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[Calgary Flames]

Could the Flames be major players in NHL free agency?

Friends, there are two things we know about the Calgary Flames right now.

The first is that they feel like they took a big step forward in 2024-25, posting 96 points and missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs on tiebreakers in a season where many thought they would be bottom-dwellers. The second is that the Flames have, mathematically-speaking, oodles of salary cap space heading into the off-season.

And the combination of some upward standings momentum and ample cap space has led some to ponder whether the Flames will be a main character in the upcoming free agent market.

On Tuesday over at Daily Faceoff, Anthony Di Marco reported that the Flames could be “big-game hunting” this off-season:

Speaking with a source close to the situation in Calgary, the Flames are going to explore ways to bolster their lineup this summer. But the plan is not to acquire just any name; if the Flames are to make an outside addition, it will be a top UFA or trade target. Based on conversations I’ve had with those inside the organization, the Flames plan to go “big game hunting” in Free Agency; if Calgary cannot land one of the bigger-name free agents, they will explore the trade market or carry their cap space into next season and go from there.

Here’s the broad strokes of the Flames’ salary cap and roster situation right now, with 15 NHL incumbents under contract following Matt Coronato’s recent contract:

• Forwards (9): Jonathan Huberdeau ($10.5 million), Nazem Kadri ($7 million), Matt Coronato ($6.5 million), Yegor Sharangovich ($5.75 million), Joel Farabee ($5 million), Blake Coleman ($4.9 million), Mikael Backlund ($4.5 million), Ryan Lomberg ($2 million) and Martin Pospisil ($1 million)
• Defencemen (5): MacKenzie Weegar ($6.25 million), Rasmus Andersson ($4.55 million), Jake Bean ($1.75 million), Daniil Miromanov ($1.25 million) and Brayden Pachal ($1.19 million)
• Goaltender (1): Dustin Wolf ($850,000)
• Retained salary: Jacob Markstrom ($1.875 million)

The Flames have about $64.87 million committed under the $95.5 million salary cap, leaving them $30.63 million in space. Once they lock up restricted free agents Morgan Frost, Connor Zary and Kevin Bahl, they’ll still have tons of cap space.

But based on what Flames general manager Craig Conroy was saying during exit interviews last month, don’t expect the Flames just to spend money willy-nilly:

“Our goal is to make the playoffs and go from there,” said Conroy. “But it’s going to take some more young guys, and we’re going to look in free agency to see if there’s something that makes sense. Again, we’re not just going to spend money.”

Asked if a quiet free agency period could be expected, Conroy noted that he’s challenged the pro scouting group to find “different maker” players that could be long-term fits, but acknowledged that it’s unlikely that the club’s wish list would be a very long one.

“You know, obviously we didn’t make the playoffs, but 96 points, close,” said Conroy. “You know, is there someone that could push us over that edge? We’re going to look to see if we can find that person and add them next year. But if we don’t, I would say we would not do a lot.”

The Flames were one of the NHL’s lowest-spending teams in 2024-25, and they very nearly made the post-season. They’ll probably spend a bit more in 2025-26, especially with the salary cap going up, but we’ll see if one of the players on the Flames’ wish list become available, or if they end up having another quiet free agency period.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/could-the-flames-be-major-players-in-nhl-free-agency

 

[Calgary Flames]

What’s Going On In The Playoffs: Oilers, Hurricanes, and Stars have a 3-1 series lead

The second round may end sooner rather than later.

This is What’s Going On In The Playoffs, where we look at how each series is going so far this post-season. Three teams have a 3-1 series lead, with all three of them having an opportunity to close it out by Friday.

Let’s take a look what what’s happened in the post-season since last Wednesday!

Oilers push the Golden Knights to the brink​

Game 2 of the Edmonton Oilers/Vegas Golden Knights series was last Thursday. The Oilers allowed the first goal of the game, a shocker, but answered with three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead. With less than two minutes in the second period, William Karlsson cut the Oilers’ lead to one.

Evander Kane scored an early goal in the third period to restore the Oilers’ two-goal lead, but the Knights tied the game thanks to goals from Victor Olofsson and Alex Pietrangelo, bringing the game to overtime. The Oilers failed to capitalize on a five-minute power play in overtime, but the referees missed a very obvious trip on Viktor Arvidsson, with Leon Draisaitl scoring the game-winner not long after.

MCDAVID TO DRAISAITL

Connor McDavid makes a beautiful move to set up Leon Draisaitl for the @Energizer overtime winner in Game 2! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/DkMXp2kuhw

— NHL (@NHL) May 9, 2025

The series shifted to Edmonton for Game 3. It was the Oilers that found the board first, as Corey Perry scored two consecutive goals. In under a minute towards the end of the first, that lead was erased with goals by Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith. With three minutes left in the second, William Karlsson gave the Knights a 3-2, which held until Connor McDavid scored a goal with three minutes left in the game.

Game 3 went to overtime, right? Wrong. The Oilers stopped playing, Stuart Skinner ended up in Lethbridge trying to cut down an angle, and Draisaitl deflected the puck into the back of his own net with 0.4 left in the game.

A BUZZER BEATER OF ALL BUZZER BEATERS

REILLY SMITH WINS IT FOR VEGAS WITH 0.4 SECONDS LEFT IN REGULATION!!! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/PZIGMQE1Ba

— NHL (@NHL) May 11, 2025

You’d think that the last-second goal would give the Knights life to tie up the series, but the Oilers played their best game of the post-season in Game 4. Adam Henrique scored the game-winner 87 seconds into the game, added his second with just under seven minutes left in the first. Kane scored an insurance goal in the second period, as the Oilers coasted to a 3-0 win to take a 3-1 series lead.

