With Jacob Markstrom now in New Jersey, the starting job in Calgary is up for grabs. While top prospect Dustin Wolf is garnering most of the attention, Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson relays that Flames netminder Daniel Vladar is now pain-free and fully recovered from his hip injury. The 27-year-old struggled mightily last season in limited action, putting up a 3.62 GAA with a .882 SV% in 20 appearances before undergoing surgery in March but he noted that he had been dealing with discomfort for at least the last two seasons. It’s a contract year for Vladar who carries a $2.2MM price tag. A pending unrestricted free agent, he could push for double that if he’s able to secure the starting role in 2024-25.
Flames Rumors
Flames Sign Jakob Pelletier
The Calgary Flames have signed prospect Jakob Pelletier to a one-year, two-way contract shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal will pay him $800K at the NHL level. Pelletier was one of six remaining restricted free agents in Calgary, including defenseman Ilya Solovyov.
Pelletier suffered a pre-season upper-body injury last season, delaying the start of his season to January 26th. He impressed when he finally returned, earning an NHL call-up after netting three points in his first four games back. Pelletier appeared in 13 games in the Calgary lineup, recording three points, one penalty, and a +1 in fourth-line minutes. He was much more productive in the minors, totaling 12 points in 18 games – maintaining the near point-per-game production he recorded in 66 AHL games in 2021-22, and 35 games last year.
Pelletier is one of many top Flames prospects who should benefit from the team’s closet cleaning this summer. With this deal in place, he’ll step into competition with players like Matthew Coronato, Sam Morton, and William Stromgren for a winger role in Calgary’s bottom six. Pelletier has the most NHL experience of the bunch, with 10 points in 37 career games narrowly beating out Coronato’s nine points in 35 games.
Meanwhile, Calgary still boasts nearly $20MM in projected cap space entering the season, per PuckPedia. They’ll have five more RFAs to negotiate with – but could still afford to spend lavishly on high-upside try-outs. They’ve already tapped into that market a bit, signing Tyson Barrie to a PTO that’s expected to turn into a one-year contract.
Flames Promote Kerry Huffman To Director Of Hockey Strategy
The Calgary Flames are still making the final tweaks to their staff, including promoting NHL veteran Kerry Huffman to the position of Director Of Hockey Strategy, per Tony Androckitis of TheAHL.com. Androckitis adds that Huffman will also continue as a pro scout for Calgary – a role he took on last season.
Huffman has deep roots in North American pros, leading a career that’s taken him through a playing career, coaching career, and now a scouting career. It all kicked off when Huffman was selected 20th-overall in the 1986 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, following a stout season with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. He’d make his AHL and NHL debuts in the following season, though 1987-88 marked his formal rookie season, with Huffman managing 23 points in 52 games. That performance was enough to settle Huffman into a second-pairing role that he’d continue in through 1992. He built a strong reputation as a stout, two-way defender, capable of joining the offense or throwing around the body – factors that made him a core piece of the infamous trade that sent Eric Lindros to Philadelphia, and Huffman, Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, and more to the Quebec Nordiques.
Huffman’s reliability continued through two seasons in Quebec, though he’d go on to play parts of three seasons with the Ottawa Senators – and make a four-game reunion in Philadelphia – before finishing his career with three seasons in the IHL. In total, he played through 10 NHL seasons and 401 games, recording 145 points and 361 penalty minutes.
Huffman retired in 1999, marking an end to his formal hockey involvement until he began working as an NHLPA certified player agent in 2012, and coaching AAA youth hockey in 2014. That quickly evolved. He was named an assistant coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights in 2015, and made a move to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ bench in 2016. He supported the Phantoms through five fruitful years- including multiple 100-point seasons – before making yet another career change in 2021, when he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as a pro scout. He was promoted to Pittsburgh’s Director Of Professional Scouting in 2022, and moved to Calgary in 2023 – where he’ll now continue to take on new roles.
As pointed out by Androckitis, Huffman has been heavily involved in his team’s scouting and analytical departments, continuing to build on the stout hockey knowledge he flexed as a player. He’ll now get a chance to flex that knowledge, as Calgary becomes the fourth team to employ a Director Of Hockey Strategy – joining the Dallas Stars (Steve Greeley), Buffalo Sabres (Sam Ventura), and Seattle Kraken (Alexandra Mandrycky).
