How Could the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets Perform a Roster Makeover?
Rasmus Andersson and Patrik Laine
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
As we move into the second quarter of the NHL season, there’s starting to be more separation between the league’s haves and have-nots teams.
Two teams in particular stand out as very likely to be major sellers before the March 8, 2024, trade deadline. But those two teams – the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets – are probably going to approach their roster makeover rather differently from one another.
The Flames – currently tied for fourth place in the weak Pacific Division – are at a significant crossroads with their overall blueprint for success. Calgary GM Craig Conroy may decide to stay the course with his roster, but Flames fans have been asking themselves, “What players does this team have to compare to generational competitors like Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews?” And the answer to that is not positive.
While it’s true Calgary does have a number of capable veterans, the more we see this team, the more we’re convinced it’s simply not the right mix. And instead of re-committing to looming UFAs, such as forward Elias Lindholm and defensemen Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, the more appropriate path to take is to engage in a massive rebuild and set themselves up to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders a few years from now.
As per PuckPedia, the Flames are projected to have $27 million in salary cap space this summer, and that flexibility would be enhanced if Conroy doesn’t use it to bring back the aforementioned veterans.
Call it tanking if you want, but we prefer calling it the most reliable method – and really, the only method – to land Grade-A talent at all positions. And surely, Calgary fans would be receptive to a full rebuild; what other choice do they have? We’re seeing teams in Philadelphia and Montreal make no bones about their tank job, and their fans understand and accept that route to building a true Cup front-runner.
By moving out their veteran blueliners and experienced forwards – and that probably has to include forwards Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau – the Flames would put people on notice that they’re raising the competitive bar higher than it’s been set in the past couple of seasons.
What About Columbus?
The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are at a different kind of crossroads.
After another brutal start to the year, Columbus is in the familiar position of last place in the Metropolitan Division. And though they’ve played slightly better of late, the damage to their season has already been done. The last thing they should be aiming for is a late-season surge that pushes them close to a playoff spot but, ultimately, not close enough.
Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the organization is whether GM Jarmo Kekalainen will keep his job through the rest of this season and into the 2024-25 campaign. But let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Kekalainen stays on the job – what should he be doing with his lineup to put the Jackets in a better place beginning next year?
From our standpoint, Columbus brass needs to send a clear signal the team’s current condition is unacceptable and there are real consequences for the roster.
He could start by finding a new home for winger Patrik Laine, already a healthy scratch this season and a small factor on offense, with four goals and six points in 14 games. Laine’s salary situation – on the books for a $8.7-million cap hit through 2026 – makes him harder to trade. But when it comes to sniper types like Laine, there’s almost always going to be a team that believes it can jump-start a veteran’s career with a change of scenery.
For instance, what do you think the New York Islanders would give up in a deal for Laine? Isles GM Lou Lamoriello is under enormous pressure to improve his team’s offense, and adding Laine to the top six forwards on Long Island might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
In dealing Laine, Kekalainen may not be able to land a treasure trove of assets, but the key asset would be the cap space he’d free up for the future. That flexibility is the selling point to Columbus fans, and it would send a message to Blue Jackets fans that there’s no going back to the same-old, same-old.
As always, we must point out that, like every NHL team, the Flames and Jackets aren’t devoid of talent. They just don’t have enough of it to make them first-rate competitors, and that’s why Conroy and Kekalainen should be taking drastic measures in the coming weeks and months. There are markets for the players they should be moving on from, and what it’s all about is having the intestinal fortitude to suffer in the short term for long-term benefit.
The status quo isn’t going to cut it for either team. We’ve seen enough already from both franchises to know there’s no Florida Panthers-like late-season switch into a Cup front-runner this year for them.
The present is only going to remind their fans they’re not on the same level as the Avalanche, Rangers, Bruins and Golden Knights. The sooner Columbus and Calgary management come to terms with that, the faster the rebuild will go.
