NHL Rumours: Calgary Flames and Jaroslav Halak

m\The holiday season season is here and that means we’ve got the gift of plenty of NHL rumours. Teams are either flying high or trying to find answers at this point in the season. Some teams are crushing expectations while others looking for a reason why. There are some players that are just looking for a place to belong. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Calgary Flames and goalie Jaroslav Halak.

All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.

NHL Rumours

Calgary Flames

Rumour: Julian McKenzie of The Athletic was asked if the Flames are approaching the point of a rebuild.

Analysis: Things have not gotten off to a great start for the Flames. Calgary is still just two points off the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. However, there’s worry about the crop of unrestricted free agents that will become available in the coming off-season.

General manager Craig Conroy has been active in trying to make some deals happen. Mikael Backlund did get a contract extension for two years, but a number of defencemen remain unsigned. Conroy probably doesn’t want to have an exodus of defenders without getting some sort of compensation. This means he could be more likely to listen to deals for Nikita Zadorov or Noah Hanifin among others.

However, do the Flames went to hit the reset button if they can get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Calgary has tossed around the idea of trading Daniel Vladar in order to allow Dustin Wolf more time in the NHL. That’s one trade they’d probably like to make sooner rather than later.

The main issue about the Flames starting over is it could be a hard one. However, there are some decent prospect pieces like Matthew Coronato that are itching to get a chance at some playing time. Calgary may have to wait and see before it starts making some deals.

Jaroslav Halak

Rumour: A recent edition of TSN’s Insider Trading talked about whether the Slovakian netminder can latch onto a team in the NHL.