West Notes: Huberdeau, Pelletier, Blackhawks
Jonathan Huberdeau’s tenure with the Flames has been wildly underwhelming, to say the least. The 31-year-old winger has been limited to 27 goals and 107 points in 160 games – decidedly fringe top-six production – since being acquired from the Panthers and signing an eight-year, $84MM extension.
The former Calder winner and once-elite playmaking winger is hoping a new offseason training regimen can help spur a rebound this season, he tells Aaron Vickers of NHL.com. “[I’m] really happy with the summer that I had,” he said. “It’s probably my best summer of training that I’ve had. I just have to translate that onto the ice. I skated more in the summer as well, so I feel better.”
“The confidence is back,” he continued. “I just have to relay that to here with the guys. And I think this year I want to bring fun to my game. That’s what we need to be. I think we’ve just got to make it fun as a team. You never know. We can cause some surprises.”
A resurgence in production will be difficult with a depleted Flames roster amid an aggressive retool, influenced in large part by Huberdeau’s struggles the past two seasons. He’ll likely be centered by Nazem Kadri, whose more palatable $7MM cap hit and strong showing in 2023-24 has made him the subject of trade rumors this summer, to begin the year.
Other notes out of the Western Conference:
- The Flames have made some progress on a new deal for restricted free agent winger Jakob Pelletier, general manager Craig Conroy said today (via Danny Austin of the Calgary Sun). A report from TSN’s Salim Nadim Valji last week indicated there was still significant legwork to be done to reach an agreement, but Conroy is fully confident they’ll get a deal done before training camp begins next week. The 2019 first-rounder had shoulder surgery just before the beginning of last season, delaying his season debut until late January. He logged a goal and three points in 13 NHL games with the Flames and 12 points in 18 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
- The Blackhawks are amid the league’s most successful ongoing rebuild, opines Corey Pronman of The Athletic. They’re the most likely out of the league’s current bottom-feeders to be quality contenders with their current core of prospects and youngsters amassed, he says, also citing their ability to become a premier free-agent destination when they’re a bit closer to returning to playoff contention.
Flames Sign Tyson Barrie To PTO
Sep. 10: The Flames made Barrie’s PTO official this morning.
Sep. 3: In a twist of circumstances, the Calgary Flames are now reportedly nearing a professional try-out agreement with veteran defender Tyson Barrie. The move was first reported by PuckPedia and verified by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, who added that the team hopes this will result in more than just a league-minimum contract. Barrie was previously rumored to be headed to the Edmonton Oilers on a PTO, reuniting with the team after one year away. As pointed out by PuckPedia, Barrie maintains the ability to sign a free-agent contract with any team while on his PTO with Calgary.
Barrie will skate for his fourth Canadian franchise on this PTO – having previously played one year in Toronto and three in Edmonton. They were two stops along Barrie’s journeyman career, spanning 13 seasons and four franchises. He continues to be a productive defender, rivaling 40 points in nearly every season between 2013 and 2023 and boasting a career-high of 59 points set in 2018-19. But Barrie’s defensive consistency has completely fallen away, leaving him hard to trust even on a stout Nashville Predators blue line.
Luckily, Calgary has plenty of holes to patch on defense, after turning over Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Oliver Kylington last season. The Flames have brought in a heap of new faces to handle the change, adding Jake Bean, Daniil Miromanov, Kevin Bahl, Joel Hanley, and Brayden Pachal. Barrie boasts significantly more NHL experience and scoring upside than any of those options. That could be enough to win out a prominent role with a strong showing at training camp, especially amid competition a decade younger.
Any role on the Flames’ blue-line could come with major responsibility, as the team shops around top defenders MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson ahead of training camp. The departure of either player would immediately vacate 20+ minutes a night on Barrie’s right-hand side – making this veteran PTO signing timely insurance. But as it stands, the long-term outcome of Barrie, who managed just 27 points in 65 games over two seasons with the Predators, is still uncertain.
Flames Sign Jarred Tinordi To Two-Way Deal
The Flames have inked depth defenseman Jarred Tinordi to a two-way deal, per PuckPedia. He’ll earn $800K in the NHL, $350K in the minors, and an overall $425K guarantee this season, per a team announcement.
