All three of Hanifin, Lindholm and Backlund are heading into the final year of their contracts The expectation will be that they’ll be moved before next season starts in order to avoid another Johnny Gaudreau situation, which newly appointed GM Craig Conroy has said is a situation he’d like to avoid in the future.
Meanwhile, other notable players that have a year left on their contracts include Nikita Zadorov, Chris Tanev, Oliver Kylington, Dillon Dube and Tyler Toffoli. We’ll see which way the Flames want to go with this, but making nothing but hockey deals in a play to stay competitive may be difficult. If they sell for futures then it could open the door to Leafs GM, Brad Treliving, plucking some players he knows well from his former team.
The question is, who would you want from the Flames if they go into sell mode? I feel like Zadorov would be high on my list, but could easily see a place for Chris Tanev as on this blueline as well. As for the forward group, the Leafs will be desperate for a 3C for next season, as it appears that Ryan O’Reilly will find a new home, so Mikael Backlund would make a ton of sense to me.
How about you?