As the Calgary Flames try to keep pace in the Western Conference wild-card race, more and more attention is being paid to their pending unrestricted free agents and potential trade assets. There may be no bigger spotlight placed on a player than on the Flames’ first-line center Elias Lindholm.
The 29-year-old is in the final year of a six-year contract carrying a $4.85 million cap hit. Before training camp, Lindholm told the media he wanted to stay in Calgary. But since then, there hasn’t been significant headway made in terms of negotiations. Lindholm’s play, despite being named an All-Star, also hasn’t been ideal. He has two goals in his last 25 games, but still has 15 points in that span through assists. He remains the top player on Chris Johnston’s trade board and could serve as a top-six center for a contending team that trades for him.
If the Flames are going to trade Lindholm, they would need some high draft picks and prospects, and/or a young player who can play in the lineup sooner rather than later in return.
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman and Julian McKenzie decided to take an in-depth look at potential returns for a Lindholm trade should the Flames pursue one ahead of the March 8 trade deadline.
For this exercise, we’ve used last season’s trade between the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks involving Bo Horvat. The Canucks got a roster player with a few years of control left, a good prospect and a conditional first-round pick in 2023. When we looked at contract comparables for Lindholm last summer, Horvat’s $8.5 million AAV — which was signed after the trade — was a close match.
If the Flames try to find a similar return for Lindholm, here are some possible trade proposals that could make sense. The goal was to have trades featuring two strong, albeit not premium, future assets and a roster player.
Boston gets | Calgary gets |
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Elias Lindholm | Boston’s 1st-round pick in 2025 |
C Matt Poitras | |
LW Trent Frederic |
McKenzie: If the Flames can come away with Matt Poitras and a first-round pick to potentially offset the one they may lose in 2025 via the Sean Monahan trade, it’s not a bad haul. Poitras has shown some flashes in his debut NHL season at 19 and could excite the Flames fan base; patience will still need to be exacted for a player his age, though. Trent Frederic is an NHL player the Flames could use in their middle six for secondary scoring.
Pronman: The Bruins won’t love parting with Poitras given the success he’s had as a 19-year-old in the NHL, but he’s one of their few desirable young players and has elevated his stock this season. He’s a highly skilled playmaker albeit not that big or fast. The Bruins’ first-round pick in 2024 belongs to Detroit as part of the Tyler Bertuzzi deal so the Flames have to take a pick in 2025 here instead. The delayed pick hurts a bit but this still feels like a competitive package depending on how highly Calgary would value Poitras.
Colorado gets | Calgary gets |
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Elias Lindholm | Colorado’s 2024 first-round pick |
C Calum Ritchie | |
RW Logan O’Connor |
McKenzie: I am intrigued to see the reaction of Flames fans who want Bowen Byram as part of this trade package. Instead of the defenseman, why not a package that gets the team a promising, right-shot center for its prospect pool and a right-shot forward in Logan O’Connor who can play in the team’s middle-six? The skating ability and skill in Calum Ritchie could be very appealing for the Flames.
Pronman: Colorado has limited prospect capital to work with, but made two first-round picks last year in Ritchie and LD Mikhail Gulyayev. NHL teams will likely have less interest in the KHL-signed defenseman so Ritchie becomes their main trade asset to use. Ritchie is a good-sized forward who can skate and is very skilled although his effort can be inconsistent. O’Connor is a solid player, but they have a lot of solid forwards and someone needs to go to make the roster spots and money work.
Dallas gets |
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This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .