{"id":557863,"date":"2026-04-22T10:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T10:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557863\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T10:36:18","slug":"3-early-flames-trade-candidates-after-missing-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557863\/","title":{"rendered":"3 early Flames trade candidates after missing 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 early Flames trade candidates after missing 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Calgary Flames<\/a> came nowhere close to making the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, finishing with 77 points. They made plenty of trades in the regular season, parting with Nazem Kadri<\/a> and Rasmus Andersson<\/a>. But the Flames should be making more trades in the offseason, with Blake Coleman<\/a> firmly on the block. Who else should Calgary move this offseason?<\/p>\n

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The Flames have a decent young core coming together at the NHL level. Matt Coranto, Zayne Parekh<\/a>, and Dustin Wolf<\/a> will all be 26 or younger when next season begins. But they are not enough to take this brutal group of overpaid veterans to the postseason. Wolf took a significant step back in his second full season,<\/a> but even a bounce-back from him won\u2019t be enough. It\u2019s time for the Flames to trade.<\/p>\n

Who should be on the block for the Flames? And do they all make sense as offseason deals, or can they wait for the offseason?<\/p>\n

Blake Coleman should no longer be on the Flames\"Sergei<\/p>\n

Sergei Belski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

At the NHL trade deadline, there were plenty of rumors around the Flames. Andersson was already gone, and there was fire to the Kadri-to-Colorado smoke. But there was also a lot of conversation around Coleman, who now enters the final year of his deal. With two Stanley Cup titles under his belt and a 20-goal season just last year, Coleman should be a valuable asset.<\/p>\n

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This is where the Flames can look at the Stanley Cup Playoffs to find the best trade candidate. Who gets bounced too early because of a lack of depth scoring? If that is the Ottawa Senators<\/a>, who are down 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a>, he would be a great fit there. Matthew Tkachuk played with Coleman in Calgary<\/a>, so why not link up with brother Brady in Ottawa?<\/p>\n

The Flames have an extra first-round pick in each of the next three drafts, so securing another is not a priority. But if they can get it for Coleman, or use him to move up in the first round, it would be a great use of assets.<\/p>\n

Can they turn Ryan Strome<\/a> into a pick?<\/p>\n

The Flames took on Ryan Strome at the trade deadline after the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> figured out they did not have playing time for him. A proven veteran, Strome has slowed down in recent years. In 52 games across the two stops, he scored just eight goals. But the Flames did not give up a pick to get him, so can they convince some team that they need Strome? Even a mid-round pick would be a great turnaround for Calgary.<\/p>\n

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Strome is entering the final year of his deal, which pays him $5 million. Only Kadri remains on the books with a retained salary after July 1, so once that date passes, they can trade Strome with a $2.5 million cap hit. That is a much more digestible number for a team looking for a bottom-line center.<\/p>\n

The Flames need to be taking as many swings in the NHL Draft as possible, so even getting a mid-round pick for Strome will be a huge win.<\/p>\n

Olli Maatta<\/a> should be sent right back out the door<\/p>\n

The Flames also traded Mackenzie Weegar at the NHL trade deadline<\/a>, sending him to the Utah Mammoth<\/a>. In return, they got three second-round picks and took on the final 2.5 years of Olli Maatta\u2019s contract. With two full years at $3.5 million per season left on Maatta\u2019s deal, Calgary should be trying to send him right back out the door.<\/p>\n

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The New York Islanders<\/a> desperately tried to repair their defense on the fly last year. The trade for Carson Soucy<\/a> was a disaster; their top defensive prospect, Kashawn Aitcheson, is not ready yet, and Tony DeAngelo<\/a> is a free agent. They have some picks to trade and need a body to play on the blue line. Maatta would be a solid fit.<\/p>\n

The Flames should be trading anyone with value this offseason, preferably before the draft. With a new arena coming in 2028, they want to put a competitive team on the ice for that season. That means their draft picks have to come soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3 early Flames trade candidates after missing 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[233,8157,895,26,5294,29,5901,504,896,5,2339,94,2054,159,4,548,13363,25,3327,6496,104,3318,5891,3613,3154,3326],"class_list":{"0":"post-557863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary-flames","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-blake-coleman","10":"tag-calgary","11":"tag-calgary-flames","12":"tag-calgaryflames","13":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","14":"tag-carson-soucy","15":"tag-dustin-wolf","16":"tag-flames","17":"tag-hockey","18":"tag-mackenzie-weegar","19":"tag-matthew-tkachuk","20":"tag-nazem-kadri","21":"tag-new-york-islanders","22":"tag-nhl","23":"tag-nhl-trade-deadline","24":"tag-olli-maatta","25":"tag-ottawa-senators","26":"tag-rasmus-andersson","27":"tag-ryan-strome","28":"tag-stanley-cup-playoffs","29":"tag-the-flames","30":"tag-tony-deangelo","31":"tag-trade","32":"tag-utah-mammoth","33":"tag-zayne-parekh"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116447925996291874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}