Reflecting on the Weegar Trade One Day Later

0:00President Barack Obama. Virginia, we are counting on you. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st. Help put our elections back on a level playing field and let voters decide not politicians. Vote yes by April 21st. Paid for by Virginians for fair elections. You know how to chop them in at all here. He scores. You know what score. Off the glass. I look forward to what you look. I get a little bit of circle. Happy to be out the shot. See if they play on the game. Let's see about the other shots. They score! The place winner. Yeah, baby. They score. They'll see a red hero. Flametock starts now on sports night, 960 the van. Brought to you by Mr. Loop plus tires. Here's Pat Steinberg and Logan Gordon.

1:05Visit your nearest Mr. Loop plus tires for an oil change and receive a pair of good year wiper blades free. Just visit Mr. Loop dot com to get your coupon. What's going on? It is Thursday, March 5th and we are underway. This hour on Flametock with Logan Gordon. My name is Pat Steinberg. Welcome to the Scotiabank, Sanaldome and welcome to the hot stone lounge. Apple Spotify, Amazon, Seeker or wherever you get your podcasts live right here on sports that 960 the van. Hi, Patrick. We are less than 24 hours away from the 2026 NHL trade deadline and here we are, less than 24 hours since we left this room on Wednesday night because on Wednesday, the deal went down. The flames made their second significant trade of 2026. That trade, of course, sending McKenzie Weager to the Utah mammoth in exchange for five pieces the other way. The one NHL playing piece, Holy Mata is on his way to Calgary on this Thursday and will not play Thursday night against the

2:11Ottawa Senators. Three second round picks and the prospect Jonathan Castania, of course, still remain to be seen what they end up being in the flames organization. So here we are, text line open at 9.6960 and kind of like now it's all about reflecting and how we feel one day later, we did our big long reaction show. Thanks to Eric Francis, thanks to Craig Conroy for joining us on Wednesday's reaction show. How do we feel about this thing the next day? Text line, how do we feel about it? Logo, how do we feel about it? And the more I thought about it, the more I've talked to people in the organization outside the organization. I think they did pretty good work here. For kind of a, it's the total package of reasons for me that I come away really impressed with this entire process and the end goal. So they have moved the final five years of a guy who's

3:1332 years old to get the package they got for a guy who still has five years left on his deal. I think is impressive. On top of that, it's a deal that really helps them continue to lean into being a rebuilding team. They get some future assets they can work with in three second round picks. They get a center ice prospect, which is obviously very important in this organization, even if he doesn't project to be a high end center ice prospect, he's still a center, which is really important in this flames organization. The real only negative of this whole conversation for me is that it never worked out in the three and a half years that weger was a member of the flames. That guy gave his entire, his entire self to this team on and off the ice. He was a leader. He was a leader in the community. He was an ambassador and he left it all on the ice every single night. And that guy was sincere in his want to get this team back to the playoffs

4:17and to be a big part of getting this team back to contention. And unfortunately that did not happen while he was here. And that's really the biggest negative for me logo is that he did never happen when weger was a member of the flames. Yeah, that's kind of the frustrating part in all of this is that you didn't get it done when McKenzie weger was here. And you know, that was the best part of the math you could chuck trade for the Calgary flames was McKenzie weger came out to be the true number one defense and forced a number two defenseman for this organization. And he wasn't really the guy that was getting talked about in the return for Calgary nearly as much as John. He was. Yeah. And you know, he turned into this ambassador for the city, a guy who embraced being a member of the Calgary flames and didn't care that the weather was colder here than it was in Florida. You know, the unofficial construction manager to get Scotia place going like all of that

5:19on top of what was a really good on ice product from McKenzie even despite the struggles this year that that does suck to lose a guy like that. But that being said, you have to make hard decisions. You have to make key decisions. I'm still a little bit stunned today that we saw them take in my mind path such a significant step towards a full on rebuild. That's that to me is what that signals more than anything because you can move out UFA's and you can move out, you know, fringe pieces if you want to call it that. That's a core piece. That's a that's a guy that you did not have to move. His contract was not prohibitive. He was a great player on and off the ice. Like there was I don't think anybody would have been stunned if you and me finished up our show on Friday, our trade deadline coverage. And we had said,