Tinordi, 32, has embarked on a journeyman career since being drafted 22nd overall by the Canadiens in 2010. The stay-at-home defender has suited up in minor league/seventh defensemen roles for seven NHL organizations over his 12-year run in the pros, also including the Coyotes, Penguins, Predators, Bruins, Rangers, and, most recently, the Blackhawks. He played NHL games in nine of those 12 seasons.
After spending most of his career as an NHL/AHL tweener or an outright minor-league option, Tinordi found some stability in Chicago after the Blackhawks claimed him off waivers from the Rangers on the eve of the 2022-23 regular season. The 6’6″, 229-lb enforcer has avoided an AHL assignment since arriving in the Windy City, making the past two years just the second and third seasons he’s spent solely in the majors after splitting the 2020-21 campaign between Nashville and Boston.
Tinordi’s numbers have been ugly with the Hawks in bottom pairing minutes, but that’s to be expected for a veteran depth fixture logging semi-regular minutes on one of the league’s worst teams. He’s posted two goals and 15 assists for 17 points with a -44 rating and 104 PIMs in 96 games for the Blackhawks over the last two seasons. His 171 hits ranked second on the team last season behind Nick Foligno’s 192, while his 64 PIMs led the club.
He was an unrestricted free agent this summer for the first time since signing a two-year deal in the Big Apple in 2021. Chicago signed him to a one-year, $1.25MM extension in April of last year, keeping him off the open market.
Tinordi shouldn’t be ruled out entirely from making the opening night roster, but it does seem unlikely if the organization decides to carry seven defensemen as compared to eight. The left-shot defender could be an extra option in the latter scenario, but he’s unlikely to unseat offseason acquisitions Kevin Bahl and Jake Bean for regular playing time on the left side of Calgary’s defense depth chart.
That makes Tinordi’s most likely destination this season the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers if he clears waivers, where he’ll play a mentor role to blue-line prospects like Hunter Brzustewicz, Artem Grushnikov and Yan Kuznetsov.
Flames Don't Plan To Move More Veterans Yet
With the Flames heading into what looks to be a longer-term rebuild, there has been speculation that some of their remaining veterans might want a change of scenery. However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), GM Craig Conroy appears to be taking more of a wait-and-see approach with his current roster:
Four Teams Have Interest In Mark Giordano
The Score’s Kyle Cushman wrote that the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs have maintained interest in veteran defenseman Mark Giordano. The oldest player in the NHL last year has spurned any interest in retirement and is again looking for an NHL opportunity next year.
He is destined for bottom-pairing responsibilities next year after averaging his lowest average time-on-ice since the 2008-09 season. He’s spent the last two-and-a-half years with the Maple Leafs organization where he’s recorded nine goals and 45 points in 144 games while averaging 18:14 a game.
Calgary represents more of a ’feel good’ landing spot as the other three interested parties have internal expectations of contentions next season. He’s spent 15 years of his career in southern Alberta where he recorded 143 goals and 509 points in 949 games including a Norris Trophy in the 2018-19 season.
He’s seen his possession quality dip in the last several years after finishing the 2023-24 season with a 48.4 CorsiFor% compared to a 53.0% career average. He’s still a formidable bottom-pairing veteran presence and could provide a bonus to any team.
At the end of his career, the expectation is that Giordano will look to maximize his opportunity to win the Stanley Cup which would trim his potential teams down to Edmonton and Toronto. Without needing to shoulder top-level responsibility anymore at this stage in his career; he should have a ready opportunity in both organizations.
RFA Notes: Raymond, Berggren, Pelletier, Perfetti
The Detroit Red Wings are making progress on a long-term contract with star forward Lucas Raymond, shares David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Raymond is one of three restricted free agents still awaiting a deal from the Red Wings, alongside winger Jonatan Berggren and defender Moritz Seider.
Pagnotta added that talks between Raymond and Detroit have picked up over the last 10 days, but that the two sides are, “still grinding away at it.” The Red Wings kick off training camp on September 18th.
