The Calgary Flames should trade for San Jose Sharks defenceman Henry Thrun

The Calgary Flames are one of the teams that have an abundance of both cap space and opportunity for players. This gives the team maximum flexibility to acquire players who are lower-risk, younger players with high potential upside in need of a change in scenery. One name the Flames should look at is Henry Thrun.

The 24-year-old left-shot defenceman has found himself down the depth chart this season and will likely fall further going into next season, with the San Jose Sharks adding young blueliners from their prospect pool to the big club.

Here’s why the Flames should target him.

Who is Henry Thrun?

The former Harvard University defenceman just completed his second full NHL season, putting up 12 points in 60 games for the Sharks. While he was known for his offence in college, finishing his final college season with 31 points in 33 games as a defenceman, the offence just hasn’t translated at the next level.

Thrun found himself in a mostly depth role in the NHL, averaging around 17 minutes per night this season. This is down from exactly 20 minutes last season. This is a worrying sign, as the young defenceman was not tasked with power play minutes this season, playing mostly as a depth defenceman who had penalty kill opportunities. He spent the majority of the year paired with Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta- no surprise the numbers didn’t improve much this year.

The issue for Thrun this year seems to be deployment and fit. He lost opportunities on the blueline and felt like the guy who got lost in the shuffle in a Sharks organization full of exciting young talent. While he didn’t do enough to show he belonged, the Sharks are likely going to part with him this summer to make room for other players.

What would Henry Thrun bring to the Calgary Flames?

The 6’2″ blueliner is already weighing in well over 200 pounds. He’s a fantastic skater who is mature beyond his years. Like many Harvard prospects, what stands out about Thrun is the way he reads the game at a high level. Conroy has been keen on finding young players with high character, and every interview with him sounds like a very polished, smart hockey player.

Thrun is not a flashy player, but he plays the game really well. His positioning is good, and he is a guy who plays well at both ends of the ice. The issue in San Jose seems to have been developing confidence in his game, and the Flames have the time and leadership to help him do so. Having a former teammate in Matt Coronato helps as well.

For the Flames, the left side of the blue line looks a little worse for wear. Leaving MacKenzie Weegar on the right, the Flames have Kevin Bahl, Joel Hanley, and Jake Bean making up the left—yikes! The prospect pool doesn’t have much help coming this season, with Zayne Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz both as right shots. The Flames do have new signee Nick Cicek as well as older prospects Ilya Solovyov, Jeremie Poirier, and Yan Kuznetsov in the minors, but Thrun has a higher upside than this group.

Thrun has one year left on a $1M contract, but the Flames have more than enough room to take that on this season. The cost to take Thrun from San Jose is likely a mid-round pick. The Anaheim Ducks drafted Thrun with a fourth-round pick in 2019, and the Sharks acquired him in February 2023 for a 2024 third-rounder. If the Flames offered them a third-round pick next year or the year after, it should be more than enough to make this happen.

Should the Flames look to acquire Henry Thrun?

Thrun would not be a move-the-needle play by the Flames, but it would be a smart gamble by a team that has the capacity to do so. Thrun is the type of player who would fill in the middle of the depth chart on a team that lacks left-shot defencemen.

If he succeeds this year and blossoms into a middle-pair defenceman, the Flames have even more strength in their prospect pool than they did before. If he struggles this season, the Flames only have one more year left on his contract at a low cap hit and a low acquisition cost. This is a smart gamble by Craig Conroy and the team. If Thrun is available, the Flames should look to make a move for him.