Probably unpopular opinion but if we were to sell Toffoli and Backlund by the deadline this is how we would look without further changes next season:
Huberdeau - Lindholm - Dube
Pelletier - Kadri - Coronato
Mangiapane - UFA/Zary - Coleman
Dueher - Ruzicka - UFA/Zary
Potential Assets:
Toffoli - 1st round pick (2023), prospect
Backlund - 1st round pick (2023), prospect
Maybe I'm out to lunch with the returns, but the market is hot right now and without knowing who the potential suitors would be I'm not going to guess at which players we could be trading for instead of draft picks, but I think the roster above with these deletions wouldn't be much worse than what we've seen this year assuming other players have bounce back seasons and the young guys contribute which I think they would.
What you're left with:
- Additional draft picks for the DEEP 2023 draft
- Additional $5.35M cap space from Backlund
- Additional $4.25M cap space from Toffoli
- Maybe they use that cap space to add another top 6 player if they don't think Zary is ready, or there's a solid UFA or trade piece coming back who commands a higher salary. But cap space is a huge asset on it's own, let alone the returns from trading these guys who would be a huge boost to any teams playoff hopes.
Obviously it's all personal preference but these are the kind of moves I'd like to see and would give me hope for this team over the next 3-5 years, load up on picks for this years draft and start integrating our up and coming young guys into the lineup while remaining competitive, and ensuring you're getting value for players who's contracts are expiring soon, having great seasons, and who are 30+. I fully expect the Flames to trade players for players instead of picks but this is the only way I see us potentially "building through the draft", because this team isn't doing a full tear-down rebuild.
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