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Calgary Flames: The Case for Trading Prospects

By Tomas Oppolzer

CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 21: Stockton Heat right wing Spencer Foo (15) is congratulated by Stockton Heat defenceman Rasmus Andersson (14), Stockton Heat center Colin Smith (37) and Stockton Heat defenceman Tyler Wotherspoon (5) after scoring a goal during the first period of the American Hockey League game between the Stockton Heat and Cleveland Monsters on February 21, 2018, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Stockton defeated Lake Erie 6-3. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 21: Stockton Heat right wing Spencer Foo (15) is congratulated by Stockton Heat defenceman Rasmus Andersson (14), Stockton Heat center Colin Smith (37) and Stockton Heat defenceman Tyler Wotherspoon (5) after scoring a goal during the first period of the American Hockey League game between the Stockton Heat and Cleveland Monsters on February 21, 2018, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Stockton defeated Lake Erie 6-3. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Calgary Flames are in a spot where trading prospects for help now makes sense.

A month ago at the trade deadline, the general feeling around the Calgary Flames was that people would like to see them make upgrades, but not for the cost of moving top prospects. This line of thought does have some merit to it. If you’re a rebuilding team, obviously you don’t want to trade every prospect for some rentals. The idea of rebuilding is to build up that young base. That said, I don’t believe the Flames are in that position anymore. They are in a spot where leveraging those young players to contend now makes sense.

Let me preface this by saying I’m not suggesting the Flames should’ve completely cleaned out the cupboard for some rental. Given where they were in the standings, that would be silly. That said, they’re a team in a position where trading prospects for players w/term that can help now makes sense.

The fact of the matter is this, when you look at the Calgary Flames top players, most are all either just entering their prime (Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Dougie Hamilton) or near the end of their primes (TJ Brodie, Mikael Backlund). One key exception to that is Mark Giordano who, while much older, is still elite but there’s no telling how long those elite years will last. With so many of Calgary’s top players in those prime age groups, they can’t afford to wait on all their prospects to make the jump.

There is a precedent for these types of moves

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When you look at the best teams in the NHL over the last 5-8 years (Pittsburgh Penguins and LA Kings specifically) they are all teams that obviously had homegrown talent. More than that though, they added key players via trade that helped push them over the top. With Pittsburgh, they traded a top pick and a top prospect in Kasperi Kapanen so they could add Phil Kessel. More relevant, however, was LA who were even more aggressive, trading players like Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, and Jack Johnson so they could add Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, two players that were key cogs in their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cups.

I know it doesn’t feel like it now with how disappointing this season has gone. I believe the Calgary Flames are in a similar spot to those LA Kings. The Flames are a team with a lot of good pieces in place and are a top possession team. The last piece to push the roster over that final threshold is to use the assets they’ve built up on the farm. Use them to add a top 6 forward or two and round out the team up front. It’ll be hard to see those prospects go, when they challenge for the cup, it’ll be worth it.

Next: Should be Contending Flames Crumbling Instead

Whether or not the Flames do add a forward one thing is for certain. Keeping Micheal Stone wasn’t the best decision.

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