Game 5 returns to Vegas, with that game starting at 7:30 p.m. MT on Wednesday. When it’s needed, Game 6 will be on Friday in Edmonton, and Game 7 will be back in Sin City on Sunday.

Stars have a 3-1 lead over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets​

Game 1 of the other Western Conference semifinal started last Wednesday, with the Dallas Stars defeating the Winnipeg Jets 3-2. The Jets’ Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring, but Mikko Rantanen scored his second hat trick of the post-season to give the Stars a 3-1 lead. Late in the second, Mark Scheifele scored to cut the lead to one, but that’s all they’d get as they dropped Game 1.

A HAT TRICK FOR MIKKO RANTANEN

IT'S ONLY THE SECOND PERIOD pic.twitter.com/JxCmKlnuMj

— ESPN (@espn) May 8, 2025

The Jets responded in Game 2, defeating the Stars 4-0 to even the series at one. Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers scored in the first period, Adam Lowry added an insurance goal in the second, and Ehlers scored his second of the game into the empty net. Connor Hellebuyck had his best game of the post-season, saving all 21 shots he faced.

Nikolaj Ehlers nails the empty netter try, extending the Jets lead to 4 with under 4 minutes to play!#GoJetsGo | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/QuIs73RjJ4

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 10, 2025

With the series shifting to Texas, the Stars took control of the series. Game 3 saw a back-and-forth game in the period, as the teams traded two goals each. It was all the Stars in the third, though, as Alex Petrovic, Rantanen, and Wyatt Johnston scored to give the Stars a 2-1 series lead and a 5-2 win.

Game 4 saw fewer goals, but another Stars victory. Mikael Granlund opened the scoring in the first, with Ehlers equalizing the game just 62 seconds into the period. Granlund scored the game-winner with just over two minutes left in the second, and he scored his hat trick goal in the third period for the 3-1 win and 3-1 series lead.

THAT'S MIKKE GRANLUND FROM MIRO HEISKANEN AND MATT DUCHENE FOR THREEEEEEEEEE!!! pic.twitter.com/stg7WqTWgS

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) May 14, 2025

Game 5 is on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT in Winnipeg. If needed, the series will shift back to Dallas on Saturday and Game 7 would be on Monday in Winnipeg.

Leafs and Panthers are even at two games apiece​

Shifting to the final Canadian team in the post-season, the Toronto Maple Leafs took a 2-0 series lead with a 4-3 win in Game 2. Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov opened the scoring, but Max Pacioretty evened up the game late in the first. Brad Marchand scored to give the Panthers an early lead in the second, but the Leafs once again found the game-tying goal courtesy of William Nylander.

Max Domi gave the Leafs a lead late in the second, before Anton Lundell evened the game five and a half minutes into the third. Mitch Marner scored just 17 seconds later, giving the Leafs a 4-3 victory. This marked the most post-season wins they’ve had since 2004.

The series shifted to Sunrise, Florida, and the Panthers cut the series lead in half with a 5-4 victory. In the first period, the Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Matthew Knies and John Tavares. Barkov scored to cut the lead in half with just over 12 minutes to go in the period.

John Tavares put the Leafs up 3-1, but the Panthers scored three consecutive goals from Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, and Jonah Gajovich for the 4-3 lead. Midway through the third, Morgan Rielly tied the game, but it was Marchand who scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

BRAD MARCHAND WINS IT IN OT FOR THE PANTHERS pic.twitter.com/fUP840Yv4q

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 10, 2025

It was all the Panthers in Game 4 of the series. Verhaeghe scored in the backend of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Midway through the third, former Calgary Flame Sam Bennett scored to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead, all they’d need to even up the series.

THE PATIENCE FROM SAM BENNETT pic.twitter.com/MXPPNNctzJ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 12, 2025

Game 5 is in Toronto on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. MT. The series will shift back to Florida for Game 6 on Friday, and if needed, Game 7 is on Sunday in Toronto.

Hurricanes up 3-1 over Capitals​

Thanks to an overtime goal in Game 1, the Carolina Hurricanes had a 1-0 series lead over the Washington Capitals. Still on home ice, the Capitals responded with a 3-1 victory in Game 2. Connor McMichael scored early in the first, and John Carlson extended the lead with a goal early in the third. Shayne Gostisbehere cut the lead in half midway through the third, but Tom Wilson scored an empty-netter for the 3-1 victory.

TOM WILSON SEALS GAME 2 WITH AN EMPTY NETTER pic.twitter.com/VgbLKIwVmo

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 9, 2025

The series shifted to Raleigh, North Carolina, for Game 3, and it was all the Hurricanes from there. Game 3 saw Andrei Svechnikov score the game-winning goal midway through the second. Jack Roslovic scored late in the second for a 2-0 lead. In the third, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake scored to give the Hurricanes a 4-0 lead, all they’d need to take a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 went in favour of the Hurricanes as well. Gostisbehere opened the scoring midway through the first, and Seth Jarvis gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead early in the second. Jakob Chychrun cut the Hurricanes’ lead in half five minutes into the third, but Taylor Hall responded just over three minutes later for the 3-1 lead. Alex Ovechkin scored with just under eight minutes left, but Sean Walker’s goal with just over three minutes in the game was the dagger. Svechnikov added an empty-netter for good measure, as the Hurricanes took a 3-1 series lead.

SEAN WALKER! Walker scores a huge insurance goal, putting Carolina back up by 2 late in the third!#RaiseUp | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/TVthJikqhZ

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 13, 2025

The series returns to the United States’ Capital for Game 5 on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. MT. If needed, Game 6 is in Carolina on Saturday, and Game 7 is back in Washington on Monday.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/whats-...s-hurricanes-and-stars-have-a-3-1-series-lead