Flames Rumors: 3 Trade Candidates After Seeing Lindholm Dealt

Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy isn't messing around this season. He's already dealt defenseman Nikita Zadorov, and now we've seen Elias Lindholm come off the trade boards, so who's next?

Calgary sits 22-22-5 heading into All-Star weekend and are five points out of a playoff spot with three teams to leap frog. It won't be easy to creep back into playoff position, so Conroy's going to have some trade calls to answer over the next four weeks. Here's the next three Flames who could be dealt before March 8:

Chris Tanev

If it was up to all of his teammates, there's zero chance Tanev gets dealt before the deadline, even as a pending free agent in the summer. He's beloved in the room and considering he's willing to block shots with his face, it's not surprising he's respected in the room. Tanev is a defensive gem and does the little things to help his team win. Look for at least one second-round pick to head to Calgary in any deal. Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa are in hot pursuit. 

Daniel Vladar

Now the opposite, if it was up to Calgary's management team, Vladar would have been traded long ago. There's been talks of late, but so far not a ton of interest in the 6-foot-5 netminder. Vladar is signed for next season as well, at $2.2 million and does not hold any trade protection. The goalie market has calmed down a touch but there's going to be several teams looking for depth. The only issue with Vladar is that he's not very experienced in the playoffs, with only two appearances and so far this season, has posted a .888 Sv.% in 18 games. Makes sense why interest is lacking.

Noah Hanifin

Out of these three, Hanifin is the least likely to be dealt and there's word that the Flames recently offered him a new extension to ponder. There's mutual interest to get a deal done it just seems like Hanifin is waiting until the last minute to sign the deal. If Conroy doesn't have a good sense he wants to stay in the next month, there's no doubt he'll ship the two-way defenseman out of town. This would be a three-piece deal where at least one first-rounder, a top prospect and a contract filler would get a deal done.

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