Flames not looking to rebuild following disappointing season (2024)

The people at the top of the Calgary Flames’ food chain look at this season’s team and see a group that underachieved.

Article content

Former general manager Brad Treliving stepped down on Monday, but those still in charge believe the pieces are there to contend.

Article content

No rebuild necessary.

That much, they’re sure of.

“I’m not ever allowed to use the word ‘rebuild’,” said John Bean, the president and CEO of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp.

Now, to be fair, Bean said that line with a smile. It should not be taken as gospel that the Flames would never and will never consider trading assets with the goal of tanking to acquire a few high draft picks. Maybe the new GM decides that’s exactly what is needed and is empowered to make that decision.

After all, the Flames mostly did try out a rebuild back when Jarome Iginla was traded in 2013, and according to Bean, there was a moment last summer when they had the option of considering a tear-down, too.

Article content

Article content

They decided to go another direction and accepted an offer for Matthew Tkachuk that included in-their-prime NHLers Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a first-round draft pick that they later flipped to the Montreal Canadiens in a salary cap space-clearing move that involved the Habs taking Sean Monahan, too.

“I think you have to look at the point in time and look at the assets you have in front of you and decide,” Bean said. “We would have done it a year ago, quite frankly. When we had a deal on the table for Matthew, there was a rebuild deal and a build-the-team because we’ve got a lot of good pieces (deal). There was a reflection time a year ago and that’ll be a point in time, and we’ll reflect again at the right point in time.”

Article content

There is considerable debate about whether that was the right call, but the Flames went all-in, signing Huberdeau to an eight-year, US$84-million contract that kicks in next season, adding Nazem Kadri with a seven-year, $49-million deal and also locking in Weegar for $50 million over eight years.

Despite those moves last summer, all designed to keep the Flames in the mix as a Stanley Cup contender, they missed the playoffs.

Bean, though, doesn’t accept the premise that this year’s failure to meet expectations automatically means the Flames should have gone with the rebuild option when they were trading Tkachuk.

“We’re all dying for a deeper playoff run, there’s no doubt about it. But we need to take a deep breath here and that’s what Don’s going to do,” said Bean, referring to Don Maloney, the Flames’ new president of hockey operations and interim GM. “You’re going to talk to the players and you’re going to do a deep dive on the analytics as well and before you overreact … you don’t want to underreact but you don’t want to overreact.

Article content

“You know what we have? A Vezina-nominated goalie. I can’t wait to see Jacob (Markstrom) come back next year. We have a really strong defence. You watch MacKenzie Weegar, it took him some time to kinda get in, but boy, the second half of the season? Awesome. We’ve got a great lineup that underperformed.”

That was the company line on Monday afternoon at the Saddledome and it will be Maloney who is tasked with reviewing what went wrong and led to the club’s underperformance.

Is there any chance that review might lead to the conclusion that the best option moving forward is a rebuild? That will be up to the new GM to decide.

But anyone can see the argument.

First-line centre Elias Lindholm wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when he was asked about the possibility of re-signing long-term when his contract expires after next season. Mikael Backlund, the team’s longest-tenured player, is also due to become a free agent in 2024 and admitted he wants to win a Stanley Cup and isn’t sure Calgary is the place where he can do that. Chris Tanev, Tyler Toffoli and Noah Hanifin could be free agents next summer, too.

Article content

Those are a lot of important, veteran pieces. In a Pacific Division where the competition is only getting better — and the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks both have solid odds of getting Connor Bedard in the draft — losing any of next year’s potential free agents for nothing could be devastating for the Flames.

Trading them this summer for young pieces and draft assets might make sense, right?

That’s not how Bean sees things.

Maybe there will come a day when the Flames look to rebuild, but it’s not today. It’s not this summer.

“We’re not going to overreact here,” Bean said. “Take your time, do the analysis, take the next step. Everyone looked at us last year and went ‘holy mackerel’ and that’s why you drop the puck and play the game. It didn’t play out quite the way we thought it would, but boy, oh boy, oh boy, everyone was like a coronation here.

“Welcome to sports, there isn’t just an A to a B. If there was, everyone else would be doing it. It’s hard, but we’re going to do our best.”

daustin@Postmedia.com

Twitter: @DannyAustin_9

Article content