On the tail of just their second regulation loss in their last ten games, you have to wonder if the Calgary Flames are at a crossroads.
The team has a recurring habit of running peaks and valleys in the standings. Five wins in their first six was followed by seven losses in the next nine games. That streak was then followed by five wins in their next seven.
It happened last season as well. We’ll skip the 1000-word breakdown and just post a cursory glance at their schedule in 2023-2024. Courtesy of ESPN.com.
Almost the entirety of the 2023-2024 season saw those types of bipolar winning and losing trends. A spare win or loss would be sprinkled in, but the overall theme of the team playing through extreme highs and lows persisted.
Time will tell if the Flames are about to begin a low stretch. For now, let’s have some fun with a potential trade that might make sense for where this team is currently sitting.
Thinking out of the Biloxi
One question that we can possibly explore further:
Is the toughness issue finally resolved?
Most fans would like to forget the doormat-style approach the Calgary Flames took to the battering of their players last season. Evander Kane underlined the issue in late October at the Heritage Classic.
While that was bad, perhaps it was the injuring of younger players that stung the most, particularly due to the lack of response. Here, we see New York’s Jimmy Vesey injuring Adam Ruzicka. No Flames player responded to the questionable hit.
Ruzicka was eventually put on waivers and spiraled out of the NHL before the end of the season.
Here we see Jacob Pelletier, recently back from shoulder surgery, taking a big hit from another New York Ranger: Jacob Trouba. Pelletier missed a few games and never really recovered by season’s end. Walker Duehr approached the hulking defenceman, but didn’t follow through with pugilence.
Just to make a point that it's a
toughness problem and not just a
New York Rangers problem, here is a fairly embarrassing instance from last season where Jordan Oesterle was the only player to step up when rookie Connor Zary got tough treatment from Coyotes defenceman Michael Kesselring.
There are more instances like this, but we’ve made our point. How are things now?
Obviously, Ryan Lomberg is a treasure.
Lomberg is a step in the right direction, but we're still seeing Connor Zary on the receiving end of a bad here and there. Generally, there is no response.
Still an issue? Seemingly.
One semi-tangible absence is Anthony Mantha's six-foot-five presence on the right side. Both in terms of production and truculence. It certainly wouldn't hurt the team to fill that spot with someone else who can make life easier for the younger side of the roster. Without further ado, here is our proposal:
To Calgary
F Mathieu Olivier
To Columbus
2025 third round draft pick
2026 fifth round draft pick
In terms of valuation, we’re referring to the Reilly Smith trade from last summer. Smith was just one season separated from a 26-goal campaign when he was dealt by the Penguins to the Rangers on July 1, 2024, in exchange for a 2027 second round pick and a 2024 fifth round pick.
While Smith has a more established brand (especially in the playoffs), Mathieu Olivier is younger at 27. En lieu of a 2027 second-round pick that will take three drafts to reach, the Flames would offer a more chronologically convenient third-round pick.
With that said, who is this guy?
Mathieu Olivier
A right-shot right wing, Olivier would fill Mantha’s vacated spot in the lineup nicely. Weighing in at six-foot-one and 226 pounds, Mathieu Olivier has proven a tough customer over six seasons in the National Hockey League. He has four bouts this year if you include preseason.
It’s fair to say that anyone who can handle Arber Xhekaj should be put on the
Certified Tough List. What is more interesting is that Olivier is finding his offensive game at the NHL level. Six goals in 20 games this season has him on pace for 25.
It also wouldn’t hurt to refill the French quota on the Flames now that Mantha is out and Pelletier is in the minors. Olivier was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, but grew up in Quebec.
Columbus originally acquired the dual Canadian/United States citizen from Nashville in exchange for a late 2022 fourth round pick on June 30, 2022. Mathieu is the first player born in Mississippi to play in the NHL.
Olivier is an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Stats courtesy of the National Hockey League, Elite Prospects, and hockeyfights.com.
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