6:20yeah, McKenzie, we didn't get moved. Like, would anybody have been on the text line or on social media going, what a failure. I can't believe that didn't happen. No, I really don't think so. And now we're talking about I think a completely different, you know, change over in the leadership core. Oh no doubt. In terms of, you know, the defensive minutes for this team, the opportunities that now exist on the blue line for this team a lot just changed with that weaker trade. And yet it was a deal I think they had to make. I think it was a deal that needed to get done only for for a number of different reasons because there was a team that was very engaged in wanting to bring the player in. That's number one is that you had a an active partner on the other side who wanted to get this done. And the team is not going to make the playoffs. We know that. And this team has pivoted over the last number of months as much as people would have wished they would have pivoted six months ago, two years ago, whatever, they have made the pivot

7:23internally where big picture is more important. We're getting younger and building toward something a little bit longer term is the priority here. So you had the you had a player that another team wanted you had a player that another team was willing to give up assets for. And Utah really wanted this player from what I understand some of the conversations I've had in the last 24 hours, like there were there were multiple different offers on the table from Utah and some different iterations as to what this deal could have looked like picks in different years that type of stuff. But what really got the flames to hone in and focus on the deal that they made is because they got the three second round picks and they feel like those second round picks can really be used as currency. And they also really, really like the idea of that rangers pick which which is going to end up being a very high second round pick like in the you know 32 to 36 range. So they feel

8:24like they're getting a high second round pick just outside of the first round which was another reason they really liked this. And then finally they really liked the idea of bringing in the center ice prospect. Some of the other deals that I think may have been on the table wouldn't have included the center ice prospect. And I think that is another thing that they really, really wanted in making the deal as a prospect who can play that position. And and a position that this organization needs to be filled. And a player that you talked to Jason Buchala. I know he wrote about it over at SportsDent on on Wednesday. You talk to other people in the prospect sphere who know about these things more than you and I do or at least more than I do. I don't want to speak for you. It's fair. It's more than me too. Like they see Castania as an NHL prospect. There's a guy that can play in this league and and yes he may ceiling out as a second or third line center but still feel like he's going to play in this league. And and I'm anticipating that he'll sign this year following his college season at Cornell. So I think there's a very strong

9:27chance that we see him in the lineup for the flames before the end of the season. That's that's likely what we're going to see when it's all set and done. Exactly. So I think I think that all of those things combined got the flames to really, really like the deal that they made. And the the package that they got in return, they feel like this was the best package to set them up for their end goal, which is to return to not just being competitive, but return to being a contending team in the next three, four years, whatever it ends up in. Yeah. And I think it's significant, Pat, that we're talking about three second round picks in 2026. I think all right now in the top 50 as well. It drafted a lot of people like again, you and me can say that and we say that based on what others who follow it closer feel about a draft class. You still have to draft well, but I mean, I don't know, have you seen

10:28the last two or three drafts by this scouting group and by the GM? They're they're pretty well lauded and they've had some guys really fly up the radar. If they were to pick every single one of those selections, Pat, I think you'd be happy as an organization as a fan base with the chances that you're going to be able to take, but you also have an opportunity to do something with those picks. As Craig Conroy mentioned in his chat with us, act to the deal on Wednesday, they have a lot of different options on the table right now. They have two firsts. They have four seconds. They have two thirds. Maybe this does become the time where Craig Conroy says, look, there's a young player that we like that we think we can go out and use some of this draft capital to go and pick up like all of that is on the table and you don't have to sell it as two or three years down the road. I remember the Hanuffin trade and you're going, oh great, that's going to be a while right before you start to really see the fruits of that trade. This one's

11:29going to be pretty immediate as you just said, if you expect Castanio to sign this year, he's going to begin his flames career within the next month and a half. That's big. You've got picks that are all going to be if they're again, if they're selected, all going to be picked in the next few months and start their process in the organization. That to me is significant in all of this. So I think if you're the flames, the message it sends, the direction that it sends your organization, you've got the backup here to feel really good about that, despite letting go of a really good player. And so there's kind of the two sides of it. There's the big picture and the deal they made and then there's kind of the immediate and inside that room that's going to hit like a ton of bricks. This leadership group for as much as fans have been talking about, hey, we want to see these moves made and there might be a bit more made between now and Friday at one o'clock. But you know, in the last six weeks, Rasmus Anderson, one of the loudest voices and most respected

