The City of Calgary, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, and the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Limited have agreed to fundamental terms and conditions for the development and construction of a new public sports and entertainment event center, according to the city's press release.
The event center would serve as a new home for the Flames, who've played at the Scotiabank Saddledome since 1983. The Saddledome is the third-oldest building in the league, behind Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum.
The estimated cost of the event center is $550 million, which will be split 50/50 between the city and the team. The city will own 100 percent of the event center. The team will bear 100 percent of the operating, maintenance, and repair costs for the duration of the 35-year agreement.
Here's a look at an artist's conceptual rendering of the project:
CalgaryFlames.com
The event center would be located adjacent to the downtown core in East Victoria Park.
CalgaryFlames.com
The agreement is subject to a vote of Calgary's city council on July 29, a seven-day public comment period, and customary approvals by the CSEC and the Stampede.
It may have taken longer than expected, but Ken Holland has made his first major splash as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers.
Holland stunned the hockey world Friday, tradingMilan Lucic and his so-called immovable contract to the archrival Calgary Flames in exchange for James Neal. The Oilers also added a conditional third-rounder in 2020 and are eating 12.5 percent ($750,000 per year) of Lucic's contract.
Lucic and Neal are both locked in for the next four seasons. After salary retention, the Flames are getting Lucic for $5.25 million a year, while the Oilers are essentially paying $6.5 million annually for Neal's services. Both players are coming off seasons they'd like to forget:
Player
GP
G
A
P
ATOI
Lucic
79
6
14
20
13:14
Neal
63
7
12
19
14:57
Let's unravel how this trade will affect each club:
Oilers land legitimate top-6 forward
Neal's short-lived tenure in Calgary did not go as expected. When he signed his five-year deal with the Flames last summer, he was widely expected to play right wing on the top line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. That trio never truly materialized as Elias Lindholm, acquired in a draft-day trade shortly before Neal signed, took that spot and ran with it.
Of course, Neal didn't particularly challenge Lindholm for top-line duties, amassing just five points through the first 25 games of the 2018-19 campaign. As Neal continued to struggle, Flames head coach Bill Peters moved the hulking forward up and down the lineup, with Neal skating on various iterations of the first, second, and third lines. Nothing worked. Eventually, he became a third-line regular.
For Neal, a top-six forward the vast majority of his career, adjusting to life on the third line must have been difficult. He was brought in with both team and player expecting him to play an important role, but from the outside, it appears he was never important. The fact he was a healthy scratch for a must-win Game 5 in the first round of the playoffs - in which the Flames were eliminated from the postseason - made this all too clear.
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
That won't be an issue in Edmonton, as the Oilers severely lack scoring depth on the wing. Neal will almost certainly always line up with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, or - most likely - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Any of those three would mark a massive upgrade over Mark Jankowski, Neal's most frequent center last season. A sniper like Neal needs a playmaking pivot; Jankowski, with 26 assists in 152 career games, doesn't quite fit the description.
Neal's underlying numbers were down last season, but not significantly worse than in years past. It's easier to point to his 5.0 shooting percentage as the primary factor in his disappointing season. Before 2018-19, his career shooting percentage was 12.1, and he'd never had a season with a mark lower than 10.4 percent.
With a full offseason regimen under his belt for the first time since 2016 (remember, he went to back-to-back Stanley Cups with Nashville and Vegas), a motivated Neal, who's still just 31 years old, should easily surpass the 20-goal mark for the 11th time in his career. He's still overpaid, but he'll give the Oilers productivity Lucic simply wasn't going to provide.
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
At this point in his career, Lucic projects as little more than a tough, fourth-line winger who can bang home the rare goal and post positive possession numbers. Not a useless player by any stretch, but his declining skating ability caps his ceiling.
For the Oilers, using $750,000 of cap space and a conditional third-rounder to upgrade a fourth-liner into a much-needed top-six forward is a masterful move by Holland.
Are the Flames in a better spot now?
It'd be egregious to argue the Flames are the winners of this trade. But general manager Brad Treliving may have asked himself: "If Neal gives us last season's production again, will we be in a better position with Lucic taking his spot, creating $500,000 in extra cap space and potentially adding another draft pick in the process?"
