“Whatever happened in Calgary this past season must’ve been horrible”
Reporter hints at serious problem within the Flames’ dressing room despite major front office and coaching changes.
HockeyFeed
Things are certainly not going according to plans in Calgary ever since Craig Conroy took over as Flames’ general manager. He was already dealing with chatter that some top players like Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund and Noah Hanifin want out of Calgary and on Thursday, forward Tyler Toffoli is believed to also be looking for a trade out.
Sportsnet’s Eric Engels wonders what is happening in the Flames’ dressing room seeing that many fans and pundits thought that once GM Brad Treliving out and coach Darryl Sutter fired, players would want to stay put and start anew in Calgary. He hints at something horrible that might have convinced players to move elsewhere.
“Treliving gone, Sutter gone, and Lindholm, Backlund, Hanifin and Toffoli all still want out, according to reports.
Whatever happened in CGY this past season must’ve been horrible—a fact reflected in the standings, but really magnified now.”
Chris Johnston provided some information on what will happen next with the Flames during last night’s Insider Trading on TSN:
“I think the biggest piece the Flames are looking at as they enter the summer is top-line centre Elias Lindholm.
My understanding about where things sit with Lindholm is that there have been discussions between his camp and the Flames and I believe there are more discussions planned. At this stage there’s been no indication one way or the other whether he’d like to stay.
I think he’s open to the idea [of staying in Calgary], depending on the contract, but that’s still in the early stages. Where this gets interesting is, I don’t know to what degree it depends on the other decisions, but there’s a little more clarity there. Mikael Backlund, a long-time Flame, has indicated that he wants to let things play out. He’s not going to sign an extension immediately on July 1 and he wants to see where the Flames end up.
Forward Tyler Toffoli is in a similar boat and, as a result, it sounds like the Flames are at least open to exploring what he may bring back in a trade. Finally, defenseman Noah Hanifin, as Pierre LeBrun reported last week, he’s not going to sign and is another candidate to be traded.”
That’s just a lot happening, and I have to say I am forced to agree with Engels. What the heck happened!?
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