12:30leaders in that room, traded out now on the bright side. Zach White Cloud has turned into a real important piece inside that room, comes back. Then Jonathan Huberdo gets shut down early in February for the rest of the season with the hip surgery that's coming up. And finally, now you're taking McKenzie Wieger out of the room. And I know you're bringing back only Mata, who's a Stanley Cup winner. And that's great. But neither White Cloud nor Mata have the same gravitas inside the flames room that Anderson and Wieger had just because of their longevity with the group. So it has been a shock inside that room. And so I think as we continue reacting a day later to the McKenzie Wieger trade, good to hear from some of the flames. We talked to head coach Ryan Husker and Michael Backland and Zach White Cloud inside the flames locker room prior to tonight's game, Thursday night's game against the Ottawa Senators. Let's hear from the particulars. Let's start with head coach Ryan Husker. He spoke about trading McKenzie Wieger and seeing him moved out

13:33and what happens next for his flames team. You lose a good friend, a good teammate and a good player for one. But when you do find yourself in those situations, there's always opportunity for other players to step up and take over some of what we'll be missing, whether that be leadership, whether that be ice time on the back end, whether that be time on the power play, whatever there is, there's opportunity. And as a player, you want to make sure you're putting your best on the ice. So the importance is making sure you show up in a high quality way. And that is a true test, the character and the people that do that are the ones you want to be around. Is there one player in particular who you see filling those skates or it's going to be a group ever? I think we have different groups of it if that makes sense. So we have the three that we know we're going to be there tonight with letters on. I think we have kind of a Lamberg White Cloud who is one guy that will probably talk about in a bit. Joel Hanley, kind of group. And then we have a group of younger guys that have to now start to impact the game consistently and start to be different

14:36different makers on a nightly basis for us. So we do kind of have three groups that we're going to be leaning on a lot here. And each of those groups, they bring different things to the table. Your thoughts on Oli Mata and when he might be available to the team? Yeah, everything that I've heard while not tonight, unfortunately, he'll be flying in an arriving later tonight and then he'll be available for us Saturday. Everything that I've heard he's very similar to a White Cloud. So that makes us pretty excited about the type of character and person we're getting. I got text messages this morning about him as a person and the type of player or someone that will be a, he's not going to be an offensive minded player, but he is a guy that has good checking details. He's a longer body again and will be a guy that will help us on our penalty kill as well as the leadership category as well. Dave, when, when valuable guys like Rasmussen and McKenzie-Wieger have been treated, like there's going to be an external belief that this team is not trying to be competitive in this focus on the future. How do you make sure that that is not the attitude within the locker room?

15:39That to me is a bit of a silly question. I don't want to come across that way, but there is no player that plays in this league that doesn't go out to try to win every night and coaches are geared that way. Our job is to make sure that we're pushing to win every night and our expectations for what we want out of this team will not change. Coach, sometimes, you know, when a trade happens, a guy goes out and nobody else comes back in, how nice was it? Like you got White Cloud from Anderson and now Mata from Wieger, you know, how nice is it for you've got a guy who can come in and play right away? Yeah, important NHL players. That is important and we've saw that with how valuable Zaxbin, like as you mentioned, but there's also other things that are at play, like those picks, as coaches, you hope that those picks can be used for different things along the way, right? So Craig's done a really good job of putting our team in a pretty good position moving forward really has. So now it's up to us to make sure that we drive home the importance of how our team needs to play every night and having players like Mata and White Cloud. Now they matter. The trade like Wieger make things more tense for the next 48 hours or is it always just that

16:44during this time of year? I think it's that during this time of year, you know, older players that have been around it before, there's still a, it's one phone call and your life change is pretty significantly. So I think this time of the year, I mean, it's there and it's something that they have to deal with and we deal with as a group. And I think that's the one thing you have to do is know that everybody's in it kind of together. So there is head coach Ryan Huska on this Thursday, the day after Mackenzie Wieger traded to Utah. That's the head coach. Let's hear from the captain, Michael Backland, his thoughts and kind of the shock of it all as Michael spoke inside the flames locker room earlier as well. I know his name is Alter, but still was surprised. I think he was too talking to me. I don't think, you know, again, he saw his name out there, but I think his thought was really going to happen and I didn't think either, but so it's really, it was a shock yesterday and it's, yeah, it's always hard to lose a player in person like Wiggs.