The optimistic answer is "maybe," but only time will tell.
Lucic can give the Flames what Neal gave them a year ago, but he'll also add toughness, character, and heart. Is that worth abandoning Neal's upside?
Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty
Neal wasn't a fit in Calgary last season. There wasn't room for him in the club's top six, and he failed to mesh with any of the team's bottom-six forwards. But it's hard to imagine his shooting percentage will remain over 50 percent worse than his career average for a second consecutive campaign.
In a new season, Neal could've conceivably scored at a 20-goal pace and become a contributor for the Flames or, at the very least, raised his own trade value.
Instead, Treliving sold Neal at the lowest point in his career without giving him a chance at redemption in Year 2 of his contract. In return, he acquired a worse player with a similar cap hit who will eventually be much tougher to buy out due to the bonus-heavy structure of his deal. Not ideal for a team in a legitimate Stanley Cup window.
Trouba was traded to the Rangers by the Winnipeg Jets in June in exchange for blue-liner Neal Pionk and a 2019 first-round pick, which the Jets used to select defenseman Ville Heinola.
The 6-foot-3 Trouba is coming off a career year. The 25-year-old tallied 50 points in 82 games while averaging nearly 23 minutes per night.
New York is now $906,000 above the cap ceiling with 22 players under contract and four RFAs unsigned, according to CapFriendly. Teams can exceed the cap by 10 percent during the offseason, so general manager Jeff Gorton has time to get his team back under the upper limit.
After Trouba's entry-level contract with the Jets expired, he held out for more than a month of the 2016-17 season before agreeing to a two-year bridge deal. When that expired, he and the Jets required arbitration to settle on a one-year, $5.5-million pact. The two sides were reportedly $3 million apart beforehand.
He didn't want to sign a long-term deal in Winnipeg because his fiancee is about to start her residency in her quest to become a doctor in the United States. "Her career is just as important as my career," he told the Winnipeg Sun's Ken Wiebe after the trade.
Toronto Maple Leafs restricted free-agent forward Mitch Marner danced around contractual questions as he does around opposing players during media appearances at his own charity event Thursday, but he did make one thing clear.
Marner told NHL.com's Dave McCarthy he would likely not attend training camp if he doesn't have a new contract by the time it begins. Marner added he wants to be there for the start of camp, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox.
The Maple Leafs will have $9.07 million in cap space with 23 players signed once Nathan Horton is placed on LTIR, according to CapFriendly. That number will rise when some players are optioned to the minors.
It's crucial the Leafs get a deal done with Marner before the beginning of the regular season. If Marner signs with the campaign underway, the first year of his contract will be prorated, meaning the cap hit for 2019-20 will be higher than in later seasons. This occurred with William Nylander's contract last season, but the Leafs had sufficient cap flexibility at the time.
Marner is coming off a career-high 94-point season. The 22-year-old is arguably the face of this year's stacked restricted free-agent class and has been involved in more offer-sheet speculation than most of his RFA peers; the Columbus Blue Jackets are just one team that reportedly reached out to his camp to discuss the possibility of an offer sheet.
Joe Thornton hasn't re-signed with the San Jose Sharks yet, but head coach Peter DeBoer has no doubt the 40-year-old center will be back in teal this coming season.
"I'm just looking forward to working with him again," Deboer told Sportsnet's Luke Fox on Thursday, adding he knew Thornton would be back when he saw him working out a few days after the Sharks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Thornton has been candid about his plans moving forward. He told reporters at the NHL Awards he'll return for the 2019-20 campaign, and probably more. Jumbo Joe also said he'd only play for San Jose shortly after the St. Louis Blues ended the Sharks' season.
The Sharks have $4.68 million in remaining cap space will 21 players signed, according to CapFriendly. General manager Doug Wilson has already managed to lock up Erik Karlsson for eight years and ink RFAs Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier to new deals but lost captain Joe Pavelski in free agency to the Dallas Stars.
With Pavelski gone, it could open the door for Thornton to return as the club's captain. He wore the "C" beginning in the 2010-11 season but had it stripped by former head coach Todd McLellan in August 2014.
DeBoer raved about Thornton's leadership Thursday, specifically during the Sharks' remarkable comeback victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs.
