2020/2021 Trade Speculation and Rumours

[SnipeShow]

I see where youre coming from with Backlund regarding the age and salary. Although despite being a bit on the high side for salary he is our most defensively reliable center and still manages to put up a pretty consistent 50ish pts every year while bumping up much of his linemates. Like you, I would love to see him retire a flame as he's been my favorite flame since Iggy left.

While youre getting a relatively cheaper deal and most likely a longer timeline, it might be best to leave mangiapane exposed. If he does jump up in production or value as youre hoping it could definitely sway depending on by how much he appreciates but I feel he would be a lot easier to replace both in skill set and position than what backlund brings.

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[dino7c]

Tanev won't be protected...in fact I think they are hoping he is taken. Not that he is a bad player but you are basically losing nothing since he was acquired for free.

I think there is a reason there was ZERO expansion protection in his contract, both sides are good with it.

[Yrebmi]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

My protection list is (if there’s no major changes to the roster between now and then):

Gaudreau
Tkachuk
Lindholm
Monahan
Dube
Bennett
Mangiapane

Hanifin
Andersson
Giordano

Markstrom

That leaves Backlund (3 years at $5.35M, 32 years old), Tanev (3 years at $4.5M, 31 years old) and Rittich (UFA) as the salary cap choices. Derek Ryan as a UFA could also be an affordable bottom 6 centre for Seattle. I think David Rittich is the guy we’re going to end up losing in the end as he’s going to be one of the best goalies to be exposed.

Exposing Backlund would be playing the age/salary cap game. I also see Bennett and Dube both further establishing themselves this coming season, and seeing age/contract status, that puts them ahead of Backlund. I also am not opposed to Tree using a draft pick or two to protect someone and have them pick something else, as I still think most of this roster is championship-quality, and I’d rather see Backlund retire a Flame one day.

I do not disagree but wanted to add this. A lot of posters note that leaving Gio exposed is wrong, because he is the captain and heart and soul a Flame. I feel that Backlund is in the same category. Obviously not the captain but still a leader and heart and soul guy.
It feels wrong but I think we can't afford the luxury of emotional choices on who we protect. Both Giordano and Backlund bleed Flames red and I love them, but one or both may need to be exposed.

[VilleN]

I don’t think Backing would be selected. I doubt Seattle would want to allocate that much cap to an older player with years remaining on a somewhat high cap hit. They will probably have better, cheaper options. Maybe. If I’m Tre I would take that risk... it would hurt to lose him for nothing though.

[indes]

As long as we don't make a trade to protect someone! Those all went horrible for the teams that did it last time.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by indes

As long as we don't make a trade to protect someone! Those all went horrible for the teams that did it last time.

Depends on the trade.

In that article, as an example, Duha suggests that the Flames send the 3rd they got from the Lucic deal to Seattle so they select Kylington instead of Giordano or Backlund.

That's a very reasonable cost if they want to keep both those guys.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Depends on the trade.

In that article, as an example, Duha suggests that the Flames send the 3rd they got from the Lucic deal to Seattle so they select Kylington instead of Giordano or Backlund.

That's a very reasonable cost if they want to keep both those guys.

If Seattle wants Gio or Backlund, a third round pick won't stop them from picking them. Unless they like Kylington pretty much the same amount.

[CliffFletcher]

I don't share Duhatschek's reasoning that Seattle would be reluctant to take Backlund. Guys who can play as #2 NHL centers and match up against the other's team's top line don't grow on trees. They'll have loads of cap space, and the pickings available at forward will be pretty slim. If Backlund's exposed, I expect Francis won't hesitate to take him.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Tanev won't be protected...in fact I think they are hoping he is taken. Not that he is a bad player but you are basically losing nothing since he was acquired for free.

I think there is a reason there was ZERO expansion protection in his contract, both sides are good with it.

This is more so because Tanev is not a star player. GMs don’t give out NMCs to non star players without the leverage to negotiate for one. I think Tanev will surprise a lot of people here. He skates extremely well and is a defensive stalwart. If he’s defending top line opposition night in and night out, I don’t think he goes anywhere. I don’t think Hanifin’s current offensive ability will be enough to eclipse the gap between his defensive play and Tanevs.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don't share Duhatschek's reasoning that Seattle would be reluctant to take Backlund. Guys who can play as #2 NHL centers and match up against the other's team's top line don't grow on trees. They'll have loads of cap space, and the pickings available at forward will be pretty slim. If Backlund's exposed, I expect Francis won't hesitate to take him.

Pickings at forward will be slim? Pretty sure the same was said three years ago. Unless you have done a league wide analysis, I would think Seattle will have some pretty attractive options to choose from.

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

This is more so because Tanev is not a star player. GMs don’t give out NMCs to non star players without the leverage to negotiate for one. I think Tanev will surprise a lot of people here. He skates extremely well and is a defensive stalwart. If he’s defending top line opposition night in and night out, I don’t think he goes anywhere. I don’t think Hanifin’s current offensive ability will be enough to eclipse the gap between his defensive play and Tanevs.