17:49I met the law for the team and the organization and the city, so it's a big loss. Maybe just, you know, from that both side of it, I know the leadership group by everyone has different roles in it, you know, maybe having to describe this sort of ad hole, but you have to kind of replace. Yeah, I know. It's going to be a harder place for Wiggs. Like you said, he's a guy that was in games in the room speaking really well and pushing guys, but also on regular practice days, he was, you know, making jokes and keeping an eye on the toes and having fun and bringing lots of good energy. So, yeah, we're really going to miss him and it's going to be a hard place, but it's an opportunity for the guys to step up and take on more responsibilities and leadership roles. This team has always kept the focus on staying competitive. How do you keep that going? You guys have lost two pretty key veterans in the end of the last split of six weeks. Yeah, I know it's hard. It's something we want and when we started season, after that tough start,

18:52though, things started to, you know, talk about, you know, a lot of rumors and everything and we had, you know, we knew we were going to season if we weren't going to place the way we want or, you know, if it's going to be a good season, we know there's big chance for us. We're going to get traded. This trade is a little more of a shock, surprise, like I said, and it's always hard, but we're going to keep playing hard here and keep playing to our identity and like last game was not acceptable. And so we're going to have to bounce back tonight and all we can focus on is the team we have here and go out and do our job, everything. Does the trade make that make the next 48 hours even more difficult? Yeah, no, it's hard. You know, just a lot of things, emotions are going through your mind and but we're all professionals, so we've got to go out and play hard tonight. And like I said, we got to bounce back from last game. That was ugly once, so we know and all know that. And even though it's hard, we got to step up and play our best tonight. Does your role as captain change at all? Is the focus next a little more towards filling for the future?

19:56I mean, I haven't really thought of that. I just try to be myself and yeah, I think the biggest thing I learned is to throw out my years and especially being captain last few years is just be myself and yeah, I mean told that's good enough and that's one of my best. Given how much young talent this organization has and just also the draft makes it picked up in this trade, just what do you think about the future, you know, direction of the organization? Yeah, we got a lot of good players coming up. We are a couple guys on the team right now. We have a young team and for sure an exciting future for the franchise moving forward. So and I'm sure, you know, it's, you can't fit them all on the team if, you know, if you draft too many players, so I'm sure the thing other things might happen and use those picks in other directions and both future will tell. There you go. That's Captain Michael backland his thoughts on Thursday morning as he continues to react to the McKenzie Weeger

20:58trade on Wednesday and finally, now kind of one of the elder statesmen on the flames blue line with Anderson gone with Weeger gone. It's kind of who are the elder statesmen back there now. It's it's Zach White Cloud, it's Kevin Ball and it's Joel Hanley probably is as your veterans back there and and White Cloud is the guy who has seen the most playoff time. White Cloud is the guy who has seen the most kind of high leverage time at the most important time of year. Hanley's the oldest guy back there at the age of 3435. So it's a completely different complexion of that blue line and interesting times for Zach White Cloud as well, who's now in a lot of ways kind of the leader back there. Let's hear from Zach White Cloud as well. Obviously first and foremost with you know, we easy leaving. You know, only had a handful of games to obviously get to know him and the guys around here, but seeing what he meant to this room and what he meant to a lot of guys

22:00around here, the organization, the community, you know, obviously that's a tough one for a lot of guys in this room and obviously wishing him the best and and continues to success with Utah, right? And you don't find too many guys in this game with personality and character like that. So obviously for for Wiggs, he was exciting to get to know him and obviously wish him nothing but the best, but you know, I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I can fill Wiggs, he's shoes in terms of leadership role. He's a he's a one-of-a-kind human being teammate. So I've had guys like that in my career that have, you know, taught me how to be a part of a locker room and had good examples of leadership throughout my tenure in my in the NHL, right? So not going to try to be anyone different, just going to be myself and and obviously try to keep doing the right things at every single day to help this team win and move forward, right? You know, when there are changes like this happening around and you can kind of sense, you know, you know, obviously haven't been here that long, but you can kind of feel that around the room. You know, I guess what's it like for you trying to just, you know, slide in the different

23:04positions and just sort of, you know, find your place, you know, among a group that is changing. Yeah, and I think that's that's the main point. I just trying to find who you are in this room, find who you are on the ice and and, you know, obviously they they got me for a reason and to come in and do a job which is play a solid two-way game and be a leadership, be in a leadership role, right? And that's something that I'm excited about to keep doing moving forward and and, you know, just keep trying to develop my game each each and every day and and try to be someone that younger guys can look to as a as a good example to how to be a good teammate and a good person and and all those sorts of things that the flames want. What's the emotional locker room and day after as you talk about such an important piece taken away? What's the field in next day in here? A lot of emotions, right? Obviously, as I explained before, and I think all of you know in this this scrum here, what we meant to this room, this community, what kind of player he was

