Offseason checklist: Calgary Flames

The biggest uncertainty surrounds Johnny Gaudreau. The winger is set to enter the final year of his contract and while he has expressed a willingness to sign an extension, it’s fair to speculate if Calgary may feel otherwise. The 27-year-old didn’t have a bad year – he led the team in scoring and improved his per-game rates from 2019-20. But he’s also not the same player he was a few years ago when he put up two seasons of better than a point-per-game average including a 99-point campaign in 2018-19. He’s still a top-line player for now but do they want to commit a long-term contract to him? If not, he becomes one of the more intriguing trade candidates of the summer as letting him walk in unrestricted free agency isn’t a viable idea.

Sean Monahan has also been in trade speculation. He also has seen his production taper off in recent years and he had just 10 goals and 28 points this season in 50 games. In terms of output from centers, he was third behind Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund. With two years left, he’s not a rental either although they’d be selling low. With three top-six pivots, do they look to flip one for some help on the wing?

Is one move going to be enough or will multiple changes be needed to shake things up? That’s what Treliving is going to have to determine in the coming weeks and with it being harder to move money once the top free agents are off the board, he will likely need to make this decision by the end of July.

Add Offensive Help

On top of shaking up their offensive core, Calgary needs to add to it. They’ve have only managed to finish 20th in goals scored in each of the past two seasons. They didn’t have a 20-goal scorer either. The composition of their roster is better suited towards a score by committee approach but for that to work, they need to have three lines capable of scoring. They’re not there just yet.

Yes, younger players like World Championships MVP Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube are capable of improving and providing a boost from within. But adding one more top-six forward would also go a long way towards deepening their attack. However, with nearly $68M in commitments to just 14 players, that doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for an impact addition so some cap juggling will be needed if Treliving is going to be able to add to the core.

Protect Giordano

With how well a lot of side deals in expansion went for Vegas back in 2017, some have expected there won’t be as many of those made this time around. But Calgary looks like a team that may want to do so given their situation on the back end.

With Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Andersson, and Tanev, Calgary has three blueliners locked up for at least the next three seasons. It then stands to reason that those will be the three that they protect from Seattle, assuming they use the standard 7/3/1 protection scheme. However, that leaves their captain Mark Giordano on the outside looking in.

Giordano has been a fixture for the Flames for nearly 15 years aside from a brief stint in the KHL. He’s second in franchise history in games played and third in scoring by a defenseman. Yes, he’s nearing the end of his playing career (and has just one year left on his contract with a $6.75M AAV) but he’s someone the Flames would undoubtedly want to keep around as long as it doesn’t cost them one of those other three protectees, even if it took away from adding up front.

While a 37-year-old on a pricey expiring contract may not seem like the best fit for an expansion franchise, he’d give Seattle some short-term stability and an intriguing trade chip so they could be inclined to take him. Treliving will need to find a way to prevent that.