sit close to. Carol Schram had a great factoid on the Canucks in her most recent post about their loss against the Bruins.
Thatcher Demko got dinged for another four goals on 32 shots — which actually improved his GAA slightly, to 4.02.
It’s that kind of season in Vancouver. While management has to worry about what to do with impending UFAs Bo Horvat and Andrei Kuzmenko, it might be fair to say no one would bat an eye at getting a third or fourth round pick for the services of Luke Schenn.
Despite Vancouver’s 30th place defence, 4.06 goals against per game, Schenn has actually put up positive goal differentials at 5-on-5.
On Ice — 5v5 — Luke Schenn
GP: 16
GF: 15
GA: 11
More impressive are his extracurriculars.
Luke Schenn
Hits: 76
(1st)
Hits per 60 Minutes of Ice Time: 15.27
(39th)
Given the Flames’ injury issues as well as Kylington’s absence — Luke Schenn would be a nice addition. The Flames were rumoured to be pursuing the 6’2” 225lb defenceman at last season’s deadline.
Carson Soucy — Seattle Kraken
Cap Hit: $2,750,000
Shoots: Left
You may have seen Soucy recently in highlight packages airing across North America. He was the defenceman punching Pierre Luc Dubois in the back of the head in front of his own net.
Indeed, Carson is one of the meaner blueliners in the league. The Flames could use more snarl on the blue line.
Carson Soucy
GP: 16
Hits: 40
(46th)
Hits per 60 Minutes of Ice Time: 8.92
(132nd)
PIM: 20
The stats don’t really paint a whole picture with the 6’5” 208lbs defender from Viking, Alberta. He slashes, hacks and cross checks as if it were his one true passion in life.
No, you don’t need to get your eyes checked. He’s a tough as nails defenceman from the same hometown as Darryl Sutter. Why he’s not already on the Flames is a mystery.
The Edmonton Oilers were rumoured to be heavily pursuing Soucy at last year’s trade deadline. One can imagine that Kraken General Manager Ron Francis already has a defined price for the soon-to-be UFA.
If the cost is a first round pick, which it probably is given Ken Holland wasn’t willing to pay up, then that would be a tough decision for Treliving.
Stop in tomorrow for a preview of the Flames-Lightning game.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via naturalstattrick.com and nhl.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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