Calgary Flames Should Trade Troy Brouwer, Not Expose him

The Calgary Flames could possibly lose Troy Brouwer in the Vegas expansion draft, so they should look to trade him and get assets back.

The Calgary Flames would obviously be more worried about beating the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs right now instead of planning out their decisions for the upcoming offseason.

But life simply isn’t fair sometimes. Newly re-upped general manager Brad Treliving has a lot on his plate over the next few months. Obviously, he’ll need to decide what the Flames will do with their first-round pick this year. He’s going to have to decide which players should be left exposed in the Vegas expansion draft, and he needs a new number one goalie.

And when it comes to leaving players available, veteran power forward Troy Brouwer could be among the top skaters available for the Vegas Golden Knights to select.

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Last Tuesday, Eric Francis from the Calgary Sun noted why we shouldn’t be surprised if Brouwer is left unprotected from going to Vegas:

“Brouwer will almost certainly be one of the odd men out this summer when the Flames to submit their protected list June 17 for the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft…Thus, the list of seven forwards protected will likely include Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik, Micheal Ferland, Sam Bennett and Lazar.”

As Francis pointed out, Matthew Tkachuk will automatically be protected since he’s a first-year player.

Even though the Flames had to be pleased with Brouwer’s 13 goals and 25 points (from a player who only averaged 16:13 time on ice per game), the reality is that he’s not going to play out the final three years of his contract in Calgary.

Brouwer will undoubtedly be the best player available to Vegas, and it’d be a shock if the Golden Knights passed on him. Rather than lose the three-time 20-goal scorer for nothing, the Flames should look to trade him.

Yes, Brouwer had his worst season since 2008-09 (when he scored 10 goals and 26 assists). But the Flames have so much depth on offence — as evidenced by the 12 different players who scored double-digit goals.

Brouwer didn’t see much time as a top-six forward and thus didn’t get the opportunity to score much. It was different with the Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues, however. Brouwer scored 17-plus goals every year from 2009-10 to 2015-16, playing over 17 minutes a game most nights.

The other attractive thing about his game? Brouwer can bring it in the playoffs with his size (6-foot-3, 213 pounds). He had eight goals and 13 points in 20 games for the Blues during the 2016 playoffs.

With three years left on his deal that will pay Brouwer $4.5 million a season, teams should feel more inclined to pick up a bargain of a contract. 20-goal scorers usually cost far more than that.

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Brouwer isn’t exactly a superstar, but he’s still too solid of a player to be lost for nothing. There should be a handful of teams willing to trade for him, and the Calgary Flames would be smart to get a draft pick(s) or a young player for him.

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