Now that the head coaching hunt has been completed, the attention of Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy shifts to a big priority: first-line centre Elias Lindholm. A year away from unrestricted free agency, the Flames need to know if Lindholm will be a long-term Flame. If not, he may need to be moved.
On Tuesday’s edition of Barn Burner, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli laid out a prediction: Lindholm will be re-signed or traded by the week of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Here’s Seravalli:
“I think it’s signed or traded by draft week. I really don’t see them messing around with this at all. Maybe I’m misreading the situation and there’s been no clear edict… I think in this case, you want to have a real good answer. There’s two trading periods in the NHL, that’s it. It’s now, or it’s at the deadline. And if your mission and mandate is to a playoff team next year, you don’t want that hanging over your head. You don’t need that issue, and you certainly don’t want to be in a spot where you’re like ‘do we cut the legs off of our team?’ in March because we have to trade this guy and get something for him.”
The 28-year-old Lindholm joined the Flames at the 2018 NHL Draft in a five-player swap with the Carolina Hurricanes, which also saw Noah Hanifin head to Calgary. Since landing in Alberta, Lindholm’s been a first line fixture and easily the team’s most consistently dangerous centre from an offensive standpoint.
He was the runner-up for the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward in 2021-22 and has scored 139 goals and 325 points over 369 games as a Flame. But he’s heading into the final year of a six-year deal that carries a $4.85 million cap hit. He’s very good and the Flames would probably love to keep him, but he was non-committal on the prospect when speaking to the media during exit interviews.
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