The Calgary Flames will be just fine
Summer has arrived.
The Stanley Cup has been awarded, Connor McDavid is walking home with some silverware, and some Calgary Flames players have vocalized that they are unwilling to re-sign and stick around past their current contracts.
Standard stuff, really.
After losing both Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk last season, you can see why Flames fans would be a little upset after another kick in the gut.
But I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be okay.
Even if the default reaction is to spiral into despair and gloom given that Tyler Toffoli, Noah Hanifin, Mikael Backlund, and Elias Lindholm aren’t going to sign long-term, there are a few things worth considering to keep a level head.
First off, Calgary has rattled off two 50 win seasons in the past 5 years. They’ve been a little volatile when they haven’t been totally dominant, but given the fact that Calgary picked in the top 6 three times in four years from 2013-2016, that’s a worthy peak for a rebuild to ascend to. Yes, you want it to be more consistent, and yes, the Stanley Cup is the ultimate goal.
But most teams don’t ever get there.
Secondly, other than Backlund, those three aforementioned players were traded for. It sounds like Tofolli’s Flames career will end after three seasons. But Hanifin and Lindholm were acquired together in the summer of 2018, and both of those players signed 6 year contracts through their mid 20s. Hanifin is now 26. Lindholm is 28. These players have played what is likely half of their NHL career in Calgary. There are positives in that.
But when contracts expire in a players mid-to-late 20s, they become UFAs, or at least have it looming. These are massive life decisions for these athletes – and they earn the right to test the open market and see what’s out there for themselves and their families.
And for places like Calgary, and other smaller/wintery markets, players need to believe in the program if they’re going to stick around. Winning cures all. And there’s nothing wrong with a player deciding that he’s not sure if he has a chance to win with the current direction of the franchise.
Given Darryl Sutter’s unceremonious exit, and the fact that they now employ an untested GM in Craig Conroy, you can sense that an era has ended. That is natural. And it’s okay. The Flames began a rebuild in 2013 with Sean Monahan as their 6th overall pick. They added Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett in the draft, and traded for Dougie Hamilton, Lindholm, and Hanifin.
Those players as young 20 year olds believed in building a core together and trying to ascend the daunting mountain that is winning a Stanley Cup. They tried, they never got there, and it’s time for all to move on.
The belief has waned, and that’s okay. That’s sports – especially in a hard salary cap league.
You make the best of the situation and move on. These athletes owe nothing to a city or organization other than playing their hearts out while under contract. In some cases, they’ve even done the franchise a solid by being honest about their intentions to test free agency and sign elsewhere.
Finally, the Flames have some good and interesting prospects. Mired under the leadership of Darryl Sutter and weighty playoff expectations, there wasn’t much room for prospects to come in and make mistakes and grow into being an NHL player.
That space now exists.
Matthew Coronato – the 13th overall pick from 2021 – will come in with plenty of support. Undersized, skilled forwards like Jakob Pelletier will be nurtured given the team’s personal investment in him as a former late first round pick. Dominant 5’7 AHL forward Matthew Phillips could also be given a shot.
And Dustin Wolf is one of the, if not the best, goaltending prospect in the entire sport right now.
No, the situation is not perfect. It’s nice when stars stick around and continue to shine in your favourite team’s uniform.
But the doom and gloom of players leaving certain markets needs to be adjusted. It’s different generation of athletes now, one that’s willing to exercise their rights as players and free agents.
And when they do, you make the best of the situation, and hold the door on their way out.
The Flames will be just fine.
