Insider believes the Canucks may offer sheet a member of the Flames!

Well this is certainly an unexpected angle. 

There has been an usually large amount of talking regarding potential offer sheets this upcoming offseason and although they are very seldom used in the National Hockey League there has been a different feeling this time around. Perhaps it is merely the large number of restricted free agents that still do not have a contract or perhaps it is just a sign of the evolving times in the National Hockey League, but you definitely get the sense that there are some general managers out there who would seriously consider the gamble.

What is interesting however is you would expect them to go after the big ticket players that are available like Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner, however one NHL insider believes that a smaller and much more sneaky type of offer sheet could be the move that plays out in the end. Sportsnet's Calgary Flames insider Eric Francis recently published an article in which he suggested that the Flames could be the victims of an offer sheet due to some of the unique challenges they face in the summer. So who is the player that would be targeted? None other than young Flames center Sam Bennett.

Francis proposed a scenario in which the cap rich Vancouver Canucks could flex some of their cap muscle and look to slightly overpay Bennett all the while making it difficult for the Flames to match their offer. From Francis:

Clearly an organization that covets adding gritty, well-rounded players (See: signings of Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle last summer), the Canucks have room to weaponize their $30 million in cap space by approaching Bennett with a pact paying him upwards of $3 million for a player drafted fourth overall as a centre.

Despite a pedestrian, 13-goal regular season, the 22-year-old was arguably the Flames’ best skater in their five-game playoff loss this year, much like he was four years earlier when he infuriated Canucks fans in his NHL playoff debut with a mix of tenacity and skill custom-made for playoff hockey.

What makes this proposal so good from Francis is how realistic is sounds. Sure the Flames could afford to sign Bennett today but they would then still need to sign 2 goaltenders and restricted free agent Andrew Mangiapane, as well as unrestricted free agent Garnet Hathaway assuming they want to keep him. It certainly would be very interesting to see two Western Canadian rivals go to war over a player like Bennett, and one was to wonder what it could mean for the potential future between these two teams were it to happen.