Winning culture, new arena keys to player retention in Calgary, say Flames
Winning more games and the construction of a new arena will convince more NHL players that Calgary is a desirable place to play, some Flames said as they headed for the exits Friday.
Calgary finished 17 points out of the playoffs with a 38-39-5 record, and missed the post-season a second straight year. The Flames have won two playoff series in the last 20 years.
A 2-6-1 start to 2023-24 combined with trades of big-name pending free agents unwilling to sign contract extensions impeded the club's progress.
- Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Winning records in November, January and February had the Flames flirting with the playoffs, but that ended with the trade deadline.
Of seven key Flames with a year remaining on their contracts a year ago, only Mikael Backlund signed an extension. Five didn't and were dealt, starting with 34-goal man Tyler Toffoli last summer.
New general manager Craig Conroy also traded top centre Elias Lindholm and defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov in-season when terms could not be reached.
"Our management was dealt a tough hand," said forward Blake Coleman. "It was a lot of contract stuff going on, and guys weren't totally sure they were going to be here, or wanting to be here.
"We had to find ways to play through that. For the most part, we drowned it out and guys went about their business, but ultimately we lost a lot of a lot of really good players and some teammates and friends.
"It's challenging to win when you're subtracting a lot of really good pieces from your team. After the (trade) deadline, the writing's on the wall a little bit."
Winger Dillon Dube, a restricted a free agent, went on indefinite leave Jan. 21 before he and other members of Canada's 2018 junior men's hockey team were charged with sexual assault. The allegations have yet to be proven in court.
Defencemen Olivier Kylington returned to the lineup in January after sitting out a season and a half to address his mental health.
So it was a season of roster flux under Conroy and new head coach Ryan Huska. Both were promoted from assistant positions.
"I never really felt the effort wasn't there this year," Conroy said. "The start of the year really set us back. If we don't get off to that start, who knows? It probably doesn't change that we have to move the other guys when we did because we just couldn't come to terms with them."
Trades brought forwards Yegor Sharangovich and Andrei Kuzmenko and defenceman Danill Miromanov to Calgary's lineup immediately.
But a return of four prospects and seven draft picks — including two first-rounders — on those transactions signalled a retooling.
A worrisome trend in Calgary began in 2022 when Johnny Gaudreau signed elsewhere and Matthew Tkachuk wanted out with a year remaining on his contract. The latter scenario repeated last summer with Toffoli.
Defenceman MacKenzie Weegar says winning and making playoffs are primary magnets for players.
"I don't know if there's this black cloud over Calgary right now and it's trying to find a way to shift that, to make guys want to be here again, and want to play here, and that's establishing that winning culture again," Weegar said.
"That black cloud goes away pretty quick when you start winning and making playoffs."
The city and the Flames have an agreement in place to replace the 41-year-old Saddledome, which is the oldest NHL building behind New York's Madison Square Garden, but shovels have yet to hit the ground.
"I love playing in the Saddledome, but it's one of the oldest . . . so that's a big factor I'm sure for guys," said Backlund, who became captain in his 16th season as a Flame.
"It's in the process. Hopefully it gets done here sooner or later. Will love to play in that arena, but they've got to get going here soon. I'm not getting younger."
Bright spots for Calgary were career high 20 goals by Weegar and 30 from Coleman. Sharangovich became the NHL's highest-scoring Belarusian in a single season with 31 goals and 28 assists.
Nazem Kadri's 29 goals and 46 assists for 75 points was the second-most in his career after his 87 points with Colorado in 2021-22.
Jonathan Huberdeau said a year ago "I completely lost my swagger." The left-winger believes he gained some back with 12 goals and 40 assists in 81 games this season.
The highest-paid Flame at US$10.5 million a year survived a demoralizing December drought for a better back half of the season.
"I was grabbing that stick really tight in December," Huberdeau recalled. "After the New Year, my game got better. My defensive game got better since. Obviously that's not what I'm paid for. I want to get back to 70, 80 points."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Fire at a baby care centre kills 7 infants in India's capital, a fire officer says
A fire broke out in a baby care center in India's capital Saturday night, killing seven infants, a fire service officer said.
UN migration agency estimates more than 670 killed in Papua New Guinea landslide
The International Organization for Migration on Sunday increased its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea to more than 670 as emergency responders and traumatized relatives gave up hope that any survivors will now be found.
More seniors are using homeless shelters. Here's why, according to experts
One of the country’s homeless shelters has seen an uptick in the number of people through its doors, including more older adults over 50.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
No sign Canada has a plan to reach NATO defence spending target: U.S. NATO ambassador
The U.S. ambassador to NATO says she has seen no indication that Canada has a plan to reach the NATO spending target of two per cent of GDP on defence.
Man or machine? Toronto company finds a way to determine how real audio clips are
The Toronto-based research arm of life sciences technology firm Klick Health has found a way to analyze voices in a manner that’s so granular, it can tell whether it's a person or an artificial intelligence-powered machine.