Flames Stopping Floodgates From Opening Around The NHL

There haven't been a ton of trades to this point, and the reason appears to be clear. The Calgary Flames are holding up the trade market with their pending UFAs according to Anthony Di Marco.

The days and weeks leading up to the trade deadline last season were much more exciting and there was an arms race in the East. Coming into the 2023-24 season, the Flames had a number of players in the last year of their deals and have already made a couple of moves by trading Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. The UFAs the league seems to be waiting on are Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.

These two Flames defenders seem to be the biggest names available on defense and the two many teams will be happy with acquiring. While it isn't expected that either of these players are traded on deadline day, other defensemen that are seen as backup plans like Matt Dumba, Sean Walker, and Nick Seeler will all have their market set after at least one of Hanifin or Tanev are moved.

There are usually 1-2 players that teams want to see where they go and what the value is before making their moves. The Flames seem to hold the key and it's anyone's guess when the floodgates will open.