Mikael Backlund

On Monday, it was announced that the Calgary Flames and GM Brad Treliving had agreed to part ways after the team failed to qualify for the 2023 NHL playoffs. While Don Maloney takes over as president of hockey operations and interim GM for the time being, there is tremendous uncertainty regarding the club’s off-season roster moves.

The main concern is about the lot of Flames eligible for UFA status in 2024 : the list includes centers Mikael Backlund and Elias Lindholm, winger Tyler Toffoli and defensemen Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov.

TSN’s Salim Valji reported at the Flames’ end-of-season press conference that Backlund and Lindholm sounded non-committal about re-signing in Calgary before next summer.

Despite loving the atmosphere in Calgary, Backlund spoke about his desire to win the Stanley Cup, adding he wasn’t sure what would happen if offered a contract extension this summer.

“I don’t know, the summer what’s gonna happen. Even if they offer us anything, or me, I might wanna see what this group can do [next season] before I make a decision…I’ve been here a long time. I love Calgary. I love the organization, but the year we had, I’m 34 years old.”

As for Lindholm, he brought up the last a year left on his contract and commented that he would see how things go.

“I’ve got one more year. Gotta look at it that way. I have one more year and that’s all I can say.”

Other key players like Toffoli and Zadorov sounded more upbeat about sticking around and signing an extension with the Flames before free agency comes up.

However for now, they don’t know who will be the Flames’ new GM and what players will be on his top priority for the future of the club. There are possibilities that one or two of those players will be traded before the start of next season.

It will once again be a busy offseason in Calgary.

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To say that the 2022-23 National Hockey League season was a difficult one for the Calgary Flames would be a major understatement.

Fresh off their first postseason victory since their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004, the Flames underwent a series of massive changes last summer, starting with the stunning departure of Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Additionally, they traded All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, while also bringing aboard 2022 Stanley Cup winning forward Nazem Kadri.

However, the entire team fell short of the expectations that they entered the campaign with. Huberdeau experienced a stunning drop-off in production as he struggled to adapt to the defensive playing system of hard-nosed head coach Darryl Sutter, while Kadri also saw a noticeable decline on the stat sheet. Goaltender Jakub Markstrom, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season, failed to come close to a repeat performance this year. This all along with other factors combined to result in Calgary missing the playoffs, sending them into an uncertain offseason.

And right now, we’re already seeing reports that there could be several players eventually on the move. Forward Elias Lindholm, who saw his point production drop by nearly 20 points from last season, didn’t exactly sound committed to staying in Calgary beyond 2024.

“I’ve got one more year and that’s all I can say,” he explained.

Meanwhile, forward Mikael Backlund admitted that this past season was the most difficult of his career, and like Lindholm, didn’t commit to staying a member of the Flames for the long haul.

“Definitely the hardest season I’ve played emotionally and mentally,” he said. “We never met the expectations.”

“We’ll see what happens,” he said of signing long term. “The year we had, I’m 34 years old. I wanna win the Stanley Cup.”

Buckle up, Flames fans!