Trailing 3-0, San Jose was handed a controversial five-minute power play after Pavelski went down. The Sharks' top power-play unit scored three goals to tie the game but had been on the ice for over three minutes.
Thornton, a member of the second unit, told DeBoer to "keep the No. 1 unit out there," according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. DeBoer said he still gets emotional thinking about Thornton's leadership in that moment.
The heart and soul of the Sharks, Thorton proved last season he can still get it done on the ice, tallying 51 points in 73 games.
The NHL's Seattle expansion franchise is close to naming Ron Francis the team's inaugural general manager, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Francis would become the first major front-office hire owners David Bonderman, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Tod Leiweke have made.
Francis is largely responsible for building the Carolina Hurricanes team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final in 2018. He joined the club's front office prior to the 2006-07 season before being named director of hockey operations in 2011, and then general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations in 2014. His contract was terminated on April 30, 2018 - shortly after the arrival of new owner Tom Dundon.
Francis didn't make many major trades during his time in charge of the Hurricanes, and his two biggest moves led to a home run and a strikeout.
In 2016, he took on Bryan Bickell's contract to land Teuvo Teravainen from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a second-rounder and a third-rounder. Teravainen has become a core player for Carolina, and the 24-year-old is coming off a career-high 76-point season.
Francis' worst move was also a trade with the Blackhawks. Needing to find a solution in goal, Francis surrendered a third-rounder for Scott Darling, and then handed the netminder a four-year, $16.6-million contract. Darling struggled mightily with the Hurricanes, and he was traded to the Florida Panthers this summer then bought out.
Francis has often prioritized drafting and developing young players as a GM. In 2015, he made one of the best draft picks in Hurricanes history, landing franchise cornerstone Sebastian Aho in the second round (35th overall).
Seattle is scheduled to begin play in the 2021-22 season.
The NHL offseason has slowed down considerably since July 1. Outside of Jake Gardiner, the list of remaining unrestricted free agents is uninspiring.
However, that doesn't mean there won't be any more exciting movement, as there are still a handful of intriguing players who could be dealt this summer
Here are five players to watch:
Rasmus Ristolainen
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Team: Sabres Position: D Cap hit: $5.4M
Ristolainen trade rumors are just pure speculation at this point, but the writing seems to be on the wall. The Sabres have acquired three other quality right-handed defensemen since February: Brandon Montour, Colin Miller, and Henri Jokiharju. That indicates Ristolainen's time in Buffalo could be coming to a close.
Ristolainen is flawed defensively, but not enough to scare other teams away. After all, he's still just 24 years old with three seasons remaining on his contract, and the blue-liner is coming off his fourth straight 40-point campaign.
With the logjam on the right side in Buffalo, the Sabres giving him a fresh start wouldn't be surprising if they can get a forward of equal value in return.
Possible fits: Maple Leafs, Lightning, Stars, Jets, Oilers
Kyle Turris
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Team: Predators Position: C Cap hit: $6M
For the second time in less than two years, a team decided to upgrade from Kyle Turris to Matt Duchene. The Predators had hoped Turris would be the answer to their secondary scoring needs when they acquired him from the Senators in the three-way trade that sent Duchene to Ottawa in November 2017. But now the veteran is coming off his worst season in nearly a decade.
With Duchene in the picture, it seems excessive to pay $6 million per season for a third-line center, especially with Colton Sissons and Nick Bonino capable of filling that role. The problem that Predators general manager David Poile may be encountering - if he's indeed shopping Turris - is the five years left on the 29-year-old's contract.
However, Turris' long track record of being a productive No. 2 pivot and his strong performance with Canada at the World Championship (10 points in 10 games) could convince a team that his poor 2018-19 season was just an anomaly.
Possible fits: Sabres, Blue Jackets
Chris Kreider
Codie McLachlan / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Team: Rangers Position: LW Cap hit: $4.625M
Kreider is entering the last year of his contract, and as general manager Jeff Gorton continues to reshape the roster, it doesn't appear the longtime Ranger is a part of the team's equation moving forward. A trade could come closer to the 2019-20 deadline, but Gorton may not be able to wait. The club holds just over $7 million in cap space, but four RFAs - including Jacob Trouba - are still without contracts.
