Two trade up scenarios for the Calgary Flames at the 2024 NHL Draft

The Calgary Flames head into the 2024 NHL draft with nine picks total, eight of those being in the first four rounds of the draft.

One option for Craig Conroy and his management team is to use some of those draft picks and current NHL players to help them get another pick or two in the top half of the first round.

The Flames are in desperate need of game changing talent. The type of foundational players you can build your franchise around to have sustained, long term success. They have some good prospects in their system already with the likes of Connor Zary, Matt Coronato, Sam Honzek, Hunter Brzustewicz, and Dustin Wolf. But I’m not sure how many of those guys are going to be game changing players for the Flames franchise.

Most teams find their core players in the top nine picks in the draft. Because of that, the Flames should do everything in their power to move up and make multiple picks in the top half of the first round.

Here are two teams the Flames might be able to strike a deal with.

Utah Hockey Club

Utah is going to be one of the busiest teams in the off-season. New owner Ryan Smith is going to want to make a splash or two to get his team into playoff contention in their first year playing in Salt Lake City.

Utah has an abundance of draft picks and prospects already in their system. This is a team that needs help right now. The Flames have some interesting pieces to move to help Utah get to the next level.

Utah’s biggest need is on defence. They don’t have a single defenceman signed for next season as of May 16.

Rasmus Andersson could be the perfect fit. He is in the middle of his prime years in the NHL. He is on a good contract. And he has no trade protection.

Why would the Flames want to move a guy like Andersson? Because Calgary is at the beginning of a rebuild where they are not going to be cup contenders for a long time. Andersson only has two years remaining on his contract before becoming a UFA at age 30 where is likely going to receive a huge pay raise. By the time the Flames are actually good again, Andersson is going to be in his mid 30s.

Plus the Flames have done a good job stockpiling defencemen in their prospect system. Brzustewicz, Jeremie Poirier, Etienne Morin, Artem Grushnikov, Ilya Solovyov, Yan Kuznetsov. And they’re going to add to that group of players by drafting multiple defencemen in Vegas at the draft.

Do the Flames really need a 32+ year old Andersson making $8+ million on a long term deal when they’re ready to compete again when they already have MacKenzie Weegar and that group of prospects?

It might be a smart idea to move one of your best assets now for pieces that could help this team have sustained success in the future.

Trade Proposal

To Calgary: 2024 first-round pick (6th overall) & 2024 second-round pick (38th overall)

To Utah: Rasmus Andersson & Vancouver’s 2024 first-round pick

Ottawa Senators

Just like Utah, Ottawa has a new ownership group who is going to want to make their mark on the franchise. The Senators also have a new management team and head coach. The days of Ottawa finishing in the top ten of the draft need to come to an end.

A 2024 first-round pick isn’t going to help get the Senators into the playoffs. NHL veterans are. And the Flames have a bunch of those players on their roster.

The position the Sens need to upgrade the most is goaltending. Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg are not getting the job done. Ottawa could desperately use a guy like Jacob Markstrom.

This would be a difficult deal to make as Markstrom has a full no-move clause and Korpisalo has a 10 team no trade list. But there could be a deal to be made if both teams can convince each goalie to waive those clauses.

It’s clear that Markstrom isn’t happy with the Flames and a trade is likely to go down this summer. Ottawa has the 7th overall pick. The Flames would have to take back Korpisalo to make the money work. He has four years remaining on his contract. That’s going to be the amount of time it’s going to take the Flames to get out of their rebuild so I don’t see an issue with taking back his contract. Calgary could also buy him out after a couple years and it wouldn’t make much of an impact on their salary cap.

Trade Proposal

To Calgary: 2024 first-round pick (7th overall) & Joonas Korpisalo

To Ottawa: Jacob Markstrom, 2024 fourth-round pick