The Calgary Flames have spent the summer beefing up the blue line, and that work may be forcing a bigger question up front: do they finally dip into what’s left of free agency?
A few weeks ago, general manager Craig Conroy told Eric Francis of Sportsnet that the Flames probably wouldn’t be shopping in that market, saying he didn’t expect many available players to fit what Calgary is trying to do. But the roster picture has changed enough to keep the door cracked open. The Flames have a wave of young players pushing for NHL jobs, yet they also have plenty of holes, and some of those gaps could be easier to patch with a proven veteran than with another trade.
Calgary’s defense has already been the focus of the offseason. The team traded for and extended Simon Nemec, then added Jacob Middleton from the Minnesota Wild. Those moves deepen the back end and could even create room to move a defenseman if the Flames decide they need to chase secondary scoring or a top-six forward.
Still, after putting that much into defense, Conroy may be reluctant to subtract from that group just to balance out the forwards. That’s where free agency starts to make sense. A signing would let Calgary add an established NHL player without having to sacrifice more of its defensive depth.
Right now, the Flames may be forced to push inexperienced forwards into bigger roles than they’re ready for. That’s a risky setup for a team trying to win now, and it can also slow down the development of younger players if they’re asked to handle more than they should.
Calgary doesn’t need a headline-grabber. It needs dependable NHL forwards who can steady the group.
The best fit on the board looks like Eeli Tolvanen. He’s coming off a solid season with the Seattle Kraken, finishing with 12 goals and 24 assists. At 27, he still fits the timeline of a team moving out of its rebuild, and he looks like the kind of player who could grow with the roster rather than just fill a short-term hole.
Tolvanen would bring a lot of useful pieces to Calgary: two-way reliability, some depth scoring, and maybe a role on the second power-play unit. He’s not being sold as a shutdown force, but he is the kind of winger coaches can trust in different situations.
That matters for a team trying to create competition for ice time while also giving younger players a veteran to learn from. The fact that he’s still available more than a week into free agency also suggests Calgary could land him on a short-term, low-risk deal.
Michael Bunting is another name that fits, even if he’s a little further along in his career. The 30-year-old has been on the move since signing a three-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2023, with stops in Pittsburgh, Nashville and Dallas. He brings edge, energy and the kind of net-front presence that can make life miserable for opponents.
Bunting isn’t likely to pile up huge numbers, but he’s the sort of player who can land in the 40-50-point range and keep the temperature high. For a Flames group trying to identify the right pros to influence younger players, that has value. His age doesn’t line up perfectly with Calgary’s long-term arc, but a two- or three-year deal would still make him a manageable bet if the Flames believe he can still be useful when they’re ready to push for the playoffs.
The trade market hasn’t made this easy. It’s been a seller’s market, which can make it tough to find young forwards without overpaying. That doesn’t mean Calgary should rule out a trade, but signing someone like Tolvanen or Bunting would give the Flames another path and buy them time to see what else becomes available once the season starts.
The free-agent pool isn’t overflowing, but there are still some middle-six forwards out there who could help right away. For a team that has already done the hard work on defense, that may be the cleanest way to start fixing the other side of the roster.
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