Calgary Flames offer sheet targets: Mavrik Bourque

The 23-year-old right-shot centre is coming off his first full NHL season after being the 30th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Dallas Stars. Bourque, born in Plessisville, Quebec, played his amateur career for the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL, captaining the team to a Memorial Cup appearance in 2022.

Despite being part of the COVID-19 draft class and a late first-round pick, Bourque developed relatively quickly. The young centre played his first full season at the AHL level in his D+3 year. After an outstanding sophomore season in the AHL, he played 73 games for the Stars this past year, scoring 11 goals and 25 points. The 23-year-old fits Craig Conroy’s timeline and needs, but is he worth the price of compensation? Let’s dive in.

Mavrik Bourque’s on-ice production

After being drafted during the COVID-19 Pandemic by the Stars, Bourque returned to the QMJHL to play a reduced 28-game season, where he posted 43 points. He also made his AHL debut that season, playing six games for the Texas Stars, Dallas’ AHL affiliate. In 2021, he played only played junior hockey, recording 68 points in 31 games en route to a QMJHL championship.

The 2022–23 season saw Bourque play his first full season in the AHL for Texas. The right-handed forward recorded 47 points in 70 games while scoring 20 goals. As far as he is concerned, he’s never heard of a “sophomore slump”.

In 2023–24, Bourque returned to the AHL with a vengeance, tallying more than a point per game, scoring 26 goals and 77 points in 71 games. His performance earned him First Team All-Star recognition as well as the AHL’s JB Sollenberger trophy for most points in the league. To cap it off, he was awarded the Les Cunningham Award as AHL MVP. Not too shabby.

Outside of making his NHL debut at the end of the 2023–24 season for the Dallas Stars, Bourque didn’t see any NHL action until this past season. However, he stayed in the lineup for the majority of the season, suiting up for 73 of the Stars’ regular season games and three playoff games. The young centre recorded 25 points and scored 11 goals in his rookie season, averaging 12:41 of ice time per game with a 46.9 faceoff percentage.

He has proven himself to be a full-time NHLer, and the Dallas Stars have a lot of money to hand out this offseason. Could Bourque be worth the compensation an offer sheet would demand?

Compensation

The chart below details the required compensation based on the average annual value of the offer sheet made. It reflects the NHL’s updated thresholds for this year.

The Flames have the cap space and draft capital to sign whoever they want, really. The question, though, is whether they should do it. While any player they sign would certainly help the team now, provided the player signs and the other team opts not to match the offer, the loss of Calgary’s own first-round draft pick is a steep price to pay.

To say the books are wide open for Craig Conroy come free agency on July 1 would be an understatement. The Flames enter the offseason with the second-lowest projected cap hit for 2025–26 in the league at $67.68M. Plus, the salary cap is getting a healthy bump to $95.50M from $88.00M this season. That leaves the Flames with almost $28M in projected cap space, a manageable budget to say the least.

As far as Bourque’s price tag is concerned, the Flames’ 2026 first-rounder would be safely in hand. Bourque played the majority of his season in Dallas’ bottom six. He split most of his season on the wing opposite Jamie Benn with Wyatt Johnston up the middle, and centring Oskar Back and Colin Blackwell. Bourque had a strong season, but his impact with Dallas was relatively minimal outside of his impact alongside Johnston and on the fourth line.

All in all, Bourque will likely land in the second or third offer sheet compensation bracket. With him recently establishing himself in the NHL, a bridge deal makes sense for any interested parties. Either a two-year contract in the $2.00-$2.34M AAV range makes sense to me, or a one-year deal somewhere in the $3.50-$4.00M AAV range.

The first option allows the Flames to compensate Dallas with only a 2026 third-round pick, and that might be enough to stave off the Stars from matching the offer. Dallas will enter the 2025–26 season with the highest projected cap hit, with $90.54M on the books. That leaves them with less than $5.00M to resign/replace UFAs Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Evgenii Dadonov, Mikael Granlund, Brendan Smith, and Cody Ceci, and RFAs Nils Lundkvist and Mavrik Bourque. Needless to say, Dallas will have to make some tough decisions and look for short-term, team-friendly deals.

If Conroy and the Flames really like the player, a one-year deal around $4.00M should do the trick. It would be too much for the Stars to match and would only cost the Flames a second-round pick in 2026.

Although Conroy and the Flames can do it, should they?

Fit with the Flames

The Stars might not have the cap space to bring Bourque back next season, and to be quite frank, he checks a ton of boxes for the Flames. He falls right in Craig Conroy’s desired age window, is a natural right-handed shot centre, has offensive potential, is a well-rounded two-way player, and, as a bonus, he could bring some Quebecois connection to the lineup for Jonathan Huberdeau.

Bourque showed he can play with talented players like Johnston in Dallas, shifting to the wing, or can command his own line at centre. His versatility and utility are exactly what the Flames could use in a lineup that Ryan Huska constantly shifted around last season. Although the goal is to build chemistry (I hope), Bourque brings a skillset and attitude that have proven to meld well with all of his linemates. On top of that, he has strong intangibles that would only add to the positive culture shift in Calgary that’s been so highly discussed.

Should the Flames offer sheet Bourque?

Mavrik Bourque is one of the most realistic offer sheet candidates for the Flames in my eyes. He’s a player who still has room to develop while just getting his footing in the league. He has offensive upside with a well-rounded skillset, good versatility, and the potential to establish himself as a top-six centreman. He may not be the young bonafide 1C the Flames are searching for, but in my eyes, he’s certainly worth a second-rounder at worst.

Dallas is in a nightmare salary cap situation, and with their commitment to winning now, they likely don’t have the room to match anything of real substance as far as offer sheets are concerned. The Flames can offer Bourque’s camp a nice little trial run bridge deal and see how it works out. Spending a second rounder is worth it to test the waters, and on a right-handed offensive threat that could have an immediate impact.

If I were Craig Conroy, Bourque is my number one priority as far as RFAs are concerned. He can slot into your lineup as a right-handed shot on the wing or at centre to try to establish some chemistry with the accumulating collection of young talent in the forward group. He can fill a major hole in the middle six for next season while everyone waits to see if the Flames come back down to earth. The Flames hold onto their 2026 first-round pick, tread lightly in free agency, and see if the Draft Lottery is in the cards come next May.

In a class loaded with centres, the Flames could find their next 1C at the draft next year while Bourque fills a hole as an experiment for the time being. Worst case, he departs via free agency in a couple years. Best case, he develops into a strong offensive asset, and the Flames lock him up long-term after moving on from their aging talent.

With the Flames still living in the mushy middle, this upcoming season could be a lot like what we expected 2024–25 to be for the Flames. If Dustin Wolf regresses, that 2026 first-rounder could be a lottery spot, who knows? My point is that this may not be the year for the Flames to gamble with their own first-rounder, and Mavrik Bourque allows them to fill their needs now while managing their future assets responsibly.