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The NHL Entry Draft is less than a week away. That means we're heading for a flurry of activity, and the Calgary Flames seem like a good bet to be heavily involved.
We know they're listening on a right-side defender – more so T.J. Brodie than Travis Hamonic. We know they're open to dealing Michael Frolik. We know they want to clear cap and/or dump James Neal. We know they want to add another top-6 winger. We know they need to find a goaltender to partner with David Rittich.
Clearly, GM Brad Treliving has a lot of work to do. He is not remotely shy about using trades to check items off the list, which is why it's hardly surprising Elliotte Friedman cited the Flames as one of the more aggressive teams out there.
That, and a little more,
from the latest edition of 31 Thoughts:
9. There’s a ton of trade talk. Among the most aggressive teams: Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Minnesota, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Vancouver, Vegas, Washington and Winnipeg. Depending on how the draft goes, we could see some frenetic attempts to move up and down.
...
The Flames tested the market on James Neal.
...
I think the Flames at, the very least, threw around the idea of Lucic for Neal, but decided against it. Word is the Oilers were willing, thinking Neal could work with one of their top centres. Another team pointed out an additional problem with Lucic’s situation — he has to be protected for the expansion draft.
Again, the aggressiveness is to be expected from Treliving. He likes making notable moves, and almost always pulls at least one off around the draft. I expect that to be the case again, even after the season the team just had.
As for Neal, I'm not sure Treliving will find a promising solution. The options, essentially, are to keep Neal and hope for a bit of a rebound, or trade him for another disastrous contract, such as Milan Lucic's.
You could argue Lucic is the better player right now. He is defensively, at least.
I think Neal offers more scoring upside, though, and he doesn't require protection in the Seattle expansion draft. I'd rather Neal than Lucic and it sounds like the Flames feel the same way.
Ultimately, I expect two things in the coming weeks:
1) a lot of activity from the Flames
2) Neal to remain with the Flames
It'll be fun to see how things play out.
Recent posts:
On targets for defensive depth and Egor Afanasyev
Is T.J. Brodie's tenure with the Flames coming to an end?
Three prospects the Flames may consider with the 26th overall pick
What to do with James Neal?
Three potential free agent targets for the Flames
Five pieces the Flames could use as trade bait
Three potential trade partners for the Flames
Don't forget about Dillon Dube
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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