On August 13th the Pittsburgh Penguins made a trade with Nashville to acquire Cody Glass in exchange for prospect Jordan Frasca. In addition to the prospect the Penguins also received a 2025 third-round and 2026 sixth-round draft pick. Pittsburgh got the additional draft picks in the trade because they did Nashville a favour. They took on Glass’ 2.5 million dollar salary. Nashville is right at the cap and still has two RFA’s to sign in Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino. This trade provides a template for how Calgary could look to capitalize on their current cap situation. According to Puck Pedia the Calgary Flames currently have just over $19 million dollars in cap space for the 2024-2025 season.
3 Contracts the Flames Could Take On To Gain Assets
Edmonton Oilers Defenceman
1. Cody Ceci & Brett Kulak
This example has more than one contract. It is one scenario where the Flames could use their cap space to help the Oilers and get assets in return. On August 13th, the St. Louis Blues signed both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets. Edmonton is currently sitting $7 million over the cap, meaning they will need to make some sort of move quickly. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch has suggested that the Oilers are currently looking to trade either or both Cody Ceci and Brett Kulak. Kulak currently has two years remaining on his $2.75 million AAV contract. Ceci has just one year remaining at $3.25 million AAV.
Why the Flames should do it
If Calgary were to help out their provincial rivals it would come with the benefit of some additional prospects or picks. As we saw with the Nashville and Pittsburgh trade, taking on a contract like Brett Kulak‘s could come along with two mid-round draft picks. The Flames are currently in the middle of a rebuild. Getting as many assets as possible should be a top priority for general manager Craig Conroy. The Flames have plenty of cap space to take on one or both of the contracts. The logistics wouldn’t be that hard. Additionally, the Flames could likely flip both the veteran defencemen for a modest return at the 2025 NHL trade deadline.
Why it Won’t Happen
Firstly, it’s the Edmonton Oilers. Craig Conroy lived through the rivalry on the ice and making deals with bitter rivals is never easy. The Calgary Flames are also not looking to fill their current roster with aging veterans. Last season, Craig Conroy made it clear he wanted to have spots on his roster available so they could develop their prospects. They can figure out which players could become a part of the core moving forward. Adding more veterans than they currently have would go against this line of thinking. Although, Conroy could find a home for Ceci or Kulak before the start of the season.
2. Darnell Nurse
This contract for the Flames will be hard. Now the rumours of the Oilers shopping Brett Kulak and Cody Ceci make a lot of sense. They are smaller cap hits with less term. It makes the logistics of moving them a lot easier. But what about the idea of moving a bigger contract to help ease the Oilers cap crunch? Darnell Nurse has 4 years remaining at an AAV of $9.25 million. If the Oilers were able to move that contract or even a part of it, it could provide them even more flexibility than moving Kulak and Ceci.
Why the Flames should do it
Despite all the criticism of Nurse, he is still a very good NHL defenceman. He just isn’t $9 million dollars a season good. If the Flames brought Nurse in for a portion of his current salary and slotted him appropriately without the expectations and pressure he could end up being a very effective player for Calgary. Additionally, helping the Oilers move Nurse off their books could bring assets. If the Flames took on all the money, they could likely get their hands on one of the Oilers’ top prospects and a future first-round pick. As we mentioned with Ceci and Kulak, the Flames aren’t looking to fill their six spots on defence with veterans. However, bringing in Nurse would give the Flames the flexibility of moving a player like Rasmus Andersson. Nurse would be able to play the big minutes the Flames need to help shelter their younger defenceman in theNHL. If the Flames were to move a player like Andersson the return could be huge.
Why it won’t happen
The Oilers are in a pinch to make a move quickly with the pressure of the offer sheets. Making a deal of this magnitude probably won’t come together that quickly. Nurse also has a no-movement clause and he might not be interested in leaving the Oilers to go a rival in rebuild mode. Additionally, as we discussed above Nurse is still a good player. The Oilers are trying to win a Stanley Cup and moving off of a player who played in their top-four without a suitable defenceman, puts them further away from their goal.
