No, just no.... Why would Calgary trade Coranato for Meier who is a pending RFA with a 10MM QO? If Meier accepts his QO Calgary gets him for 1 year and he walks to FA. I'd rather have Coronato on an ELC for 3 years than Meir for 1... Not to mention the 1st and Mangiapane. San Jose wins this easily.

CGY 100% should be willing to move Coronato for Meier. Ideally you'd try and make the trade without including him, but you have to at least be willing to include Coronato for a guy like Meier.

Matt Coronato is just a prospect who is not even signed yet (top unsigned college prospect playing out of Harvard----I think I've seen this film before, and I didn't like the ending). There is a chance he ends up being a better player than Meier, sure, but its not a good chance. And the chances that he ends up being better than Meier *during the Flames very limited contention window* are basically non-existent. We should have learned our lesson about overvaluing prospects in the Valimaki/Stone debacle.

Yes, Timo Meier has a $10M QO. That doesn't mean he has to get $10M. You could agree to a long term extension at a different number. You could take him to team elected arbitration in the 1st window in lieu of making the qualifying offer. You could trade his rights or do a sign and trade like we literally just did with Matthew Tkachuk (people were saying the same things about his QO before last year, too). You could just give him the $10M. Or you can even just let him walk if you really needed to (which wouldn't happen). But the fact he is a pending RFA is a good thing---team control, even with the $10MQO---is far better than no team control. And him being a pending RFA means you can convince SJ to eat money for this year. There are options, and it's a much better idea than going for a pure rental (like Patrick Kane, who many are hoping for in Flames Nation).

If you are willing to give up Coronato to convince SJ to eat 50%, you get a bona fide beast in Timo Meier for only the equivalent of $3M in a year when the Calgary Flames need to be all-in. Then you get team control and options beyond that. Timo Meier is a great player----you find the money elsewhere to fit him in for next year and beyond.

Matt Coronato is a very good prospect. He's far from a guarantee. He's not even a guarantee to be signed. And he may be able to play in the NHL next year. But his "prime" does not really fit the Flames current window. I don't care as much about having him cheap for 3 years if the Flames only have this year and next year in their legit contention window. Meier helps them win more than Coronato does.

That said, no chance I'm including Mangiapane to that deal. The point is to add a seriously missing piece to your roster. Not subtract from it at the same time. Coronato, the 1st, and some smaller pieces for Meier with $ retained makes a ton of sense to me.

Thanks for the well thought out and respectful reply and description of your thoughts. I wish everyone replied like this on here. I agree with Mangi, I thought of another bit was trying to shed more salary for potentially signing Timo next year. Cheers,
D.