My guess is Markstrom gets dealt in the off-season. NJ is probably not going to up their offer right now with the season looking lost. Stranger things have happened, but I do doubt it.
The nice thing about having defensive prospects as part of the returns on trades is that it allows the organization to not suck for as long. Defencemen take more time to develop and usually blossom later. By having this relative pile of them now - with varying strengths - they can ripen alongside the expected influx of new incoming draft picks. Flames really didn't have much defensive depth in the pipeline, but now they are relatively deep.
Added:
Brzustewicz
Jurmo
Pachal
Miromanov
Grushnikov
That's a nice influx of varying ages, abilities and floors and ceilings.
Chicago drafted Seabrook, Keith, Byfuglien and Hjalmarsson ahead of Toews and Kane.
Forwards are much easier to scout than defencemen (and goalies). To add guys who are further along their development paths will only help this team start to be competitive sooner.
I also don't buy for a second that this team is going to start spending this draft capital all that much in an effort to start winning immediately. Most picks will be used on draft selections. It gives the Flames more ammo to move up and down, that's for sure. I am positive that a portion of it will be used to take advantage of teams that need the cap space, so the Flames will buy some players this upcoming off-season of course. I just think that Conroy - who seems to have a very good focus on the scouting and development side - would deviate too much from actually trying to draft the next core.
Sharangovic, Mangiapane, Kuzmenko - these are all guys that will probably not be moved this year. If they are moved, it will be starting in the off-season, or at the deadline next season, dependent on how they are doing, what the appetite is from either side to re-sign, etc. There will be a larger market for them next season as expiring UFAs. It also allows them to build up trade value. Let them rebound offensively.
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