The Flames aren’t known for taking on bad contracts and the sure volume of this contract might be a non-starter for ownership. Finally, it’s the Oilers, and as we mentioned above, it’s also hard to make a deal with a bitter rival. I
2. Josh Anderson
The Canadians currently have $4.5 million in cap space, so this deal may become more realistic next offseason, but Anderson has 3-years remaining at $5.5 million a year on his current contract and is now 30 years old. Montreal is a little bit of head of Calgary in their rebuild cycle and is looking to make a jump closer to playoff contention. As Anderson continues to age his productivity can be expected to continue to drop, this combined with the fact that Montreal also has money tied up in aging veteran Brendan Gallagher could mean they are looking to move off the power forward.
Why the Flames should do it
The benefit of taking on any team’s bad contract is the assets they are willing to throw in to improve their cap situation. The Montreal Canadiens have built up a strong prospect pool over the past few seasons which means Calgary would have more than one target worth taking. Despite the fact Montreal isn’t yet in a cap crunch they have plenty of young talent coming up which means they will need to move some money out in the near future to ensure they can sign their internal RFA’s. If Montreal can make a jump this season the willingness from management to offload Anderson’s contract will increase and Calgary should have plenty of cap space to work with for the next few seasons.
Why it won’t happen
As mentioned above Montreal isn’t yet in dire need to move any money out. Typically in the NHL teams don’t make moves until the pressure of a deadline begins to creep in. Montreal may be a season or two away from making this deal. Additionally, the Flames will want to keep some open spots for their young players to make the jump to the NHL. They currently have enough veterans on the roster for a team looking to get younger. Adding any forwards up front likely wouldn’t happen until the Flames trade out one or two more veterans.
3. Alex Pietrangelo
The current Las Vegas captain has 3 years remaining at $8.8 million AAV. At 34 years old Pietrangelo showed signs of slowing down during the most recent playoffs. Vegas has been right up against the cap the past few seasons, and this year will be no different. Vegas is heading into the season $3.6 million over the cap. Short of some fortunate injuries, the Vegas Golden Knights may be forced to move out some salary in order to keep their cup window alive. If not this season, then certainly next year this possibility increases as Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb, and Nicolas Hague could all be needing extensions.
Why the Flames should do it
Calgary already holds the Las Vegas 2026 first-round pick from the Noah Hanifin trade, but Las Vegas has some intriguing prospects that Calgary would be interested in. If the Flames were able to take on all of the $8.8 million contract the return would surely be strong. Piertrangelo would also be the perfect type of player to lead Calgary’s young prospects on the backend. The two-time Stanley Cup champion is known for his leadership and could be an excellent mentor while still playing at a relatively high level.
Why it won’t happen
Pietrangelo has a no-movement clause. The chances he would be willing to waive this to come to a rebuilding Calgary team are slim. Las Vegas has also shown they aren’t interested in subtracting from their lineup. They are still in win-now mode and despite his decline in play, Pietrangelo is still a very good player that can help them win. The most likely scenario is that Calgary acts as a third-party broker taking on some money while Pietrangelo is shipped to a more competitive team and the Flames receive a modest return for their involvement.
Other Teams To Watch
The St. Louis Blues currently have nine defecemen signed to one-way contracts. If the Edmonton doesn’t match the offer sheet for Philip Broberg that will put St. Louis at ten. Tory Krug may be placed on LTIR to start the season, but with nine defencemen the Blues may need to move someone out especially later in the season if Krug is ready to return and they are looking to be buyers at the deadline.
The New York Islanders have a lot of older veterans signed to big money. Although they’ve been productive, if any of the likes of Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, or Jean-Gabriel Pageau are struggling to start the season, the Islanders could look to offload some money and use it come at trade deadline.
Looking Forward
The opportunities for the Flames to take on contracts and use their cap space to gain assets will continue to appear throughout this offseason and into the regular season. With many teams tight against the cap Craig Conroy should be letting every general manager around the league know that if they are looking to shed salary the Flames have room for the right price. This tactic should be explored and used to Calgary’s advantage for the next couple of seasons while they continue to rebuild.
Main Photo: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
