After many years of perpetual mediocrity, the Calgary Flames seem to finally have a plan set out in front of them. Since being promoted to general manager last year, Craig Conroy has made it clear that the Flames are in a retooling stage. He backed that up by trading four pending free agents throughout the 2023-24 season in Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and Noah Hanifin.
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While it’s never wise to write a team off in the NHL, the public consensus is that the 2024-25 season could be a long one for the Flames. Though they are headed in the right direction, they don’t yet have a roster that suggests they will be very competitive in the near future. That should change in the coming years thanks to several draft picks and some intriguing prospects, however.
In the meantime, Conroy is going to need to figure out how he wants his roster to look while going through this retool. One of those decisions will include who to look at as potential free agent signings, while also deciding which pending free agents of their own they want to bring back. Here is a look at which of the Flames’ pending free agents are likely to return, and which have likely played their last game for the organization.
Likely Brought Back
Oliver Kylington
In a season which featured several lows for the Flames, perhaps the highest moment came when Oliver Kylington was able to make his return to the lineup in late January. The 27-year-old hadn’t played since the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as he chose to take an extended leave of absence due to mental health reasons.
Given the amount of time he was away from the game, Kylington looked quite solid upon his return. He wasn’t given a ton of minutes, but was relatively solid on the third pairing, and showed that his skating continues to remain elite as ever. He implied in his end-of-season media availability that he hopes to be back, and re-signing him shouldn’t cost the Flames a ton of money. It would be pretty surprising to see the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy finalist wind up anywhere but Calgary next season.
A.J. Greer
Not much was made of the Flames’ decision to claim AJ Greer off of waivers from the Boston Bruins in early October, but the 27-year-old proved to be a solid addition to their fourth line for the majority of the season. While his six goals and 12 points in 59 games sum up his offensive abilities, his physicality proved to be beneficial for the Flames.
Greer’s season was derailed when he suffered an ugly foot injury in late January, which sidelined him for roughly eight weeks. He wasn’t as much of an impact upon his return to the lineup, though it’s never easy to miss that much time. The Flames will need to fill out their roster with some inexpensive deals for the 2024-25 season, making it likely that he gets brought back on a cheap contract.
Nikita Okhotiuk
The Flames’ final move of the trade deadline was a bit of a surprising one, as they sent a 2024 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenceman Nikita Okhotiuk. The 23-year-old struggled on a weak Sharks roster prior to the trade, having a plus/minus of minus-22 in 43 games despite averaging less than 17 minutes in ice time.
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While the Flames were by no means a good team in 2023-24, they were significantly better than the Sharks, which seemed to help Okhotiuk out. That said, he didn’t seem to make much of a positive impression on Ryan Huska and the rest of the coaching staff, as he suited up for just nine games with the Flames while averaging just 13:21 in ice time. Despite that, his young age, and the fact that he is a restricted free agent, bodes well for him being re-signed in the hopes that he can take the next step this coming season.
Unlikely to Return
Dennis Gilbert
Considering most expected him to be a full-time American Hockey League (AHL) player when the Flames signed him to a two-year deal in 2022, Dennis Gilbert impressed. The 27-year-old wound up playing a combined 57 games in his two seasons with the Flames, and was a mostly reliable third-pairing defender when inserted into the lineup.
Working against Gilbert is the fact that the Flames already have several NHL defencemen signed to contracts for next season, and could have even more should they bring back both Okhotiuk and Kylington. They’ll also have some prospects pushing for a spot in Ilya Solovyov and Jeremie Poirier, which doesn’t leave much room. Gilbert may need to look elsewhere if he hopes to continue seeing NHL action next season.
Interesting Offseason in Store
On top of the free agent decisions Conroy will need to make, he could also be making some more trades this offseason. At the front of the list is Jacob Markstrom, whose relationship with the team seemed to sour after not being moved at the deadline. Other potential players on the block are Andrew Mangiapane and Andrei Kuzmenko, meaning this offseason could be a busy one for the Flames.
