With two top centers non-committal about contract extensions, the Flames may be forced to finally bite the bullet
The non-committal reactions from both Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund regarding contract extensions were the most eyebrow-raising comments on the day Calgary Flames players began their end-of-season scattering.
Both Lindholm and Backlund have one more season on their deals and discussions regarding an extension can begin July 1, but neither appear in a hurry to put pen to paper.
“I’m 34 years old. I want to win the Stanley Cup,” Backlund told the assembled media at the Saddledome before adding he wants to see what the club can accomplish next season.
Lindholm’s reaction was succinct: “We’ll see what happens. … I’ve got one more year and that’s all I can say.” Considering that Lindholm is Calgary’s number-one center, that is alarming.
While there were some humorous gems in the media availability — Nikita Zadorov saying “you’d need a bottle of vodka to talk about it” when pressed about the biggest lesson taken from the season was pure gold — and notable revelations, such as Rasmus Andersson admitting he’s still feeling the affects of being hit by a car two months ago, there were not many unexpected reactions from players.
Key veterans Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Jacob Markstrom all admitted their play wasn’t up to snuff and vowed to be better next season. It would be a good bet they will bounce back, maybe not to their 2021-22 season levels, but likely somewhere in the middle.
“I completely lost my swagger this year,” Huberdeau said. He added, “I didn’t lose my talent in five months.”
With few pending unrestricted free agents, and fewer players they could sell on a high point, the Flames — at least on the ice — could look very much like the club that just missed the playoffs, with the easy numbers to point at their 7-17 record in extra-time games and 30 one-goal losses.
That could be the right approach for the club, yet completely wrong.
All signs point to the Flames being better next season. Some young players such as Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier will take bigger roles, while it’s fair to say Lindholm, Huberdeau, Kadri, Andrew Mangiapane, Andersson and Markstrom all should have a better impact. It is not far-fetched to believe more of those overtime and one-goal games will swing the other way. A return to the playoffs and series win or two is not out of the realm of possibility.
The danger zone, though, is what follows.
Along with Backlund and Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov are all due to become UFAs after next season. It is hard to believe the Flames will be able retain all of them, even if Toffoli, Hanifin, Tanev and Zadorov all expressed a desire to remain in Calgary.
Nor should the Flames keep them all in the fold. In today’s NHL, a veteran-heavy squad becomes handcuffed, both in salary against the cap but also on the ice. Those teams neither truly compete for a Stanley Cup nor become bad enough to receive high draft picks. Certainly Calgary has seen that movie often enough.
The Flames truly are staring at a coming crossroads. The tough decision would be to start selling, moving some of those pending UFAs to retool the organization if they want to avoid a complete teardown in the manner of the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks.
The toughest move would be to strip it down, although Calgary has shown little appetite for hitting rock bottom.
Are the Flames and their fans prepared for a full-scale rebuild? A one-season bounce-back next season would feel good at the time, but this team is not built for a string of top-tier seasons, and having two of their top three centers walk away would definitely be a step backward.