Every team would want Kreider due to his rare combination of size, speed, physicality, and offensive ability, and he's still young at just 28 years old. He gets a say in his destination, as Kreider's contract includes an 11-team no-trade list.
Possible fits: Avalanche, Bruins, Blues
Jason Zucker
Bruce Kluckhohn / National Hockey League / Getty
Team: Wild Position: LW Cap hit: $5.5M
Wild general manager Paul Fenton, for whatever reason, really seems to want to trade Zucker. At last season's trade deadline, a deal to send the 27-year-old to the Flames fell through. In May, Zucker appeared to be Pittsburgh bound until Phil Kessel flexed his no-trade muscles to nix the swap.
It's unclear what's motivating Fenton, especially after he signed Zucker to a five-year extension last summer as one of his first major moves after becoming the club's GM. It's also unknown what Fenton would want in return for Zucker. The Wild appeared to be heading toward a rebuild, but then Fenton handed 31-year-old Mats Zuccarello a five-year deal in free agency. The team's direction is confounding.
Zucker is coming off a bit of a down season, but he's just one year removed from a 33-goal campaign. He's quick, smart, and plays a solid two-way game.
His contract includes a 10-team no-trade list, so it's possible we'll see another Zucker deal collapse.
Possible fits: Avalanche, Devils, Sharks
Nikita Gusev
PressFocus/MB Media / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Team: Golden Knights Position: LW Cap hit: RFA
The Golden Knights have reportedly explored the trade market for Gusev. Vegas is up against the cap, and the team hasn't been able to agree on a deal with the restricted free agent.
Gusev is the KHL's reigning MVP. The 27-year-old is highly skilled, an explosive skater, and he possesses great hockey intelligence - traits that suggest he'll be able to make a smooth transition to the NHL.
Despite his potential, it's tough to gauge Gusev's trade value, especially considering Vegas doesn't seem to hold much leverage.
However, the meeting doesn't necessarily mean an offer will come to fruition. Portzline sees no indication that Marner wants to leave Toronto, and the Jackets are convinced the Maple Leafs would match any offer sheet, perhaps by trading fellow young forward William Nylander, he added.
Nylander inked a six-year, $45-million contract on Dec. 1, 2018 with the Leafs after a well-documented holdout. He struggled after rejoining the team, tallying 27 points in 54 games.
Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said previously it's not a foregone conclusion he'd match any offer sheet for Marner.
The Maple Leafs have $3.8 million in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly, but that'll increase by $5.3 million when Nathan Horton is placed on long-term injured reserve. They could add slightly more cap space by optioning players to the minors, as they currently have 23 on their roster.
Regardless, the Maple Leafs would be hard-pressed to match an offer sheet exceeding $10.6 million. The Blue Jackets have the required draft pick capital to submit an offer sheet with a cap hit either below $1,395,053 or above $10,568,589. An offer sheet with a cap hit exceeding the latter would cause the club to forfeit four of its next five first-round picks.
The Blue Jackets have a projected $15.8 million in cap space but have some internal housekeeping to take care of; fellow RFA Zach Werenski remains without a contract, while Pierre-Luc Dubois and Josh Anderson are also due for raises next summer.
Marner would undoubtedly reinvigorate a fan base that just watched Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky walk as free agents on July 1. The 22-year-old winger tallied a career-high 94 points for the Leafs in 2018-19.
The club's former top prospect was chosen 14th overall by Dallas in the 2014 draft. As a right-handed, mobile blue-liner with offensive instincts, Honka has many qualities teams covet, but it appears he's fallen out of favor with the Stars.
In 87 career NHL games, the 23-year-old has yet to leave his mark, tallying just 13 points. He was scratched for the final 35 games of the 2018-19 regular season and didn't appear in the playoffs. He would have to pass through waivers to be sent to the minors.
Honka has been productive in the AHL, tallying 108 points in 201 career games with the Texas Stars.
The club signed the first overall pick of this June's draft to a three-year, entry-level contract Friday. The deal carries a maximum average annual value of $925,000 plus performance bonuses.
Hughes, 18, led the U.S. National Development Team with 112 points in 50 games this past season. The shifty center set the program record for points with 190 over two campaigns.
