Are the Flames Thinking About Trading MacKenzie Weegar?

According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, there is real concern growing in Calgary where the Flames are a mess. They’ve got a goaltender in Jacob Markstrom who is falling apart, Jonathan Huberdeau isn’t living up to expectations, Andrew Mangiapane is on pace for half of what he produced last season and the team doesn’t know yet if they are a buyer or a seller at the trade deadline. Not only that, but Pagnotta dropped a massive rumor bomb when it comes to one of the Flames’ big-name defensemen.

He writes, “I have strong reason to believe the Flames have considered moving defenceman Mackenzie Weegar.” He notes, “They’ve denied it, and it doesn’t sound like a trade is presently imminent. But multiple well-placed league sources have not only heard Weegar’s name floating around but have informed me the Ottawa Senators are a team that has expressed interest in acquiring him.”

Yikes.

This is a player the Flames acquired as part of the Matthew Tkachuk deal, along with Huberdeau, Weegar was supposed to lessen the sting of losing Tkachuk. He’s got one goal and 16 points in 53 games. He’s in the final year of a $3.35 million contract before starting an eight-year, $6.25 million deal that includes a no-trade clause. If the Flames are really thinking about moving him, now is the time. Pagnotta adds, “The Senators have been in the market for a top-four, right-shot defenceman, and Weegar checks a lot of boxes for them.”

Where this would get really interesting is where Ottawa sits with adding big money as the team is going through the process of a change of ownership. It’s one thing for a team to make a couple of trades to move money out, but to bring in a player with a massive contract that can’t be traded for the first four seasons is not necessarily an easy thing to do as the club meets with potential new bidders, many of whom might be opposed to the club taking on more than $50 million in a new contract.

From there, what do the Calgary Flames do? Would they be writing in the season if they moved Weegar? Or, would this deal be a precursor to something else?

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