24:07and what kind of person he was and I only knew him for a handful of games, right? And and it didn't take me long to understand who he is and what he brought to this team. So obviously a day like today is and it's tough to get the two mixed up, right? There's the business side of our game and there's the inside of this locker room where these are friends moving away and important members of our community and our team and players look at it different than than the outside world. And that's tough and it's going to hit guys differently, it's going to affect younger guys differently, it's going to affect older guys differently and you know having just gone through myself, I fully understand what we've just gone through, what guys in here are going through and but at the end of the day you know you say your goodbyes and you wish them nothing but the best in Utah and you're excited for a guy like that but ultimately we have a job to do here against the Ottawa Centers and and again that's the other tough tough part of our game right is you don't want to cut it loose right away you want to let those emotions sink in and understand that this

25:10is a guy that spent a lot of years here helping push this team in the right direction and played a lot of important games and a lot of important minutes here and but then you also got to move on to right and so yeah there's a give and take with that it's managing how to you know accept the emotions that are coming each each guys way the coaching staff the management staff everyone the community all that sort of stuff right so I think in a broad term it's just it's tough no matter what way you put it there you go that is Zach White Cloud from a little earlier on Thursday as well and and just even listening to that they're like we know that guy is already turned into a big voice inside that room and and he'll be an even bigger voice in that room going forward now yeah it's I don't know that it it's never easy to trade a guy like you can see weaker pad but I do honestly wonder and it's why I said it to a couple times on Wednesday I wonder how much of that guy

26:12made it easier to make that kind of move that is Zach White Cloud makes it a little easier to trade a McKenzie weaker because you know you're not leaving the blue line you know so in lurch without somebody there that's gonna pick up some of those pieces from McKenzie and not saying that the young guys wouldn't or that Joel Hanley wouldn't do some of that but it's not easy to to come into a locker room and start being a leader when you when you've only been here for so long or start leading on the like that's not easy to do but Zach White Clouds made such an impression on so many people on the ice I think he's been great off the ice he might have been even better and for the flames that's I don't think that can be ignored in this conversation yeah well and we'll see we'll see where things go in that regard but wanted to make sure that you heard a little bit from some of the people that you know are are still here as member of the flames as we've been saying now for weeks at least over the last two weeks Zach White Cloud

27:15the flames in the in the last little bit have kind of pivoted to that he was never acquired to be flipped like that was never in Craig Conroy's mind when he was acquired Zach White Cloud was acquired to be a part of this team but they understood they might get some they might get some some interest in him from other teams the closer we got to the deadline but the the way that he has ingratiated himself inside that room and the way that he has really worked as a leader in that room the way he's played on the ice kind of got them pretty quickly to yeah this guy we want to keep this guy around and and while I don't think that made a weaker expendable I do think that it got him to a point where maybe it's like okay well if somebody is calling on on McKenzie we're going to listen and we're going to talk about it so yeah and and yeah I mean I know there's been some reports out there that White Cloud isn't going anywhere that that's been the key I don't think anything has changed on the White Cloud front I think that that has been the

28:15case as we've been telling you now for last couple of weeks that they've kind of made their decision that unless a deal is going to completely knock them out of the other of the park where a deal is going to be knocked so far out of the park that they can't refuse it's been that way for a while that White Cloud was likely not going to be traded uh okay we are underway how's the how do we think the voices sounding today it's a little husky but it's a little more power in it today I'm able to get it to like slightly more spots yeah no I think it's it's definitely going in the right direction today that's good two days in a row where I went in the right direction I don't know if we've had that yet um I think it'd be perfect if we didn't have to jump on the right Conroy what are you doing come on Craig uh we just of course uh we just uh we are underway this hour on flames talking Steinberg and Logan along with you we're here the hot still of lounge and our reminder we have got wall to wall trade deadline coverage for you on friday we've got three great sponsors for you including our friends at all kind doors visit all kind door

