The Calgary Flames continue to be a fascinating team as the March 8th NHL Trade Deadline is now two weeks away.
Calgary has several interesting pieces that teams are interested including defenseman Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, along with goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
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As NHLRumors.com has documented, several teams are interested in all of those players. The New Jersey Devils continue to have interest in Markstrom and Hanifin. While the Toronto Maple Leafs have an interest in Tanev. There are a few others as well.
However, general manager Craig Conroy continues holding out on his players’ asking price. And we know he will not let Tanev and Hanifin walk for nothing.
Usually, there is a time when the action on the trade market heats up. However, things have gone quiet since Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan were traded around the NHL All-Star Game.
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One of the main reasons is that many teams are watching and waiting for what the Flames do with their defensemen. Calgary is the biggest domino in the trade market, and once their two pieces go, there could be a slue of action.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN: “There’s no one reason, but a couple of teams have talked to me about the fact that on the D market, there’s so much interest, for example, in Chris Tanev that while there’s some of the same teams also have interest, for example, in a Sean Walker. Everyone has their list, but it feels like they want to see what happens with Tanev and now Hanifin, quite frankly, so that’s kind of like you’re waiting for that domino effect on the D market.”
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period: “They’re annoying a lot of people, myself included, but because of their situation, they are without question. The goaltending market for some teams involving Markstrom and I do believe New Jersey has already cycled back, circled back, excuse me to kind of re-engage in those discussions involving Jacob Markstrom. But Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev are the ones really holding things up here across the board. You’ve got other players that are out there defenseman Sean Walker and Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin and so on and so on. But a lot of it is being controlled by Craig Conroy and the Flames, and what they end up doing, what the returns are, it’s more so returns.”
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio: “I just think a lot of it obviously has to do with Calgary. They have the top defenseman remaining, maybe the two top defensemen remaining. They have potentially one of the best goalies available but they don’t have to do it. And I think that’s kind of where we are. I think a lot of the teams and players that are teams are looking for D are looking at Calgary first. And some of the teams that are looking for goalies are looking at Calgary, maybe not first, but they’re there. And I just think that what Calgary decided to do is that was going to determine a lot of what happens here.”
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As LeBrun notes, it’s not like teams are not getting offers on players. The Ducks received offers on Adam Henrique, but they want to see if they receive a better one on or before March 8th. That is why Sean Monahan was moved by Montreal because general manager Kent Hughes thought this offer was the best and was not going to get better.
Philadelphia would like a first-round pick for Sean Walker. That is why he has not moved yet. The sellers are still waiting for someone to step up and meet their price; there’s still time for that.
And all roads lead back to Calgary and how they set the market.