While Seider was Detroit’s unrivaled top defender last season, it’s Raymond who feels like the chore that needs done. The 22-year-old winger broke out this season, leading the Red Wings in scoring with a career-high 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games, topping his previous high of 23 goals and 57 points set as a rookie. He’s now up to 174 points in 238 career games, and stands as perhaps the most promising player on a Wings lineup in flux. His next contract will likely eat up the bulk of Detroit’s remaining $17.648MM in cap space, though the Wings will need to walk a fine line to not price themselves out of a similarly-hefty deal for Seider.
Other notes from around the league:
- Pagnotta also mentioned that Detroit and Berggren are expected to agree to a contract before the start of training camp, though the deal will hinge on the final price given to Raymond and/or Seider. Berggren led the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring with 56 points in 53 games last season. It was Berggren’s first year back in the minors, after playing through his NHL rookie season in 2022-23 – ending with 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games. Detroit will have plenty of room to award hard-workers at training camp with NHL ice time to start the season – a group Berggren will hope to lead after signing a new deal.
- Detroit’s forward momentum with their RFAs hasn’t trickled up to Canada, with the Calgary Flames still far off from a deal with RFA forward Jakob Pelletier, per TSN’s Salim Nadim Valji. Valji adds that things could change quickly but are, for now, quiet. Pelletier has become a fan-favorite prospect, solidified by his routinely strong performances in the minor leagues. The 23-year-old has 111 points through 119 AHL games, but has struggled to translate that production to the top flight, with just 10 points in 37 career NHL games. Like Detroit, Calgary stands a chance to award young players with strong lineup roles. Pelletier seems a favorite to handle one of those spots, though he’ll first need to bridge the gap in quiet negotiations.
- Winnipeg is going through sluggish talks of their own with RFA winger Cole Perfetti, who has yet to hear back on a firm offer reports Pagnotta. Perfetti potted 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games last year – but looked capable of much more with a stronger role in the lineup. He’s 22, and carries an admirable 75 points and 140 games of NHL experience. Those numbers fall closely in line with Senators centerman Shane Pinto, who recently signed a two-year, $7MM extension after missing the bulk of the 2023-24 campaign. That deal stands as Perfetti’s strongest comparable, though it may be hard to bear for a Winnipeg team with just $5.776MM in remaining cap space.
Pacific Notes: Demko, Silovs, Lekkerimaki, Vladar
It doesn’t appear that Vancouver Canucks’ president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford is overly confident about the team’s goaltending situation heading into training camp. He recently engaged in an interview with Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet where the two spoke at length about goaltending and his expectations for the organization in the upcoming season.
It’s already come to light the team is considering Antti Raanta on a professional tryout agreement to serve as a short-term stopgap for the team as they buy time for Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silovs. When asked about his goaltenders Rutherford said,
“As you know, I don’t talk directly about potential injuries or the perception of where players are at (health-wise). I feel good about our goaltending. Where that is for the start of training camp and the start of the season, I don’t even know myself right now. We haven’t even done physicals yet. But I know our goalies are working hard and working towards being ready for the start of the season. As an organization, that’s what we’re hoping for“.
Both regular netminders for Vancouver are dealing with knee injuries that are taking longer than expected to recover from. The team shot out of the gates last season with an 11-3-1 record through their first 15 games which helped propel them to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Canucks have a short window to address their goaltending if they hope to start as well as they did last season.
Other Pacific notes:
- Staying in Vancouver — Dan Rosen of NHL.com recently wrote in a mailbag that Canucks’ prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki has an outside chance of making the team if he has a strong training camp. Vancouver’s first-round selection of the 2022 NHL Draft recently wrapped up his first season with the SHL’s Örebro HK where he scored 19 goals and 31 points in 46 games; becoming one of Vancouver’s top forward prospects. It will still be difficult for Lekkerimaki to crack the roster despite his strong efforts overseas. The Canucks overhauled their bottom-six this summer which may not be a positive starting point for the offensive-minded Swede.
- Daniel Vladar of the Calgary Flames is progressing well from offseason hip surgery says TSN’s Salim Nadim Valji. Vladar will be entering the 2024-25 NHL season in an interesting spot as the Flames don’t have a concrete direction this season in between the pipes. Calgary is expected to name Dustin Wolf their starter this year but could pivot to Vladar quickly if the young phenom has a slow adjustment to the NHL. Vladar has never played more than 27 games in a single season but could see that number rise to 35+ if the latter hypothetical becomes a reality.