Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving has done a brilliant job of managing his teams’ salary cap, but the Flames currently face a cap crunch.
The Calgary Flames have locked down core building pieces like Johnny Gaudreau ($6.75 AAV), Sean Monahan ($6.375 AAV), and Mark Giordano ($6.75 AAV) to some of the best contracts in hockey. Despite these great deals, the Flames face a cap crunch heading into the 2020 season.
With only $4.6 million remaining in cap space, the Flames must sign a pair of restricted free agents. While Andrew Mangiapane, a solid bottom-surprised forward, will not force the Flames to break the bank, Matthew Tkachuk might. It is very likely he will become Calgary’s highest-paid player next season.
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Mangiapane and Tkachuk will combine for north of $8 Million in contracts. General Manager Brad Treliving must open up the space to do so. Treliving will make a deal before October, but he has a few options.
1. T.J. Brodie ($4.65 million AAV)
Defenseman T.J. Brodie has been beloved and scapegoated at points over the past few seasons, both perhaps deservedly.
Playing largely with Travis Hamonic in 2017-18, Brodie struggled, posting a career-worst CF% Rel (-3.6%) and put up unimpressive numbers across the board. After Dougie Hamilton was moved in the offseason, Brodie was re-united with Mark Giordano on the Flames top pair and re-found his previous success.
However, he stumbled near the end of the season and into the playoffs. At times, he lost his top pairing spot to rookie Rasmus Andersson.
If Norris Trophy-winner Mark Giordano can elevate the game of his partner regardless of who it is, perhaps Treliving should consider moving Brodie and run with younger and cheaper options like Andersson, Oliver Kylington, and Jusso Välimäki.
2. Michael Frolik ($4.3 million AAV)
If Treliving elects to keep his defense core from last season, Frolik is the only logical forward trade candidate. He has been a great complimentary piece to the Flames second line with Michael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk. With the line’s success has come significant raises for Backlund and now Tkachuk. Frolik could thus become a cap casualty.
After being used for over two minutes per game of penalty kill action under old coach Glenn Gulutzen, Frolik lost his spot as a regular penalty killed with Bill Peters. With only a year remaining on his deal, he could be a reasonably priced third liner for teams with cap space.
3. Travis Hamonic ($3.86 million AAV)
Never known as an offensive threat, defenseman Travis Hamonic has been a serviceable middle pair defensemen for the Flames since his acquisition from the Islanders.
With only a year left on his deal and a plethora of young replacement defensemen, Hamonic seems like a natural fit to be moved by the Flames to open up cap space. However, his sub-$4 million cap hit could mean that moving his contract would not open up enough space to sign Mangiapane and Tkachuk.
Treliving could prefer to move one of Frolik or Brodie to ensure he can get both of his forward RFAs under contract without having to move multiple pieces. Or, the Flames GM could look to move both Hamonic and Frolik in one deal to open space and acquire back a more impactful, but cheaper, roster player.
4. Michael Stone ($3.5 million AAV)
If the Flames would be able to find a landing spot for Stone he would probably already be shipped off. Stone was acquired by the Flames at the deadline in 2017, but the extension he later signed has not worked out. Stone has posted only 21 points across 114 games as a Flames and only played in 14 games in 2018-19.
Aside from his injury concern and lack of production, the possibility of a Stone trade is heavily hindered by his 15-team no trade list. If the Flames were to find a fit for Stone, likely involving including a pick or prospect, perhaps Stone would waive his no-movement list.