The Calgary Flames will have to make a trade
The Hockey News: With Matthew Tkachuk’s signing a new contract the Calgary Flames cap situation is now a bit more complicated.
It’s been no secret, for instance, that the Flames have dangled Michael Frolik in trade talks before. Notably, he was reported to be part of a trade package that would have seen Jason Zucker land in Calgary ahead of last season’s trade freeze. Such a deal never came to fruition, but it hasn’t stopped Frolik’s name from bubbling to the surface. He’s not the only one who’s been orbiting the nhl trade rumors, however. Defensemen T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic have also seen their names crop up, but they’re far less likely to be moving on following the training injury suffered by rearguard Jusso Valimaki.
Carolina Hurricanes looking to trade another defenceman
The Hockey News: The more things change, the more they stay the same, because even though the Carolina Hurricanes did what it needed to clear Justin Faulk from the blueline and free up cap space in the process – they’re not yet cap compliant, but it shouldn’t be an issue becoming compliant by the start of the season – one could argue that there still needs to be another move involving a defenseman.
Likely on the short list of new odd-men out, coincidentally, is Joel Edmundson, who is, like Justin Faulk before him, a pending UFA and frankly doesn’t have a spot in the top four and could very well be relegated to fill-in duty if Haydn Fleury takes on a full-time role this season.
Moving one of Edmundson or Trevor van Riemsdyk makes sense for the Hurricanes, too, as it would free up far more cap space than moving on from a youngster making little more than league minimum, and the additional cap space could be used to get Martin Necas into the lineup up front or bring in a forward via trade.
