The Calgary Flames may be rebuilding, but that doesn’t mean Craig Conroy is stuck watching the trade market from the sidelines.
What makes Calgary interesting right now isn’t a headline player. It’s the room under the cap.
According to PuckPedia, the Flames have about $13.9 million in cap space at the moment, and that figure is expected to climb well beyond that as the season rolls on. Calgary is projected to have $65.8 million in deadline cap space, a number that gives the team a different kind of leverage.
That flexibility could turn the Flames into a useful partner for clubs that need to shed salary.
There’s already a sign Conroy is willing to work that angle. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reported this week that Calgary was part of the trade discussions that eventually sent Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flames were not in the mix to land Marchenko themselves.
Instead, Francis said Calgary was in position as a possible third team, ready to absorb salary and collect a draft pick in exchange for helping Columbus or Toronto create cap room.
The Flames weren’t needed to make the deal happen, but their presence in those talks says plenty about how Conroy may approach the rest of the season.
Calgary doesn’t have to spend its cap space on expensive additions. It can use that room to take on contracts other teams want off their books, then ask for draft capital or another asset in return. For a rebuilding team, that kind of move fits the bigger picture.
So while the Flames aren’t likely to be buyers at the deadline, they also don’t have to sit still. With plenty of projected cap space and a general manager looking for ways to add to a young roster, Calgary could end up being one of the NHL trade market’s more useful facilitators.
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For Vancouver, the decision is clearly about patience and development, not a fast track to the NHL. Canucks GM Ryan Johnson has made it clear there is no set timeline for a promotion, which puts the emphasis on steady growth in Abbotsford rather than immediate pressure in Vancouver. How Cootes settles in there, and how quickly he can turn a strong start into momentum, will be one of the early stories to watch once the season opens. [Read more 🡒]