Lots of players who are UFA's of the calibre of Taniv get NMC's. The fact that he was willing to come here without one absolutely played a part in us taking him. Most likely played a part in us needing to offer him four years as well.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by VilleN

I don’t think Backing would be selected. I doubt Seattle would want to allocate that much cap to an older player with years remaining on a somewhat high cap hit. They will probably have better, cheaper options. Maybe. If I’m Tre I would take that risk... it would hurt to lose him for nothing though.

They do have to hit the salary floor, so they can't go too cheap.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by ignite09

Lots of players who are UFA's of the calibre of Taniv get NMC's. The fact that he was willing to come here without one absolutely played a part in us taking him. Most likely played a part in us needing to offer him four years as well.

Well Torey Krug didn’t get a NMC and he was clearly one of the top UFA defensemen on the market. GMs had to be very weary giving out NMCs this time around with the expansion draft and so few slots they can protect.

Tanev also did get a 10 team NTC from Capfriendly, so if Treliving spent time negotiating with his representatives about that, then he clearly doesn’t look at him like dead weight that should be gone in a year especially if Tanev was to not be selected by Seattle.

I believe with all the smoke surrounding Hanifin this off season, there could be something there if a deal makes sense especially since Hanifin’s perceived value could still be quite high.

[gvitaly]

Don't know if this has been mentioned but Friedman mentioned that Tampa might be moving Tyler Johnson in a deal around Zetterberg's LTIR contract. The deal itself only pays Zetterberg $1M this year, so it makes sense for the lightning. Will Tampa have to add something to the deal? also curious if Tyler Johnson agreed to waive for Detroit, or will they put him back on waivers?

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Don't know if this has been mentioned but Friedman mentioned that Tampa might be moving Tyler Johnson in a deal around Zetterberg's LTIR contract. The deal itself only pays Zetterberg $1M this year, so it makes sense for the lightning. Will Tampa have to add something to the deal? also curious if Tyler Johnson agreed to waive for Detroit, or will they put him back on waivers?

If he doesn’t agree to be traded to Detroit, then there is reason for Detroit to pick him up on waivers. They have a young team. Not worth bringing in someone that doesn’t want to be there and disrupt the locker room.

[TheScorpion]

Tbh, if I'm Johnson, I just won my Cup but I'm not super happy with my role in Tampa. I might welcome the opportunity for a big role in Detroit.

[gvitaly]

I think Johnson just doesn't want to move out of Tampa. That is the only reason that he didn't agree to waive his No Trade in the first place. I don't think it has anything to do with wanting to play for Detroit. He is probably just comfortable with the weather, taxes, and being on a contender.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don't share Duhatschek's reasoning that Seattle would be reluctant to take Backlund. Guys who can play as #2 NHL centers and match up against the other's team's top line don't grow on trees. They'll have loads of cap space, and the pickings available at forward will be pretty slim. If Backlund's exposed, I expect Francis won't hesitate to take him.

Fully agree with your take. As for the other posts about Tanev , more than likely they leave him exposed and he doesn’t get picked. Most teams are going to go the 7 forward , 3 dman route. There are going to be plenty of dmen for Seattle to choose from. If Gio was exposed I could see him getting picked up for the sole reason of trading him at deadline. The talk of Hanifin being exposed is laughable.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by TOfan

Pickings at forward will be slim? Pretty sure the same was said three years ago. Unless you have done a league wide analysis, I would think Seattle will have some pretty attractive options to choose from.

Vegas did well because teams overpaid to protect players. And several of their forwards popped after they were drafted. Here's who they drafted at forward:

Cody Eakin
Jonathan Marchessault
Connor Brickley
Oscar Lindberg
Erik Haula
William Karlsson
Teemu Pulkkinen
William Carrier
Tomas Nosek
James Neal
Brendan Leipsic
David Perron
Chris Thorburn
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

On opening night of their first season, the Knight's center lineup (with points the season before) looked like this:

Eakin (12)
Lindberg (20)
Karlsson (25)
Bellemare (8)

Among all forwards drafted by Vegas, only Marchessault (51), Neal (41) and Perron (46) were even in Backlund's league.

Unless he falls off a cliff this season, Backlund will be a far better option than any centre Vegas picked up in the expansion draft, and as good as the top three forwards. If you think there will be two better centres than Backlund exposed, I'd like to know who they are.

[MrMike]

And how Vegas got to where they are was taking on draft capital and using that like it was unlimited.

They paid a first second and a third for Tatar and then used him to get Pattioretty with another first (Suzuki) and second I believe.


Don’t over pay with draft picks and let them take who they take.

Vegas is living on borrowed time of the stupidly overpayments of the expansion draft and they’re about to take a fall.