The Calgary Flames made two franchise defining trades in the summer of 2022. Following the UFA exit of Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk made it known that he wanted out. GM Brad Treliving obliged and Tkachuk was shipped to the Florida Panthers shortly after his request became public. Later in the offseason, Sean Monahan was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for future considerations in order to clear cap space.
Of course, the Flames didn’t walk away empty handed. They brough in Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar via the Tkachuk trade and they use the cap space freed up in the Monahan trade to sign UFA Nazem Kadri. For a team looking to improve after a second round exit at the hands of their provincial rivals, it was a major pivot after two superstars decided to leave town. The acquisitions weren’t straight up replacements for the star power they lost but it was supposed to be enough that they could forge on in their quest to be a contender.
Just over a year later, the on-ice results thus far have been abysmal. The Flames missed the playoffs in 22/23 and they’ve stumbled out to a 2-3-1 record to open the 23/24 season. While Weegar’s performance has been somewhat of a bright spot, Huberdeau and Kadri have left Flames fans wanting more on a nightly basis. Hope is fading quickly that this core can take the team on a deep playoff run.
The short term ‘win-now’ outlook is bleak. And the longer term implications attached to the two blockbuster trades may sour the longer term outlook even more. The Flames were able to acquire a 1st round pick in the Tkachuk trade but gave it up again the in the Monahan deal. It’s not a simple pass through transaction however, as the conditions attached to the two picks produce a bevy of possible outcomes. With a pre-existing condition tied to the pick acquired in the Tkachuk trade, there’s even a dependence on the trade that sent Claude Giroux from Philadelphia to Florida at the 2022 trade deadline.
The conditions attached to the two trades add even more urgency to the Flames ‘win-now’ approach. If the Flames perform poorly, the conditions on the Monahan trade fall further in Montreal’s favor. They also need the Panthers to perform well since a struggling Florida team could make things even worse. By the time it’s all settled, the Flames will acquire either Florida’s 2025 1st Round Pick which can be no better than 11th overall or Florida’s 2026 unprotected 1st Round Pick. In turn, they’ll send either a 2024 1st Round Pick which can be no better than 20th overall, a 2025 2nd Round Pick that could be as high as 2nd overall, or an unprotected 2026 1st Round Pick.
The Flames went all-in during the summer of 2022 and it increasingly looks like they’re drawing dead.
