HOT MESS IN CALGARY; PLUS MORE FROM ACROSS THE NHL

TORONTO, ON — With 16 days to go until the NHL trade deadline, noise across the League is starting to pick up. You can partially thank the Arizona Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets for that.

There’s the Jakob Chychrun banter. The Vladislav Gavrikov talk. The Timo Meier discussions. The Patrick Kane & Jonathan Toews drama. The Erik Karlsson racket. And more.

Teams are once again sizing up the marketplace and are trying to get a handle on the price tags from some of the sellers. It’s a wild time, as per usual, and the next two weeks are going to be riddled with speculation.

So, let’s add to it. Yes?

There is significant, and legitimate, concern in Calgary. I’ve been sprinkling this intel over the last six days. The Flames are not performing up to GM Brad Treliving’s expectations and there seems to be plenty of blame to go around. It’s starting to wear on the team from the sounds of it.

Jacob Markstrom is having a bad season, there’s no sugarcoating it. Jonathan Huberdeau is on pace for a 58-point campaign, the lowest full-season total he would hit since 2014-15. That’s nowhere near ideal. Andrew Mangiapane is on pace for less than half of the 35 goals his scored last season. It’s a concern. The list goes on.

There has even been chatter over Darryl Sutter’s effectiveness behind the bench. When it rains, it pours.

Treliving is active and he has to be. He’s searching for ways to improve his team and help secure a playoff spot. No playoffs equals no bueno.

The Flames remain engaged in talks with the Vancouver Canucks about defenceman Luke Schenn and forward Brock Boeser, a source with knowledge of those discussions confirmed to me this week. Boeser’s contract, however, is a sticking point; he has two more years after this season and comes with a $6.65 million salary cap hit. While a change of scenery would do him justice, his performance this season hasn’t helped his trade value.

As I reported over the last several days, the Flames were one of the teams that got involved in recent Chychrun trade talk. I don’t get the sense they’re major players in that race, but that obviously can change with one phone call.

There have also been some ties to St. Louis blueliner Colton Parayko, who owns a full no-trade clause and is in the first year of an eight-year, $52 million contract, but the Flames have denied any recent discussions with the Blues.

Speaking of denials, there’s a ton on this next subject.

I have strong reason to believe the Flames have considered moving defenceman Mackenzie Weegar. They’ve denied it, and it doesn’t sound like a trade is presently imminent. But multiple well-placed league sources have not only heard Weegar’s name floating around but have informed me the Ottawa Senators are a team that has expressed interest in acquiring him.

The Senators have been in the market for a top-four, right-shot defenceman, and Weegar checks a lot of boxes for them.

Weegar, 29, is from the Ottawa region and would surely welcome the opportunity to play in front of family and friends. His eight-year, $50 million contract extension kicks in July 1 and comes with a full no-trade clause for the first four years of that deal. My understanding is the Senators would be comfortable taking on that contract – especially if they can move out Nikita Zaitsev and his $4.5 million salary cap hit.

Senators GM Pierre Dorion is actively trying to move Zaitsev and as I reported on Friday, he seems willing to add a sweetener in the form of a second-round draft pick to the deal to convince a team to take on that contract. Might it cost more? The Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks are three potential landing spots, but all three have blueliners they’d have to first move.

Shipping out Weegar, however, would mean the Flames have at least one more significant trade in the works. Would it strictly result in a replacement on the D corps, or is it a combination of that and adding more firepower up front?

This kind of sequence of events would be earthshattering. Treliving shook things up in the summer, so what’s stopping him from wanting to do it again now?

There are plenty of moving parts here, and I’m sure seeing Weegar alongside Thomas Chabot would be a dream pairing for Dorion and the Senators. But Treliving and the Flames need to weigh all their options before exploring this one.

Playing more consistent winning hockey would help management with their evaluation process. Easier said than done, Captain Obvious. But if things don’t improve on the ice, we could see some impactful changes off it.

TIP-INS

• There are whispers the Seattle Kraken are among the teams believed to have interest in Jonathan Toews. Is the feeling mutual? I’m not sure. But he’d be a pretty solid mentor to Matty Beniers.

• Some believe the Florida Panthers may have to decide which of the following three they are more comfortable parting with: Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett, or Sam Reinhart.

• As we wait on the Chychrun saga to end, there were some rumours suggesting the Los Angeles Kings tried to include goalie Cal Petersen in a deal. I haven’t gotten that sense, for what it’s worth.

• I still believe Ivan Barbashev is on Toronto’s radar, but there’s a ton of interest in him. The asking price, which I reported on Sunday, of a second-round draft pick and a prospect hasn’t changed (or lowered).

• The Jets are active. Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is checking in on a multitude of players, and with a solid amount of salary cap space to play with, could add to both their bottom-six up front and bottom-pair on the backend.

• Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell admitted to The Athletic his 2023 first-round pick is “in play this year.” He’d prefer to deal it in a package for a player with term (Exhibit A: Timo Meier; Exhibit B: J.T. Miller), but he says he’s keeping his mind open.

• Jonathan Drouin has nine assists in his last six games. If he continues to play well and the Habs eat half of his $5.5M cap hit, he could be an option for a few teams out there.

• A change of heart, or an opportunity to showcase? Last week, there was every reason to believe Jakub Vrana’s days in Detroit were numbered. Well, as I first reported Tuesday, he team called him back up. The word around the tight-lipped Red Wings is the team still wants to move him, either now or in the summer. Something to keep tabs on.