Not cheap but should be made available. What's your offer? I think Calgary may ask for similar to the Lindholm return

Heh. What??? On what basis? And are you counting Kuzy as a cap dump or as something with some value? I cannot imagine anyone coughing up as much as Vancouver paid for Lindholm.

I have all sorts of decent things to offer, but also am fully aware that the Flames may have some cap issues to contend with by the time the summer of 25 rolls around, so prime A assets are probably not going to be on the table. Do you prefer picks, prospects of a certain position, whatcha need?

On what basis? He's on a dirt cheap contract, in his prime, has no team control, and is playing excellent. He plays in all situations, has a very high compete level, and plays all 3 forward positions. Unless your 2024 1st or similar quality prospect is on the table he won't be traded to St. Louis this summer. Calgary will almost certainly hold onto him until next year's deadline, then move him to a contender where he will make a big difference. Personally I have no idea why the Blues would be interested, his value is at it's highest right now and they are probably not contending next year either.

Kuzy is 31 years old, was making just under 8M, had requested a trade for 2 full years prior to this one, was coasting on the ice, and was literally placed on and passed through waivers before he was moved at 50% to Carolina. So yes he was most certainly a cap dump.

As for needs. Calgary needs center prospects the most, and high end talent anywhere else the 2nd most. They are also interested in defense prospects, specifically RD. The flames are overflowing with middle 6 caliber players and prospects, especially on the wing and LD. Again I really don't see a fit with STL but my ask would probably start with Stenberg.

There isn't a real reason to trade him, so I would say a 1st and Center prospect at the deadline. The draft would be different: probably a top 10 -15 pick, which I don't see happening for a multitude of reasons.

Also just so were clear, you brought up Kuznetsov as a comparable. He had 17 total points in 43 games with the Caps this year at a 7.8M cap hit. He has 5 points in his last 11 games with the Canes but even if he continues at this ~0.5ppg pace he will still only finish the season with about 27 points. Which is less than Sharangovich has in just goals right now.

Also what are these "cap issues" you are referring to? The cap for next season is projected to be 87.7M and Calgary's current roster is at 68.8M with only Wolf, Pelletier, Kylington, and Okhotiuk to re-sign. All of which should be relatively cheap. That's ~19.9M cap space.

I'm assuming op was referring to Kuzmenko with that "Kuzy" comment, as he was acquired from Van in the Lindholm deal and may, or may not, be viewed as a cap dump.

Ah good point. I think Calgary valued him and I think Vancouver valued his cap space for next season. So I call it a cap casualty

1 - I'm talking about Kuzmenko, the guy who came in the Lindholm package, not Kuznetsov.

2 - Just so you know, Stenberg is really a winger now and while it's too soon to say he won't play C in the NHL, that does not seem to be his track right now. And while the value of the ask is certainly not unreasonable out of context, I highly doubt the Blues would move Stenberg in a deal for a 2nd line/middle 6 guy set to hit UFA. Dean maybe, but I can't say for sure.

As for Sharangovich, okay, he can play all three forward positions, but I mean... he's not really a center. And he's making 3M set for a raise while Calgary could have a squeeze the summer he goes UFA. I'm not suggesting he's going to go or that the Blues have what it would take to get him, just checking what Flames fans think Calgary would look for in the event he could go.

I'm not looking at this summer when I talk about potential cap issues, I'm looking at the summer of 25. As it stands, the Flames should be a little under 20M in cap space that summer. Then you subtract those few new deals from this summer, whatever that amount is. Sharangovich, Mangiapane, Coronato, Zary and Poirier (plus maybe Vladar/Kuzmenko?) will need new contracts. The three young guys, we have no idea what they might be able to pull given another full NHL season to work with, so it's hard to know how much of a squeeze will happen. Might be nothing, maybe even probably nothing, but I kinda assume Zary will get a nice raise, and I think Coronato could be a big breakout candidate next year. There's also a lot of D ice time that will need to be filled and Poirier could bust out a bit.

Of course, Conroy could make a trade or two and have loads of cap space, and the whole concept could be shot. Or they could be in the playoff mix and Conroy eats into the cap space somehow. It's a long way off, I'm just exploring one hypothetical timeline.

Calgary was a seller this year and they will be again next year. Mangiapane, Kuzmenko, and Sharangovich should all be sold as they don't really fit the teams new timeline. They might extend Sharangovich but almost certainly not the other 2. Zary is having a good rookie season but we will see if he can repeat it or continue to improve next year. I have no doubt Calgary will be able to extend both him and Coronato even if they each earn 7M deals.

As for Poirier, players generally don't get lucrative deals after 1 NHL season. I would be shocked if he got more than a 2M bridge even if he does put up 35 points in a 3rd pair role