Calgary Flames Looking At Montreal Canadiens Trade?

It would seem that the Calgary Flames have interest in a deal with the Montreal Canadiens, with Mikael Backlund’s name being floated as a potential trade piece.

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Reports on Sportsnet point out that Calgary Flames scouts have been a regular fixture in Montreal over the past two months, whilst sources close to the Canadiens are pointing at potential interest in Backlund.

The question is what the Calgary Flames may seek in return; Montreal has plenty of useful assets, but it depends what they’d be willing to give up and whether they are playing the role of a ‘buying’ or ‘selling’ team in the current marketplace.

Backlund comes with a manageable cap hit when compared to other market options, especially given his age – he’s not exactly ‘over the hill’ yet!

For any sort of deal to be done, obviously there needs to be teams come to the party; the Calgary Flames would likely be willing, but would Montreal have any player specifically worth the while of the Calgary Flames.

Tomas Fleischmann, Dale Weise, Tom Gilbert and Ben Scrivens seem the most likely players that the Canadiens would move, given they are unrestricted free agents in the summer. None of these would really fit any sort of forward planning for the Calgary Flames.

Lars Eller, on the other hand, could fit the Calgary Flames line-up in a similar way to Michael Frolik has this year. He could provide some degree of veteran presence without being too old that his skill-set is deteriorating.

Eller would likely cost more than just Backlund, but the Calgary Flames should have some confidence that there is depth in reserve; the team suiting up with the Stockton Heat has plenty of strong options to bring up.

Should such a deal occur, you’d imagine Eller could comfortably slot in on the second line with Sam Bennett and Frolik, offering some solid secondary offensive punch.

Next: Calgary Flames Win The Hunter Shinkaruk Trade

Whether this is the deal that the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens have been looking at or whether it’s way off the mark, trade deadline day is approaching and it’s hard to fathom neither side will be making deals.

Do you think there’s anything to the suggestion that the Calgary Flames and Canadiens are looking to deal? Let us know your thought in the comments section below.

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