29:19services dot com doors that work people you trust president Barack Obama Virginia we are counting on you Republicans want to steal enough seats in congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years but you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st help put our elections back on a level playing field and let voters decide not politicians vote yes by April 21st paid for by Virginians for fair elections you're locked on flames talk only on sports net 960 the van hey flames talks brought to you by mr. lube plus tires visit your nearest mr. lube plus tires for an oil change and receive a pair of good year wiper blades free just visit mr. lube dot com to get your coupon it's Steinberg Logan Gordon and now the voice of the calgary flames Derek wills joins us to complete our Thursday edition of the daily flames roundtable brought to you

30:21by Mercedes Benz country hills the fastest growing segment of vehicles they sell is electric in form buyers are coming to see perhaps you should discover why minutes from the calgary airports and uh gents we'll uh we'll keep the roundtable focused on McKenzie weger because that remains the big story and uh unless something else happens while we're talking here in the next 20 minutes possible which is could could very well happen uh but in the time being guys how do we uh how do we look back on you know almost four full years in calgary uh four seasons minus 22 games for McKenzie weger how do we uh how do we look back on his time as a member of the calgary flames well if McKenzie weger's four seasons with flames uh was a sandwich the meat would be really good the bread just okay i thought he was just okay in his first season with the flames and you've got to cut a guy like him a little bit of slack i'm not sure he expected that trade

31:23i'm much like Jonathan Hubert O didn't expect that trade uh with math you could chuck obviously going the other way and sometimes it takes a season to get settled in a new city and settled with a new team but in his second and third seasons i thought he was the flames best offenseman i mean two years ago the guy scores 20 goals last year i know he only had eight goals but he was a fantastic 200 foot player in my opinion he was definitely the flames number one defenseman the last two seasons this season i'm not sure he was the number one or the number two defenseman on a consistent basis i'm if i'm being modest i think rasmus anderson prior to the trade was the flames unquestioned number one defenseman and i would argue that kevin ball who's been really consistent this season has probably been their second best blue liner uh McKenzie weger did have some highs uh more lows than i think we've seen from him uh in any of his four seasons with the flames

32:24uh how do you explain that the tough start for the team two nine and two i think probably had a bigger impact on some veteran players that it did on some younger guys outside of michael backlin and blake holman really there haven't been any veterans this season who have played at least in my opinion two or above their potential including McKenzie weger um being on canada's radar and very much on canada's radar for the olympics going to their uh evaluation camp during the summer uh coming off such a great season and then getting off to such a tough start this season that i think it was safe to assume he probably was off of that radar by the end of october or at least november that had to be tough for him to swallow as well and then the other thing that maybe we haven't talked enough about he has been playing through injuries all season long that guy takes an absolute beating blocking shots from the other team and sometimes from his own teammates and you know he's been hobbling around for a good chunk of the season so when i look back at michenzie weger's tenure

33:28not a bad for a season excellent second and third seasons this has been a tough season for him but uh i'm hoping that a fresh start with the mammoth will uh help him find his game again yeah you're losing a lot with michenzie weger leaving town and i think you're talking about you know what was the most successful part of the math you could chuck trade and i mentioned it to pat earlier Derek no one was talking about michenzie weger in that sense when that trade happened and he turned into a guy that really embraced the city and really embraced the the role coming to calgary and that that means an awful lot i think that goes a long way with fans and with people in that locker room that he was committed and things changed really fast from michenzie weger in terms of expectations and what happened on the ice for this team but michenzie weger never backed away from the challenge he never came with the poor attitude i think he immediately became one of the leaders in that room and i think you have to look back at it

34:31as you know frustrating that the team didn't accomplish what they would have wanted to accomplish during his time here but at the end of the day it was still really successful from michenzie from an on ice perspective i know this year has been a down year i'd still been on him bouncing back big time in Utah i just think there's too much talent there's too much want there from michenzie weger to be great to have this kind of season continue for him and at the end of the day pat you you lost a guy that had a you know real commitment to the city and a real commitment to being a Calgary flame who would never been here before was drafted by the panthers and spent his entire careers of Florida panther and embraced Calgary from day one and was i think going to be remembered when he comes back to Calgary in april with you ta with a lot of applause and with a lot of celebration for his time yeah i i mostly look back on on his time as um i i look back on it as i

