Offer Sheet Candidates the Flames Might Look at Next Summer

As the Edmonton Oilers navigated their options and declined the offer sheets for two players (Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway), talks of RFAs and offer sheets across the NHL will continue, with everyone watching and waiting for the next move.

Insiders and fans might ask, ‘Should our team have gone after anyone?’ or ‘Does our team have the potential to lose someone to an offer sheet?’ Now that the Blues acquired two useful pieces, but potentially overpaid for both, it’s worth asking, are offer sheets worth the trouble?

For the Flames, it’s something the team might look at starting as early as next summer.

It’s too early now, but as the team rebuilds and hopefully works its way into contending for a playoff spot in 2025/26, offer sheets may become an option. While the practice of employing this mechanism in the CBA is rare, the NHL’s salary cap is going up, and using the tool might become more commonplace. If the Flames felt like next summer might be a good time to consider it, there are a few names worth looking at.

** Important Note: The Flames have two first-rounders, but one of the things that must be factored into this conversation is that the Flames don’t have their own first-round pick in 2025. It was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. They would need to re-acquire that pick in a trade first to tender an offer sheet that includes a first as compensation. The Blues did something similar with the Penguins, so anything is possible.

In 2026 and 2027, it’s less of a concern as the Flames have all of their own picks.

Jake Oettinger is a potential future Vezina Trophy winner with a ton of upside. He hasn’t signed a new extension with the Dallas Stars yet. He’s got one more season on his current contract at a $4 million cap hit and then it’s expected he’ll earn a hefty raise.

Oettinger was a star in the Flames’ first series in the playoffs in 2022 and Calgary was lucky to beat him. Plus, projected Flames starter Dustin Wolf would have to be outstanding the next season to offer any confidence he’s a long-term solution. Does that make Oettinger an intriguing target?

He’s been consistently good over the past four seasons and the Stars will likely match whatever off is made. If the Flames needed a goalie, it would take an offer of more than twice what he’s making to even start the conversation. The Stars intend to pony up to get him locked up. As nice as the idea is on paper, this one is likely out of Calgary’s reach.

An interesting name from just up the road in Calgary would be Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard. One of the consequences of potentially matching on Borberg and Holloway would have been Edmonton painting the organization into a financial corner over the next couple of seasons. The Oilers didn’t match, with long-term negotiations being one of the reasons.

Expected to be a long-term contract candidate for Edmonton, speculation of a deal worth close to $10 million per season is out there for Bouchard. The compensation Calgary would have to offer to make a pitch Bouchard even considers is more than the Flames likely want to part with. It would take two first-round picks, one second-round pick, and a third-round pick. Bouchard had 82 points last season. He’s going to get paid.

The New York Rangers could find themselves in a tricky salary cap situation next summer. With Igor Shesterkin‘s extension (whatever that will be) kicking in and forward Alexis Lafrenière and defenseman K’Andre Miller both due new contracts, can the Rangers afford everyone? Kaapo Kakko also needs a new deal and Jacob Trouba has made it clear he doesn’t want to go anywhere.

Lafreniere is currently making $2.325 million. What might it take to get him on a long-term offer sheet deal? Would $6.8 million per season do it? That would be a first-round pick, and a third-round pick as compensation if the Rangers didn’t or couldn’t match. Would the Rangers quickly match that? It might depend on the season he has in 2024/25.

Alternatively, maybe he doesn’t play extremely well but still shows signs of being a top star and the Flames offer $4.55 million for one year just to make the Rangers squirm a little. That’s a second-rounder as compensation.

Remember, the Flames don’t have a first to give, so the $4.55 million offer is the first scenario where Calgary doesn’t have to make an additional move to consider this.

How much are the Toronto Maple Leafs prepared to pay Matthew Knies? With their core four signed to be big contracts, this becomes a key question if the Leafs bring back Mitch Marner and John Tavares. If Marner is traded and Tavares signs a team-friendly deal, Toronto should have all sorts of cap space. But, if the Leafs don’t prioritize Knies, he could be an offer sheet target.

Knies will be coming off of a $925K contract and he’s the kind of player teams might bank on long-term to get a team-friendly deal in the latter part of a contract. If it takes a while to sort things out in Toronto, will opposing clubs sniff around the idea of an offer sheet? This would need to be an overpayment scenario with the hope he outplays the deal in the later years.

An offer of $4.55 million for one or two seasons to limit the compensation to a second-round pick could work. It would be a hefty raise over the salary he’s making now, but do the Maple Leafs think about it before quickly matching? They might.

Other Notable Names:

Mason McTavish (64 games) and Dylan Guenther (45 games) would make for potentially interesting targets if they reach the 80-game mark. Barring significant setbacks, it’s likely both do so this coming season.