The Flames are ‘a willing trade partner’: Friedman

On Sunday, the Calgary Flames did what the entire National Hockey League expected them to do: they traded Rasmus Andersson, with the Swedish blueliner landing with the Vegas Golden Knights.

So… now what?

The Flames remain the subject of many trade rumours, a product of the team remaining near the bottom of the overall standings but having a few enticing potential trade chips to play in the marketplace. During Thursday’s edition of The FAN Hockey Show on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto, host Mike Futa asked Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman about the possibility of a trade involving Nazem Kadri.

Friedman took this as an opportunity to discuss the Flames more generally – without mentioning Kadri specifically in his response:

I think that one of the things that Calgary has proven is they will strike when they’re ready. I don’t necessarily believe it comes down to a deadline or anything like that. It’s, do we have something we like? They wanted to get Andersson… I’ll say this, Andersson became a bit of a priority because they were worried how much he played, and he plays hard. And look, Coleman just got hurt, too, right? So I think the way somebody plays factors into this, and a year where there’s a lot of guys getting hurt.

I do think Calgary is working things. I think one of the things that’s going on with the Flames is they’re trying to keep a lot of the noise out. But I do think they’re looking, and I do think they’re considering a bunch of things. One of the issues that they have, Mike, is that they only have one retention spot left for this year. Andersson and Markstrom come off after this year; they could have two or three next year depending on where it goes. I do think that’s a factor. But I think they are quietly looking out there and are a willing trade partner. I know there’s a lot of discourse out there and I think they do a good job of keeping their true intentions hidden, which is what teams like to do, but I do think they’re looking.

If you look at the Flames’ reserve list, there’s not a lot of pressing business that needs taking care of before a looming deadline. Their NHL level pending unrestricted free agents are Ryan Lomberg, Jake Bean and Justin Kirkland. But their roster does feature several veterans that could be attractive to contenders looking to add the last piece of their championship puzzle… or even trying to bolster roster depth. In addition to names out there like Kadri and Blake Coleman, blueliners like Zach Whitecloud or Joel Hanley could be interesting options for the right price.

In other words: while Andersson’s saga has ended, the Flames aren’t necessarily done with trades for this season.

The Olympic roster freeze begins at 1 p.m. MT on Feb. 4. The NHL’s annual trade deadline is 1 p.m. MT on Mar. 6.