Flames defenseman among a handful of players likely heading out the door amidst the club's struggles

Nikita Zadorov had no problem admitting it was a mistake.

The Calgary Flames defenseman was talking about his play with the puck that directly led to the Ottawa Senators extending their lead to 3-1 in Saturday’s meeting that ended with a 4-1 loss.

Zadorov was not talking about his agent, Dan Milstein, going on social media with a post on Friday night that suggested the big defenseman — a pending unrestricted free agent — would be a perfect fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That also set the wheels in motion for word to come out that Zadorov would like to be traded.

“That’s my agent, I have to support him,” Zadorov told the assembled media after the Ottawa defeat “That was his decision to make that tweet. He definitely wants to protect me, wants the best opportunity for myself. So I think he’s definitely helping me in that situation.”

Most likely GM Craig Conroy will deal away Zadorov before the March 9, 2024 trade deadline, but this was hardly a welcome development for the struggling Flames, only a month into what’s already been filled with distractions.

In fact, Zadorov’s trade request going public likely sets off a chain reaction. How many others, especially among those whose contracts end this season, such as Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev, also would prefer to be dealt?

There are probably others who have contracts beyond this season who would welcome a trade. They just don’t all come to light.

“There is a lot of business stuff going on,” Zadorov said. “I cannot probably talk about 90 percent of that. You guys can only see 10 percent of what’s going on actually behind the curtains, but I love my time being a Calgary Flame. I’m enjoying it every day. I love the fans. I love the city. Like I said last summer, I would love to be a Calgary Flame for my whole life, but the business side, sometimes stuff happens, you know? My agent has to protect me at some points, for sure.”

Having this become public knowledge could also be good news for the Flames. This franchise has been beyond being reluctant to rebuild for an eternity, but a mass exodus of players — and rest assured, there will be plenty of suiters for the likes of Zadorov, Tanev, Lindholm and Hanifin — would somewhat force the hands.

(We can talk about how it should have happened in the summer of 2022 when Johnny Gaudreau left via free agency for nothing, which set off a flurry of moves that have mainly fizzled, but that is long in the past now.)

Between now and then, the biggest issue will be how Zadorov is accepted in the room. It likely won’t be an issue, but he knows there will be those who don’t enjoy a teammate with one foot out the door.

“I feel like that’s not a really proper situation for our team right now, for sure, in this regards. I would be pissed if I would be them, if I see that from my teammate, but I hope they understand one day, for sure,” Zadorov admitted. “I’ve been focusing on being a great teammate my whole life. I think if you ask the guys around the league who’ve played with me, I hope nobody says a bad word about me.”