January 31, 2023 | 8:43pm ET
By Anthony Di Marco, TheFourthPeriod.com
FLAMES LEANING TOWARDS ADDING
Flames GM Brad Treliving
Amid a dog fight in the Western Conference wildcard race, it appears the Calgary Flames may be doubling down on their hopes for playoff action.
I’ve heard over the past few days from those close to the situation that, while it isn’t a slam dunk, General Manager Brad Treliving and his staff are leaning towards adding to their roster following the NHL All-Star break.
The Flames, who play their next game on Monday after the All Star festivities against the New York Rangers, enter Tuesday night tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the second wildcard position in the West with 57 points. The Avalanche have the tiebreaker, as the Flames have two more games. The Flames do have more regulation wins than the Avs, with 20 and 18, respectively.
A few weeks back, I was told the Flames were still uncertain as to whether or not they would look to add ahead of the NHL trade deadline. They wanted to see if the group could put some wins together and get a more solid place in the playoff picture. Going 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, it appears that (for now) management feels good enough about their postseason hopes to consider adding to their roster.
In terms of what they’ll be looking for, it has long been speculated and reported that the Flames will look for depth scoring.
Back in November, TFP reported the Flames were in the market for a depth forward; those talks were temporarily shelved in December as the Flames wanted more clarity on their season. But with the focus now seemingly shifting back towards being buyers, I imagine that bringing in a forward will be on the shopping list for Treliving.
Although the Flames have not (to my knowledge) officially kicked tires on him, I was told a few weeks back by a team source that Philadelphia Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk would “make sense” for them.
van Riemsdyk, 33, is in the final year of a five-year contract he signed with the Flyers in 2018. He has an AAV of $7 million – I’m sure the Flyers will be willing to retain money on the contract – and has tallied eight goals and 21 points through 31 games this season.
Known for his historically strong work on the man advantage, van Riemsdyk would be a welcomed addition to a Flames’ powerplay that currently ranks 24th in the NHL, operating at 19.1%. JVR would help their depth scoring, as well, which has struggled due to the mediocre offensive years of Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane, who have 27 and 26 points, respectively, through 50 games.
Newcomer Jonathan Huberdeau has also struggled to live up to the hype in his first year in southern Alberta. Coming off a 115-point campaign with the Florida Panthers last season, Huberdeau has just 10 goals and 33 points through 47 games this year.
Other forwards that the Flames could pursue are St. Louis Blues’ Ivan Barbashev, Detroit Red Wings’ Tyler Bertuzzi and Arizona Coyotes’ Nick Ritchie, all of whom the Flames have been linked to according to TFP’s Trade Watch List. All three forwards are pending UFAs.
The Flames project to have a little more than $7 million of salary cap space by the trade deadline and only have 45 contracts, allowing them a fair amount of flexibility for any potential transactions. But Treliving and the Flames do have another option to liberate more cap space ahead of the trade deadline with defenseman Oliver Kylington.
As reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger last week on Insider Trading, the Flames could shift Kylington to LTIR which would open up his $2.5 million on the salary cap. The Flames currently have Kylington placed on Injured Reserve, opening up a roster spot but having his AAV still count against the cap.
Kylington, 25, has not played all season and, as Dreger reported, has been in Sweden during that time due to personal reasons and his return to the Flames is anything but imminent. I heard a few months back that the Flames are in no rush to bring him back – something that Dreger echoed during his report.
When/if the Flames do get more clarity on Kylington and should he not be available the rest of the way, you must wonder if the Flames will shift him to LTIR and use the newly found $2.5 million of cap space to shop for a defenseman.
In terms of what shooting hand they’d pursue, the Flames do have the flexibility of defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, who is known for being able to play both sides flawlessly. Michael Stone, who has mainly been their sixth rearguard this year when the team is fully healthy, plays the right side – maybe the Flames will look to simply replace him?
Although he has not been officially tied to them, Vancouver Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn would be a fit in that role, as he is a right shot and could slide easily onto Calgary’s third pair.
Schenn, 33, is on an expiring contract with a very digestible AAV of $850,000. He has had a strong season in Vancouver and has drawn a lot of interest league wide.
Other blueliners that are expected to be on the move over the next four and a half weeks are Montreal’s Joel Edmundson, Columbus’ Vladislav Gavrikov, Arizona’s Shayne Gostisbehere, Anaheim’s John Klingberg & Dmitry Kulikov, and Chicago’s Jake McCabe. To this point, Calgary has not been tied to any of those names.
