The good news is that the Calgary Flames are .500 in November.
The record is obviously an issue. Despite climbing to 3-9-2 with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, the Flames are still in last place in the NHL. In a series of embarrassing and possibly cosmic events, the St. Louis Blues once again hold a lead over Calgary via tiebreaker.
Next up is Columbus, who have won six of their last eight games and are chomping at the bit to get back into the win column after allowing the Islanders to force a comeback win via Matthew Schaefer.
Given that the team has until Wednesday until they play next and then play the Chicago Blackhawks, the next seven days may be a real opportunity to reset.
After that, it’s a two-game road trip through the Central. The Flames are 0-0-4 against Central Division teams this year and will have tough road games against a recovering Minnesota Wild team (4-6-3) and the dreaded St. Louis Blues, who are 7-0-0 against the Flames in the Ryan Huska era.
This is all to say, that this month may be more difficult than projected.
There are some desperate teams mixed in there a few contenders. Three bottom-feeder games should help, but how far are we from seeing this Flames group start to struggle against the very bottom of the league?
A few storylines, thoughts, and observations surrounding the team amid this brutal start.
Sell-Off?
It’s fair enough to say that things have gotten weird.
Eric Francis, who is well connected with Flames media published a sell-piece on a two-to-three year rebuild almost two weeks ago. Elliotte Friedman is mentioning Nazem Kadri enough to suspect that he’s doing a favor for someone. The 35-year-old center plays his 1000th game on Wednesday and the Sportsnet insider went out of his way to point out that the Flames wouldn’t trade him until he had played that game.
Which would be a weird thing to say if he hadn’t heard anything about him being shopped.
Nazem, to his credit, is playing excellent hockey amid this rough start. He has six points in his last six games. His skating looks excellent and his confidence is high.
Naturally, the Flames are going to hold on to him until he at least plays himself out of this hot streak, but what could the crafty volume shooter fetch in a mid-season deal?
First of all, Kadri carries a $7,000,000 annual average value cap hit until July 1, 2029. The one-time Stanley Cup winner’s No Movement Clause converted to a 13-team No Trade list last summer. There are obstacles.
There also isn’t much precedent for dealing an older veteran center who can still score. JT Miller wanted out of town and fetched a lower price due to that. Mikko Rantanen is way too good to be compared to Kadri. Ryan O’Reilly (and Noel Acciari) check a lot of boxes, but they were pending UFAs and O’Reilly was retained down to 25% by involving Minnesota as a third party.
The closest we’re going to get is Tomas Hertl. Yes, at the age of 30, the speedy Czech was five years younger than Kadri when he was traded, but he’s a top six center signed to a long term contract. The fact that San Jose is retaining $1,387,500 until July 1, 2030 is a factor, but this is as good as it gets.
The return? Vegas’ first round pick in 2026 (26th overall) and Vegas’ 32nd overall pick in 2023, center David Edstrom.
The response is subjective, but would you be happy with the return of two late first round picks in exchange for Nazem Kadri?
Flames Extended Menu
If we’re talking about a real sell-off, it’s worth noting that defenceman Rasmus Andersson is logging a ton of minutes and surviving. He leads the Flames in average time on ice in their last six games at 24:31. MacKenzie Weegar is second place at almost 30 seconds less. (24:05)
Andersson is a +2 and has two assists over that span. The 28-year-old blue liner’s contract expires on July 1, 2025 and it carries an annual average value of $4,550,000. Up to 75% of his remaining cap hit could be retained by Calgary in order to accommodate a deal.
Another marketable veteran? Joel Farabee, who has four points (2g, 2a) in his past five games. Most encouraging is that the dangerous shot that had him scoring 74 goals in 282 games from Oct. 2020 to April 2024 appears to be coming back. His shooting percentage is 14.3% in his last six games; much closer to the 13% he ran over the time span where he was scoring effectively for the Flyers.
Farabee carries an AAV of $5,000,000 for two more seasons after this year.
One more vet who is playing well and could be traded? Blake Coleman has four points in his last six and currently leads the team in goals with five. The 33-year-old is signed for one more season after this year and carries a $4,900,000 AAV. His contract also contains a 10-team approved trade list.
Put Up or Shut Up
The team is 3-9-2 in a Canadian market. There is going to be some scrutiny.
Most recently, the outrage is centered around the “healthy” scratches of four younger players: Yegor Sharangovich, Connor Zary, Zayne Parekh, and Matthew Coronato.
The idea is generally; how can you bench the younger players during a tank season? Now is when they’re supposed to be making mistakes and learning from them.
Valid point, but the answer is simple: None of those guys are even close to playing their A-game.
This October featured Connor Zary’s worst hockey in a Flames Jersey. Two points in 11 games prior to being a healthy scratch for the Ottawa and Nashville games.
You look up points per 60 at even strength and Zary (0.44) is getting outpaced by Ryan Lomberg (0.49) and Justin Kirkland (0.88).
His first game back? Not bad. A +1 and the 24-year-old played a season high 17:17 in the win on a line with Joel Farabee and Nazem Kadri.
Yegor Sharangovich and Matthew Coronato also have responded well to being healthy scratches. The former has three points (2g, 1a) in six games since returning and the latter has two points (1g, 1a) in four games since his turn to sit. Despite a recent surge, the Sharangovich and Coronato rank seventh and eighth in even strength points per 60 at 1.23 and 1.11.
You would have to be out of your mind to call that acceptable from the younger side of the Flames core. Benching them early in the season is an easy decision if it means turning their game around.
Time will tell with Zayne Parekh. The 19-year-old is treading water a bit and he’s taking some big hits from seasoned NHL grinders. Per Wes Gilbertson, the crafty offensive defenseman is also dealing with a minor injury. Zero points at even strength in 130:20. One power play point in 25:31 of power play time—Parekh certainly could use the time off to reset and collect himself. He has more than enough talent to impact Calgary’s offence as a blue line quarterback.
The Flames burned a year off of his ELC in dressing him against the Flyers for his tenth game, so it looks like the ninth overall pick from the 2024 NHL Entry Draft is here to stay.
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Cap Wages, and the National Hockey League.
KEEP READING:
Benched: Making Sense of the Matthew Coronato Situation
Between the Lines: Insiders Greenlight a Flames Rebuild
Analyzing the Calgary Flames Early Season Stumble
Neufeld: 7 Bold Predictions Heading into the New Season
Five Former Flames Head Coaches: Where are they now?
Follow on X: @Trevor_Neufeld
Looking for discussion? Check out our forums section and weigh in on what’s happening around the NHL!
