The only chance I see the Flames having on signing Marner, Bennett, or Ekblad would be mainly due to the players on the team in addition to offering the most money.
For Bennett he is familiar with the city and organization and he has some friends on the team from Florida and a chance to play with Huberdeau again as the top center might entice him. He could have memories that Calgary was the place he could not move forward and he has become a Stanley Cup champ and team Canada player leaving. The Leafs will be all over him if he gets to July 1 and I think the draw to play at home will be too big to pass up. Steinberg and Francis really seem to think the Flames go after Benny if he gets to free agency. Last time I remember Pat going that hard on the Flames interest in a free agent was Markstrom 5 years ago
Ekblad is super tight with Weegar and Huberdeau so if the Flames offered a big salary I could see him taking it to play with his buddies in Canada.
Marner I don’t see it but he and Kadri played together a couple of years and both played for the same junior team (albeit at different times) but they might have more of a relationship than we know. With that said the same thing could be said about Tavares (as it pertains to Kadri).
Can Kadri sell these guys the joys of playing for a passionate fanbase but far less scrutiny? I doubt it but in addition to money, and a new rink that is about all the flames can sell. Wolf is a nice piece as well but probably needs to dominate for another year and be locked up long term
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