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What should be one of the most exciting off-seasons in recent memory is about to kick off.
The NHL draft is a handful of days away, and free agency kicks off in just over a week.
The expectation is the Calgary Flames, who want to shake things up and have real flexibility due to an abundance of expiring contracts, will be active on the open market.
Here are a few names they could covet (I excluded goaltenders because, well, they’re being linked to *everybody*):
D - Alex Pietrangelo
Pietrangelo is the biggest name who could be available on the open market and there’s been plenty of noise around the Flames pursuing him. They want to upgrade on the back end and they have the cap space to do it. Signing Pietrangelo would give the Flames a Big Three featuring he, Mark Giordano, and Rasmus Andersson. Few teams could match that; at least right now. You can debate whether giving a big money, long-term deal to somebody on the wrong side of 30 is a good idea but Giordano is proof that it *can* work out.
I don’t doubt for a second the Flames are seriously interested. Pietrangelo is a game-changer and GM Brad Treliving could very well be managing for his job (another meh season and the Flames likely move on, in my opinion).
The question is whether they will give Pietrangelo the contract he is looking for – rumor has it he wants a lot of money up front and in signing bonuses – and if he deems the Flames close enough to contention to sign off what could be the rest of his career.
D - Carson Soucy
Soucy is not a name-brand play by any means. He is, however, a plus defender in his own zone and brings some edge; he would have finished 2nd among Flames defenders in hits despite appearing in only 55 games. The Flames have talked about wanting to be tougher to play against for what feels like forever so I could see them having interest here, especially if they move a left-handed defenseman like Noah Hanifin.
W - Craig Smith
Smith is one of my favorite free agent targets this off-season. He scores ~20 goals per year despite skating on the 3rd line and not being heavily featured on the power play. He’s an efficient scorer, he drives play, and he *always* helps his team out-score the opposition. I hear that’s important. Word is he’s looking for a three-year deal and I don’t think his ask in terms of dollars would be unreasonable. Signing Smith would be a good way to add more scoring pop to the middle-6 without paying a crazy price.
W - Tyler Toffoli
The Flames were linked to Toffoli prior to the trade deadline. Considering the impact he made during a short period of time in Vancouver I have no doubt they remain interested at some level; as they should.
He is an excellent chance generator and regained some of that scoring touch while playing important offensive minutes on a faster-paced, more offensive-minded team than he’s accustomed to.
I think he would mesh nicely with some combination of Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and give the Flames another needed layer of offense.
W - Taylor Hall
This is another guy the Flames have been linked to for what feels like forever. They were rumored to have offered a package including Noah Hanifin to land him from New Jersey this past season. Obviously that didn’t work out but now potential lies for the Flames to a) sign Hall and; b) trade Hanifin for additional help.
Hall would add speed, plus-transition play, and another impact weapon up front. He’d also give the Flames flexibility if they wished to part with one of their bigger named forwards to address other needs.
I do have some concern about giving him a long-term deal – there were some red flags with his play this year – but there’s no doubt he’d make the Flames a much better team right now. After all, he put up 52 points in 65 games in a ‘down year’ while playing for two inept offensive teams.
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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