Calgary Off-Season News
Aug 6, 2020 14:27:06 GMT -5
Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and 6 more like this
Post by Calgary Flames on Aug 6, 2020 14:27:06 GMT -5
Entering the 2019-2020 VHL playoffs, everybody had the Calgary Flames as underdogs. A team that was on the rise, and hasn’t been in the playoffs for over 12 years, nobody expected them to get to the Stanley Cup Finals and being one game away from winning it all. To get to that point, the Flames had to win three game 7’s to reach the Finals against some stiff competition. They were this year’s Cinderella story, and the franchise has bright hopes for the future.
“We are proud of this group and the distance they went. Being one win shy of winning the Cup stings, but it drives us to be better going forward..makes us hungrier like Betty White and a Snickers bar. We want to get back there and will.” O’Leary echoed to the media in the team’s first availability this off-season via zoom.
Calgary Begins Off-Season with BBB Buyout, followed by Blockbuster Trade
O’Leary has been known to make moves when it mattered. When he got here, he cleaned house and traded the Sedin sisters to Tampa Bay Lightning for prospect Jaccob Slavin, Brock Boesser (1st from Chicago), among others. The Flames also moved up 3 spots in the 2015 draft, acquiring the 4th overall pick which turned into Mitch Marner. Last year’s offseason trade was sending the 6th overall pick in the 2019 draft to Philadelphia Flyers for veteran forward Jamie Benn, who played a crucial role in Calgary’s deep Cup run.
Fast forward to the coronavirus pandemic, the VHL offseason was underway. With teams like San Jose Sharks smoking cigars and wheeling blockbuster deals, O’Leary knew he needed to address needs, especially when his team is young and they are itching for another chance at a Cup for years to come. First, despite rumors swirling against this, the Flames bought out Bobby Ryan outright and didn't waive him. Pure foolishness, but is what it is. He has now landed in Nashville and will help to turn their franchise around.
There were rumors the Flames were in on the Panarin sweepstakes with Vegas, which would have complimented nicely with the strong core of forwards the Flames have built internally. During our weekly Zoom call at the Ball Estate, we asked about the rumored deal. “We were involved, yes. The conversation with Vegas was very open, and we had some good dialogue about what our needs were on both sides. We were aware he was going in a different direction, and appreciated him letting us know which allowed us to explore other opportunities. Obviously there was a reason we went after a player like Panarin, as we felt he would have complimented our dynamic offense very well, but life moves on.” Said O’Leary. “We knew our offer was very competitive with what was being floated out there for Panarin, and that helped us determine what our next move could look like. While we did feel keeping those players would have helped us going forward; resigning Vrana and the prospects involved are on a solid path towards the NHL, we felt this was the right opportunity to upgrade.”
Clearly the package was good enough to land someone of Panarin’s caliber. Enter Patrik Laine, who has been rumored to be on Florida Panthers trade block for a while. Reports say Calgary and Florida engaged in talks for Laine immediately after the deal for Panarin fell through, and O’Leary made a Godfather like offer to Florida. Acquiring Laine, who scored 30 goals in his first 3 seasons and 28 in the shortened 2019 season, adds another scoring touch and solidifies the future for years to come.
“This is something I didn’t expect to happen quickly, but I think Matt was surprised with our first offer. We did have to sweeten the deal to make it final, and we were comfortable with that. Bringing the former 2nd overall into our already deep group was enticing enough for us to pursue the deal. We with Vrana and our prospects sent to Florida well, and welcome Laine to the Red Mile.”
The trades kept coming for the Flames. Before the Laine deal, the Flames sent veteran defenseman Brayden Coburn to Tampa Bay for defenseman Jake Gardiner. Gardiner should help the Flames on the back end as a bottom pairing dman, and is in the final year of his contract as well. Recently, the Flames traded Brian Boyle to San Jose for forward Joel Kellman and a 2023 3rd Round Pick. The move was intended to clear cap space for Calgary, despite the Flames eating $1,000,000 to make the deal work for San Jose. Right after this move, the Flames acquired defenseman Markus Nutivarra from Tampa Bay in exchange for a 2023 2nd Round Pick. With Markus, the Flames fill a void on the back end and get some depth on the back end as well.
Free Agency Lackluster
Due to limited cap room and the various trades made, free agency was quiet for Calgary. Rumors had it that they were involved initially for Marc-Eduoard-Vlasic until he was out of their price range and decided on going to the Rangers. The Flames also were very close to signing defenseman Mark Borowiecki, but lost interest after he demanded Bobby Ryan money. The Flames did win out on the Derek Brassard sweepstakes, signing the veteran forward to a 3 year deal at $2.5/year.
“We like Brassard a lot, and think he will slide into our third/fourth line. He’s coming off a solid year with the Islanders after some injury plagued seasons, and we’re excited to have his veteran presence in the locker room.” O’Leary said after chugging his 10th cup of coffee.
Looking at the Prospects
Despite the prospect pool taking a hit after the Laine trade, O’Leary is still confident some of these guys they have can make the jump in the next few years. “We’re really excited about Scott Perunovich, who’s coming out of a solid year with the UMD Bulldogs and claiming the Hobey Baker award. We do think he should make the jump with us in the next year, maybe two, depending how the NHL shapes out with the Coronavirus and whatnot, but we’re excited for Scott’s future with the VHL Flames.” Another defenseman is the BBB himself, Kevin Bahl. O’Leary did admit Lavar chose this pick, despite his hockey knowledge, but Bahl has turned out into an evolving prospect. The 6’ 7” defenseman has turned heads, and being sent to the NHL Devils may fast track his progress to the NHL. Another prospect to look at is Michael “Mikey” Anderson, teammate of Perunovich at UMD. He played 6 games with the NHL Kings, scoring a goal and a +4. In the AHL, he had 3 goals and12 assists in 53 games with a -10.
The Flames hold two draft picks this year; their own 2nd and a 3rd round pick via Vegas. Their first, along with their first for next year, was part of the Laine deal. “This is a very deep draft, and I’m not too concerned about drafting this year. We’ve had our fun in the draft for the past couple of years, and we may trade back into this draft or next year’s..who knows?”
2020-2021 Projected Lineup
The Flames will bring back a majority of this year’s team next season, and will be without guys like Vrana and Coburn. While their goaltending position may be in question, the Flames did improve their offense with the addition of Laine and on the backend by adding Gardiner and Nutivarra as depth players. This upcoming season should be fun for Calgary.
Laine - Pettersson - Marner
Bertuzzi - Benn - Boesser
Coleman - Tierney - Brassard
Nieto - Kellman- Caggiula
Slavin - Sergachev
Dahlin - Bogosian
Gardiner - Nutivaara
Campbell
Nilsson
