The Calgary Flames continued their tear-down earlier this week, as shutdown defender Chris Tanev was dealt to the Dallas Stars in a three-team trade.
The Flames received prospect Artem Grushnikov, a second-round pick in 2024, and a conditional third-round pick in 2026 if the Stars reach the Stanley Cup Final this year. Dallas also gave a fourth-round pick to the New Jersey Devils to bring Tanev’s salary cap hit down to 75 percent of its regular $4.5 million figure.
That’s three big moves for the Flames all well before the trade deadline. Rugged defender Nikita Zadorov was moved to the Vancouver Canucks back in November and the two Pacific Division rivals linked up on another trade in January involving forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrei Kuzmenko.
Last week, Frank Seravalli reported that the Oilers were “keeping an eye” on the Tanev situation in Calgary and that the Flames were “hoping for a first-round pick” in return.
“They are looking for the best deal they can get,” Seravalli said. “I think they’re hoping for a first-round pick. They’ve got multiple second round picks on the table from many teams. They’re holding out hope that they can get to that next level. Should somebody step up and hit the asking price, I think you’d see him moved instantly but nobody has got to that level just yet.”
The Flames wound up with Dallas’ second-round pick in this summer’s draft along with Grushnikov, a prospect with five points in 44 AHL games this season who the Stars selected in the second round of the 2021 draft. Considering there’s still a week left until the deadline, it’s reasonable to wonder if the Flames could have received a more significant return for Tanev.
According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Flames had at least one offer on the table that featured a first-round pick, though they would have needed to take on another contract rather than just getting the draft pick one-for-one. LeBrun speculated that either the Edmonton Oilers or Colorado Avalanche offered Calgary a first-round pick for Tanev with Cody Ceci or Ryan Johansen going back the other way.
“As for Calgary, my understanding is that the Flames did, in fact, have a first-round pick on the table in one of the other offers they had for Tanev. The problem is that that offer wasn’t a first-round pick alone. Calgary would have had to take a player with term on his contract back, and that didn’t make sense for the Flames. Which is understandable. (But maybe Arizona, with all its cap space, would be willing to do just that to get a first-round pick for Dumba.)
I don’t know for sure which team it was that offered the first-round pick to Calgary with a player attached to it, but two teams that would make sense are Edmonton offering its first-round pick for Tanev as long as Calgary took Cody Ceci (signed through next season at a $3.25 million average annual value) and Colorado offering a first-round pick but wanting the Flames to take back Ryan Johansen (signed through next season at a $4 million AAV).
Regardless of which team it was, I’m confident in saying there was no stand-alone, one-for-one first-round pick offer to Calgary for Tanev.”
Ceci is in the third season of a four-year contract that carries a $3.25 million annual salary cap hit. Much like how the team moved Tyson Barrie to open up the room needed to add Mattias Ekholm last year, the Oilers will surely again need to make a subtraction if they want to make an addition this season. Ceci’s spot as the team’s second right-handed defender alongside Darnell Nurse is often talked about as an area that needs to be upgraded.
More must-reads: