Are the Predators and Flames Dealing with Buyer's Remorse?

For most, if not all, NHL teams, locking up their core talent to long-term contracts always seems like a good idea at the time. 

But buyer’s remorse is a very real thing, and teams that have regrets over lengthy contracts have their futures complicated and made more difficult by many of the deals they sign their best players to.

Most recently, we’ve seen buyer’s remorse in Edmonton with the contract given to goalie Jack Campbell. However, the Oilers’ Alberta counterparts in Calgary have a number of contracts they’d probably want a mulligan for. And, as we’re seeing with other teams – including the Nashville Predators – getting their top players signed to massive, multi-year contracts is a blessing in the moment but an obstacle in the long haul.

Certainly, the Flames have a few contracts that aren’t looking like the greatest deals in recent NHL history. Jonathan Huberdeau was benched for the third period of Tuesday night’s game against Nashville and is signed through the summer of 2031 at a cap hit of $10.5 million. Calgary also has center Nazem Kadri signed through 2029 at a cap hit of $7 million, and he and Huberdeau have struggled mightily this season. Then there's goaltender Jacob Markstrom under contract until 2026 at a cap hit of $6 million, and his individual numbers (a 2-6-1 record and .896 save percentage) also are a significant disappointment.

Reports suggest first-year Flames GM Craig Conroy has halted contract extension talks for Calgary’s pending free agents. In a way, that’s a good thing, as it signals caution for the franchise’s long-term picture. But even if Conroy finds ways to trade his upcoming UFAs for picks and prospects, he’s got to find a way to get out from under the aforementioned deals, which collectively add up to a cap hit of $23.5 million – nearly one-third of their cap space.

Conroy can’t just snap his fingers and deal Huberdeau, Kadri and Markstrom – he almost assuredly will need to retain some of their salary to make trades worthwhile for potential trade partners because the one thing he can’t do is deal his remaining first-round picks in the next three years.

The Flames already dealt their first-rounder in 2025 (although they did pick up Florida’s first-rounder that season), and if they’re going to embark on a long-term rebuild, they’ll need as many picks and prospects as they can get. Including a first-rounder as a sweetener to take a major contract off their hands is something that doesn’t work for a rebuild, so Conroy must resist any urge to use a top pick to get rid of Kadri, Huberdeau or Markstrom.

That’s quite the ask of Conroy, but it’s the reality of Calgary’s current predicament, and the only way he’ll acquire cornerstone components of a new core of young talent is through the draft. Flames fans will be asked to be patient, and so long as they can see there’s a clear plan in place to be an elite team down the road, we think those fans will grit their teeth and bear it.

As noted above, Calgary isn’t the only team with this conundrum. 

The Nashville Predators also have struggled this season (although not to the same degree the Flames have), and in the first year of Barry Trotz’s era as GM, the Preds have got a few veterans signed for at least the next three seasons. Those players aren’t underperforming the way the Flames’ top players have, but with Filip Forsberg signed until 2030, Ryan O’Reilly signed through 2027, Roman Josi signed through 2028 and Ryan McDonagh signed through 2026, Nashville has $28.8 million tied up.

Of course, the Predators could bring in a massive haul of prospects and picks for most of those players, but it will take Trotz being more realistic with himself about the Preds’ long-term competitiveness to get to that point.

Rewarding mediocrity is not the way to be a bona fide Stanley Cup contender – and when you do that, you almost inevitably wind up hamstrung to turn your team’s fortunes around. Conroy and Trotz now have to be honest about their respective organizations, and they’ll almost assuredly have to pay a price they normally wouldn’t be willing to pay.

The alternative – stewing in their own juices and flailing at or below the mid-tier level of the NHL – would be far worse than taking on some salary of their players and giving their team a legitimate new direction that one day will pay off.

There are other teams facing this problem – the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets also have handed out expensive contract extensions without any success in the post-season – but the Flames and Predators are the most prominent franchises in a pickle right now. If they can only realistically aspire to a wild-card berth, how does that make their fans happy? The answer is it doesn’t. 

Fans of any team in the league want to see the best players in the game wearing their favorite team’s jersey, and the sole way Nashville and Calgary will get those top talents is to move their veterans and suffer through painful years but get excited about the direction upward.

The San Jose Sharks are the worst team in the NHL right now, but at least they’ll have some elite prospects at the end of this dark tunnel they’re in. The Preds and Flames, on the other hand, don’t have that assurance, and they won’t get it until they strip down their roster and battle through a few difficult years.

There’s no easy way out for Calgary and Nashville, but they can’t just keep struggling in the middle-to-lower-parts of the NHL standings and expect positive change to arrive soon. That won’t be coming until there’s a frank, stark evaluation of where they really sit in the league’s pecking order. The sooner they get to that stage, the better.