A new potential trade bait piece has been named for the Calgary Flames ahead of the March 6 trade deadline.

It’s been mainly Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri whose names have surfaced in trade speculation, but the Flames, well outside a playoff spot, are in a position to move almost anyone should the offer be right.

The Flames have a bit of a logjam on the right side. Though they moved out Rasmus Andersson, they brought in a replacement, at least temporarily, in Zach Whitecloud.

Factor that all in, and you have five right-shot defencemen on the current roster in Whitecloud, MacKenzie Weegar, Brayden Pachal, Zayne Parekh, and Hunter Brzustewicz. Ideally, both Parekh and Brzustewicz will play in the majority of games following the Olympic break as they look to continue developing into impactful NHLers.

Perhaps identifying the situation the Flames find themselves in, the Ottawa Senators have shown trade interest in Weegar, as per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.

“The Senators have been scouring the market for a blueliner who can play in the club’s top four all season, and league executives told Postmedia on Tuesday that the club may have held trade talks with the Calgary Flames about MacKenzie Weegar,” Garrioch wrote.

Weegar, who was considered a strong consideration to crack Canada’s Olympic roster heading into the 2025-26 campaign, has had a season he would like to forget. His offence has dropped dramatically with 16 points through 52 games, but it’s his league-worst plus-minus (-30) that truly shows just how rough things have gone.

Given what he’s shown in his three seasons prior with the Flames, however, this appears to be an outlier rather than a player in decline. That gives Weegar, who, prior to this season, was considered to have a team-friendly $6.25 million cap hit, trade value. The question is, how much?

The Flames are in a rebuild, which has plenty of the fan base hoping to see GM Craig Conroy move on from veterans in hopes of giving younger players such as Parekh and Brzustewicz bigger opportunities. That said, there is reason for concern when it comes to moving Weegar.

Despite the 32-year-old’s struggles, he is playing heavy minutes for the Flames, averaging north of 23 minutes per game. Without him in the lineup, head coach Ryan Huska would have no choice but to throw Parekh and Brzustewicz right into the fire. That’s a risky proposition given that the two have a combined 30 games of NHL experience.

Unless the Flames were to receive an offer ahead of the trade deadline that blows them away, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to move on from Weegar before the season ends. That will allow for both Parekh and Brzustewicz to continue to play sheltered minutes and prove that they are truly NHL-ready. Should they do so, the Flames could then potentially explore moving Weegar in the summer, or perhaps even during the 2026-27 season.

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