[TheScorpion]

The Calgary Flames are bad. Real bad. So bad, in fact, that they're chronically losing to teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers.

Flames fans' saviours from the Cinderella run of the 2014-15 season are having nightmare years, especially the likes of Dennis Wideman, Jiri Hudler, and Kris Russell. The coaching systems look jumbled and flawed, the players look confused and disinterested, and the fans are growing increasingly angry.

This has led me to wonder: who on this team has any real trade value?

For the purposes of this post, we're excluding the following players:

Johnny Gaudreau
Sam Bennett
Sean Monahan
T.J. Brodie
Dougie Hamilton
Micheal Ferland

These players are seen to be the team's long-term "core". Nearly everyone else is easily expendable.

Let's rank these remaining players in terms of their value.

1. Mark Giordano
Why didn't I include him in the "core"? Well, he's older, and he's the only star on the team who I could see traded in the future for legitimate top-line wing talent - a guy like a Phil Kessel, but cheaper/easier to obtain/more physical. Those players are a dime a dozen, however, and I think there's more chance that the Flames draft that player than they trade Gio to obtain one. There's a chance, however, so here he stays.

2. Michael Frolik
Fro is having a good season, despite injury - he's put up 18 points in 35 games, typical of his stat-line. He won't be traded unless a steal comes up.

3. Jiri Hudler
What an awful year he's having. Despite this, he's still a consistent 50-point player who should be able to command a good return, if not of the calibre he would've brought back at last season's end.

4. Mikael Backlund
Backs is a good 3C, who really shouldn't be traded. In fact, the Flames should trade for another 2C to allow Backlund to play where he should, or let Bennett play 2C.

5. Joe Colborne
Colborne has a better stat-sheet than his play would suggest, so he'd likely command a mid-to-high second-rounder if traded. This would be a very good trade for Calgary, to put it lightly.

6. Kris Russell
Rusty is having a great defensive season this year, but he turns into a total liability in the offensive zone. He seemingly never shoots the puck, and when he does, it always seems to go wide.

7. Matt Stajan
Stajan at 50% retained would be a great trade for a cup contender with a hole on their 4th line. The Flames would be able to get a low second or a third from any team like this. Staj has been a clutch playoff performer for the Flames, which will attract buyers at the TDL.

8. Markus Granlund
The Flames won't trade Ferland, but Granlund could surely go soon. He hasn't been able to solidify a spot in the lineup despite his heaping talent. Even so, teams will see an asset that they can use, diminishing or not, and Granlund, still only 22, could command a good return.

9. David Jones
Jonesy started off hot, but hasn't scored a goal in nine games. He'll attract interest from buyers at the TDL, though. Expect a Glencross-lite return.

10. Josh Jooris
Jooris had a great year last year. This year, he's getting little-to-no playing time and is often a healthy scratch. A fourth would be a best-case return.

11. Ladislav Smid
His contract isn't fantastic, but Smid is a serviceable defenseman who, with salary retained, could bring back a mid-round pick.

-- NEGATIVE VALUE --

12. Deryk Engelland
That contract looks really, really bad, and it goes on for one more year after this one.

13. Mason Raymond
He's scored the occasional goal, but his contract goes on until 16-17 and he's not great defensively. He'll be bought out in the offseason.

14. Brandon Bollig
He's part of a dying breed, and he has one solitary goal this year. Maybe a sixth-rounder? Not likely, but maybe?

15. Dennis Wideman
$5.25 million for a powerplay specialist who's 33 in March wouldn't be great to begin with, but when said powerplay specialist is completely useless, offense-wise, outside of the powerplay (ZERO goals), yikes. Wideman only has 2 goals this year(!) and he's looking slower than ever. What happened?

-- I CAN'T ASSESS --

Lance Bouma
Nightmare year, with all those injuries.

So, there you have it. Agree? Disagree? Let me know.