Hurricanes Could Revisit Trade Deadline Target In Offseason

Elias Lindholm's name continues to come up in trade rumors as he has just one year left on his deal in Calgary and hasn't committed to them. Like some of the others on the Flames, he was waiting to see what is done to the team. Although they had a good start by firing Darryl Sutter, I believe much more needs to be done to convince Lindholm to sign long-term.

Since the Flames were in mediocrity this season and the Carolina Hurricanes were firmly in a playoff spot, they were looking to bolster their lineup like the rest of the powerhouse teams. Of the playoff teams, they didn't end up doing that much at all, but the team tried. According to Michael Russo and Eric Duhatschek, the Hurricanes tried hard to re-acquire Lindholm at the 2023 trade deadline. This would have firmly stuck him in the second line center role and shored that up for this season and next at a $4.85 million AAV cap hit.

Lindholm was a point-per-game player and scored 42 goals in 2021-22 while finishing second in Selke Trophy voting. He understandably had a regression since his two elite linemates both moved on and the Flames were much worse. He's still one of, if not the best player on the Flames and they can't afford to lose him for nothing in free agency next summer. If the Hurricanes try to re-visit this trade again in the offseason, which they very well could, there are a lot of young and talented players that the Flames might be interested in bringing back.