35:31guess never got to where we hoped the team would get while he was here um which which is too bad because he really exhibited a lot of qualities that that i think had a lot of people wondering if he might be the successor to michael backlin as as team captain and and yet in the four seasons that he was here you know they had a couple of years where they were eliminated right at the very end of the game 81 in both years uh the his first year and his third year uh the team was eliminated from playoff contention um but they just he came here and there was a lot of excitement we all remember the summer of 2022 right like as disappointing as it was to see johnny leave and it's disappointing as it was that the flames had to trade back you could chuck there was a lot of excitement around the deal that brought in um could uh the weaker in huberdo and there's a lot of excitement around our some countryside and a first drum pick um there there was a lot of excitement surrounding

36:35the nasmconnery signing and since that time it just has never lived up to the potential that we all thought it might but remember and maybe that's how i look back at it most is just like it felt like it could really be something cool and and i i remember the words coming out of my mouth like hey maybe the flames are even better situated to go on a playoff run this year then they were when they got to game five around two against the oethers the prior year and unfortunately um in mccenzie's time they they never made the playoffs as as a member of the flames which he came here he signed his uh eight year deal with the eyes on making the playoffs and and being a competitive if not a contending team and unfortunately that just never happened so that's kind of my biggest takeaway from his time here is that it never got to where he and the flames wanted to get to and yet i also look back and say hey that guy i don't think there was a single night where

37:38fifty two didn't leave it all out on the ice and only there's a single night where you came away and say mccenzie didn't play hard he might not have played well but you knew that he always left it all out there intensity and and effort wise that that's kind of just who he was his entire time i thought the same thing pat johnny gadro and mathik achak were irreplaceable as individual players but when you look at what Bradshaw loving did and trying to replace those two guys four years ago in the trade with the panthers and again he was painted into a corner and probably had two or three teams that he was able to deal with and and i still believe got the most that he could have gotten for mathik achak um so jonathan huberdo the season before had the exact same number of points as johnny gadro 115 they finished tied for second in the art rostro if you raise so that looked like it might be uh a pretty even swap left winger for left winger 115 points for 115 points in hindsight it wasn't um but then mathik achak you lose him a right winger

38:46but you bring in a centerman in nasim caddy a more valuable position uh not as impactful a player but a guy who's won a Stanley Cup a guy who's been a really uh important part of this team for four seasons he had just won a Stanley Cup and i mean yeah and you bring in mccenzie weeger which was clearly an upgrade to the flames defense core what's a real shame is that cadry who is wired to be at his best when the game is mean the most and weeger who i i think is wired the same way that they never got to play in a playoff game as a member of the flames and maybe padry stays and and maybe before his contract is up uh if he doesn't get dealt he does get to play in a playoff game both of those guys i think would absolutely be at their best come the Stanley Cup playoffs but kensy weeger is an absolute warrior i don't have a single bad thing to say about him as a person or as a leader and that's maybe where the biggest hole will be he hasn't had a great season on the

39:46ice i think he'd be the the first guy to tell you that but off the ice a really important part of the flames leadership group which started with six players the captain and the five alternates it is plausible that when tomorrow's trade deadline comes and goes there will be one of those guys left on this team because right now there are three of six Jonathan Hubert owes out for the year the raspis anderson and mccenzie weeger have been traded so you're left with michael backland nozum cadry and blake holman well the latter of those two three well the the second and third of those three guys i just mentioned could potentially be traded before uh tomorrow's one pm mountain time trade deadline so i think that mccenzie weeger is going to leave a huge hole as far as the leadership group goes who was taking bullets again after two's day six one loss to the stars winner lose he was always there to talk to us and in turn talk to flames fans and i will forever admire him for the warrior he was and still is on the ice and for what he did off the ice as well

40:49he's Derek wills he's Logan Gordon my name is pat steinberg this your daily flames round table on this Thursday edition of the program so so now what like how do we see this team being affected by not having mccenzie weeger you just mentioned the the leadership group and how it's kind of been gutted here in the last six weeks by injury and two trades and that's no disrespect to either olimata or zak white cloud but there there's still newcomers here they're still getting their feet wet in Calgary so what what is the impact of not having mccenzie weeger both on and off the ice here going forward i don't even think olimata's feet are in Calgary are they i don't i don't if they are they're very very newly yeah yeah and zak white cloud you're right he's still getting his feet wet i really think that one of the things that allowed the flames to move mccenzie weeger was the addition of zak white cloud a right shot defenseman who even in a short time here has shown on the ice and off the ice that uh he can be a leader and i if he's still with the team and

