November 23, 2025 | 11:58am ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

FLAMES HOLDING GROUND, FOR NOW

Nazem Kadri, forward

The Calgary Flames have won two straight for the second time this season and are currently 15th in the Western Conference, ahead of the last-place Nashville Predators by one point, though Nashville has two games in hand.

No matter whether the Flames are last, second-last or 10th in the West, the first quarter of the season has not gone anywhere near their expectations once the puck dropped on the 2025-26 campaign.

With speculation running wild across Calgary, team President of Hockey Operations Don Maloney spoke candidly with Sportsnet and indicated the team is not ready to blow things up and start selling of pieces, at least not yet.

“If we could trade somebody and get a top-three pick or a premier prospect, there’s no restrictions on us making deals if the deal makes sense with our long-term plan,” Maloney said. “If (GM Craig Conroy) got a call today for, whoever, and it was like, ‘wow, this is good for us long term’ then, of course.

“So, the idea that we’re digging our feet in the sand and saying no – we’re realistic where we’re at. We know we’ve got real things to sort out short term here, but we’re going to continue this process of drafting well, developing well, work at deals that make sense to us longer term. What the fans don’t get is that we have a team next year that we have to put on the ice, and what happens if some of these younger players aren’t quite ready? And then you’re, you know, you’re the 32nd place team next year.”

Veterans Rasmus Andersson, Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman have been at the forefront of trade speculation this season, though teams have also called Conroy about some of his other players, as well. For Maloney, moving Kadri would take a significant package.

“I think we need more Kadris, not less,” he said. “We need more of that winning.”

With Conroy in the final year of his contract, Maloney declined to comment on his GM’s future, indicating that “we keep that internal.”

“We’re not discussing that. We have a certain process we go through here,” he added.

If the Flames continue to falter this season, changes are inevitable. The Flames have two salary retention slots left and could use them to maximize a return for someone like Andersson or Kadri.

Andersson, defenceman Jake Bean, goalie Devin Cooley and forward Ryan Lomberg are all in the final year of their respective contracts and are eligible to become unrestricted free agents next July.