“Pump the brakes.”
It’s a reasonable request from Nazem Kadri, really.
The Calgary Flames are rebuilding. Expectations are low for the coming season. The team’s been dealing away veterans and getting younger for over a year, really.
And that’s led to inevitable questions about whether the team’s remaining veterans might be open to moves elsewhere that would put them closer to contending for a Stanley Cup.
That would be understandable, wouldn’t it? An NHL career is only so long. Go for the Cup while you’ve got the chance.
Except … there’s one problem with that assumption when it comes to the six veterans — MacKenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Rasmus Andersson, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman — who we’re talking about here.
Not a single one of them has given any indication that they want out. In fact, they’ve all reiterated that Calgary is where they want to be.
“I love the city, love the organization,” Kadri said on Thursday morning at WinSport, where the Flames are holding the first two days of their 2024-25 training camp. “I feel like it’s super early to be asking these kinds of questions, so I’m going to ask you guys to pump the brakes a little bit. Let us go play and we’re going to try to rally around each other and surprise some people.”
Again, totally reasonable.
The guys in the Flames locker room believe they’re a better team than people are giving them credit for. Expectations be damned, the Flames think they can get off to a hot start and carry that momentum forward.
There are some who would say that’s wishful thinking and maybe it is, but what’s the alternative? Accepting defeat before the first puck has even been dropped?
That’s not how professional athletes are conditioned and that sort of loser mentality has no place in an NHL dressing room.
But the Flames really do believe they’re better than people expect them to be. Speaking with the media on Thursday, they doubled down on wanting to be a part of what the organization is building.
Asked why he wanted to be in Calgary and playing for the Flames, Weegar didn’t even pause for a second before giving a lengthy answer.
“There’s a few different reasons,” Weegar said. “They want me here, I feel the love from the fans and my teammates and the organization which makes me want to reciprocate that right back to them.
“I’m comfortable here, I live in a great community, great neighbours, I live a simple lifestyle here and get treated very well by everybody around here, but ultimately I have belief that this team can turn it around and become a playoff team and a Stanley Cup team, and that’s why I want to stay here the most.”
The Flames veterans dutifully answered the questions they were asked about being in Calgary and why they wanted to stay. They’re understandably hoping that reporters will move on as training camp progresses and the regular season gets closer and the focus begins to turn to actually winning and losing games.
And it’s clear that the Flames want them and need them to be a part of what they’re building at the Saddledome — not the new rink next door, the new era.
Young players need to learn from experienced, established veterans. They’re an important part of the building process, and it’s worth noting, too, that the Flames signed Jake Bean, Anthony Mantha, Jarred Tinordi and Ryan Lomberg in free agency. That’s actually made it harder for rising prospects like Jakob Pelletier and Matthew Coronato to crack the roster coming out of camp this year. Not everything has been about getting younger.
But it’s those six veterans who will lay the foundation for what comes next. They aren’t asking to be moved, and the Flames aren’t shopping them, either.
“I don’t really know why that narrative is still there, that’s probably more you guys than us,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “They are all very important players to our team, they’re the ones setting the standard and when you have them pushing the right way it’s easy for the young guys to follow suit, or you could say it’s hard for them not to follow because then they’ll get pushed aside if they’re not doing things the way they need to be done.”