Burn The Bridge: Flames Should Avoid Past Mistakes With Key Contract Negotiations Ahead

steve macfarlane
·3 min read

With the NHL deadline around the corner, the Calgary Flames are in great position to make any moves desired based on their salary-cap situation.

Despite some hefty salaries and term for veterans like  Jonathan Huberdeau ($10.5M) and Nazem Kadri ($7M), there is plenty of financial flexibility for a Flames franchise that has focused on the future and employs quite a few players on early career contracts.

Unrestricted free agents Anthony Mantha, Tyson Barrie and Kevin Rooney will also come off the.books, saving another $5M-plus.

Even better is the fact the NHL salary cap ceiling will be significantly rising over the next three seasons.

With all that in mind, now is the time to lock up the players Conroy has identified as key pieces of the young core. If the Flames franchise has learned anything from the departure of Matthew Tkachuk, it’s that bridge deals can backfire.

There are at least four pivotal players under team control as restricted free agents who need to be signed to new deals this year: Forwards Connor Zary (23), Matthew Coronato (22) and newcomer Morgan Frost (25), and defenseman Kevin Bahl (24) all have RFA status this summer.

Goaltender Dustin Wolf (23) can sign an extension as soon as July 1 this summer as he enters the last year of his entry-level NHL contract.

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With the salary cap rising to $95.5M for 2025-26, $104.4M the following season, then $113.5M for 2028-28, the earlier the Flames can get these guys inked to long-term deals, the smaller the percentage of the overall cap they’ll absorb.

These players are the future cornerstones of the Flames franchise.

Bahl is a shut-down defenseman who has already made a massive impact on the penalty kill and in five-on-five situations since joining the team in the Jacob Markstrom trade last summer. His value is only going to rise as he gains more experience.

Zary is one of the more dynamic players the Flames have and no one knows what his projection is either as a center or winger — but you can bank on him being a fixture in the top six forward ranks for the next decade if he’s healthy.

Coronato is a top-tier sniper with elite awareness of space and time on the ice — plus the natural-born-leader temperament that could make him a future captain.

Wolf is the main reason the Calgary Flames are still in the playoff picture this late in the season. His play has eliminated concerns about his lack of size and his elite skills will mask a lot of other holes in the Flames lineup as they strive to plug them all to compete for a Stanley Cup.

If the Flames can get these four players secured for the next six or seven years, it will give them the opportunity to use the rest of the salary cap space to fill in important pieces around them to put the best product possible on the ice.