Calgary Flames : A New Era !

July 22nd 2024 marked the arrival of new GM Luc Bélanger. It has been rumored that GM Bélanger had inquired with the league officials a few months back if there was any openings in the league. With 20+ years experience in STHS/FHL leagues, GM Bélanger was ecstatic when he received the call last night. "I was very surprised when I saw the roster of this team with names such as Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Leonard, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle, Mason McTavish, Cole Perfetti and so on. I thought it was a prank. I hope to be successful in continuing M. Boudreau's legacy and eventually build a championship team" 

When asked which direction he plans on using going forward, it was quite clear : "I don't plan on destroying this team and giving up on young roster players. It does not mean I won't be dealing any of the young prospects, but i've started my list of players who might be used as trade assets. Having no 1st round pick in the 2025 RHL entry draft, it will be one of my priorities to acquire one or more of these 1st round picks. I feel it's unacceptable thinking we won't be picking in the 1st round and eventhough we have plenty of good young building blocks, it's out of the question that the rebuild is done. Everybody knows that Rome Was not Built In A Day. 

GM Bélanger did not waste anytime with his very first trade : Heading to Calgary : next year's RFA Jake Bean along with the Columbus 3rd round pick in 2026, going to Columbus : veteran Nick Seeler. "I'm sorry for not having met Nick at all since taking over for the team and trading him right away, but it makes sense for our future. Nothing against the player". 

With many young players eventually signing big contract extensions, the plan this next season will not be to spend too much money and stay around the Salary Floor (65,000,000$). "I plan on putting on the market a few big salaried players such as Shea Theodore, Morgan Rielly, Sean Monahan  and Chandler Stephenson. We hope to find suitors for these players while also trying to get other high salaried players in return to balance the numbers. Short term existing UFAs will be targeted in future trades as well"

When asked if he had many young prospects that could be made available, GM Bélanger had this to say : "Anton Silayev, Sam O'Reilly, Aleksi Heimosalmi, Noah Warren, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Eemil Vinni, Kasper Halttunen, Alex Turcotte, Christian Kyrou, Ryan Suzuki and Riley Kidney are amongst the players who are being made available to other teams. If other GMs are interested in talking about Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Leonard, Juraj Slafkovsky and Mason McTavish, the conversation is going to be very short :)" 

At the moment, the Calgary Flames plan to ice the following lineup at the start of training camp : 

Slafkovsky-Monahan-Tippett with Rielly and Theodore on D

Smith-Stephenson-McTavish with Guhle and Bahl on D

Foegele-McBain-Gallagher with Englund and Xhekaj on D

XXX-Perfetti-Evangelista with Bernard-Docker and Bean as extra D

Goaltenders Filip Gustavsson and Joel Hofer will be sharing the loads in nets.