Hate to burst everyone's bubbles, but I don't think the Flames can afford to target any player with term. So basically, a rental would likely be the only realistic option.
I just had an in depth look at the Flames cap situation next season again and if Treliving manages to re-sign #13, #19, #58 and #88 to pretty reasonable deals, the Flames would not only be several million over the salary cap, but they would also have a significant number of players to sign on top of it.
Also, I've made the assumption that the Flames will not be re-signing Zadarov, Pitlick and Gudbranson. If the Flames do want to re-sign Gudbranson who has done everything that's been asked of him, then a big contract like Monahan has to go. But that's assuming he can even be traded at all. Not sure how many teams are knocking down the door to trade for a player with no even strength goals nearly 20 games into the season. Hopefully a buyout isn't necessary because that's over $2M of dead cap space over 2 years.
So in terms of realistic trade targets.....we should be looking at expiring contracts or players signed under a million.
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