41:54apparently there are like 15 teams that have called Craig Conroy to ask about him uh he's a pretty hot commodity approaching tomorrow's trade deadline everything that i've heard is that unless they get blown away and they felt that way for a number of weeks now that unless they get to their socks completely knocked off they they want to keep zak white cloud understandably so but maybe some one does blow them away between now and one p.m. tomorrow yeah we'll have to wait and see but if that doesn't happen and he stays i could absolutely envision him being one of the flames alternate captains next season i think it's a lot to ask of him this season he just got here but next season for sure one thing i'm wondering about and we talked about it off the air right before the round table pat what are the defense pairings going to look like tonight i i know a lot of people have jumped at the conclusion that with mccenzie weger gone the zane perac should play in a pairing with cabin ball i i just i don't see it that way i mean if if i'm the flames i want to put perac in a position to succeed i don't think starting him in the defense of zone more often than the offensive

42:57zone and and asking him to to go out there and and take tough matchups every single shift every single night i i don't think that that's putting their 20-year-old top prospect in a position to succeed so i would not put zane perac at a pairing with cabin ball i i would try to give him as many offensive zone starts and as many favorable matchups as i could between now and the end of the regular season so that's one big question for me uh we know who the six defense players are going to be tonight and if mod is here and the flames expect them to be here and be ready to play on saturday when they wrap up their homestand against the hurricanes then presumably he's in the top six the hall or perac probably comes out and then we'll see what the pairings look like then but i i'm really curious what the pairings are going to look like tonight and as far as the leadership void goes i don't think that there's one guy who's going to step in and replace mccenzie weger i think they're going to have to do it by committee and exact white cloud will probably be a big part of that maybe once he gets comfortable only mod will be as well but i don't think that there's one

44:00guy that's going to replace mccenzie weger on the ice or off the ice it's going to look a lot different um just because mccenzie touched so many areas of the game really similar i think to to rasmus anderson guys in the sense of there there is no like holy mad is going to come in in this ryan huskie pointed out earlier he'll be a pk guy but he won't touch the power play uh that's where mccenzie spent a lot of time so we know zane fits in there but who else cabin ball probably has been the he's been the guy that's kind of been there but that's kind of up in the air now too and do we see hunter brisstevich recalled at some point it's already a pretty young decor even when moda comes in kevin balls twenty five yankus netsof is twenty three twenty four twenty three i think twenty three if he's not much older than that and one of jewel handling and or braiden ball hall and exactly where i would get traded before tomorrow exactly where i was going because that's up turns twenty four this uh this weekend actually okay well happy early berk

45:01maybe on uh what i believe Derek talked to earlier today for the pregame skill great kid we talked about the poker tournament really nice guy um that's exactly where i was going we'll see you know if you lose a handling i mean ball is twenty six i think twenty six twenty six twenty six so he's you know in the middle there you're talking about a team that could be really really young on the back end post trade deadline looking at holy moda and zack white cloud as far on away the most experienced everyday NHLers that this group has that's a huge change that's that's a that's a massive change in how this team defends who they send out i think it's still pretty easy to say kevin ball and zack white cloud are going to take a lot of the tough matchups for this team but everything else in between terms of deep pairings how Ryan huska is gonna go about pairing things up how Trent calls these things in terms of pairings i think is really up for debate now

46:02for the next little while here especially if one of those two guys you mentioned willsy up a hall or a handling maybe both who knows are are shipped off in the next twenty four forty eight hours well up the ice they're losing one of their number one voices like there's no doubt he him him and rasmus anderson were kind of the the vocal guys inside that room or two of the more vocal guys inside that room you know white cloud being here i think adds a little bit or or or lessons the blow in that regard but i mean that i think you're losing a guy who clearly had turned into one of the leading voices inside that room and and one of the most important leaders and so i i think that will and and and he really had leaned into being kind of a mentor to some of the younger guys like kuznet's up like perreq uh like pristevich he's talked about that those guys have talked about that so i think you're you're losing that and obviously despite how much he's struggled i mean ryan huska said it many times like you know there's been a lot of talk about how he

47:02struggled and how the offensive numbers are down but he's still doing a lot of things for the coaching staff anyway that they feel maybe is flying a little under the radar in a positive way but i guess the thing that makes me most interested is what this means for zane perreq and and i am because now there's no longer um a log jam on the right side for the longest time there'd been a log jam on the right side well the two defensemen the flames have moved this year have both been right shot defensemen so now there's no longer that imbalance of way more right side guys than not and so you've got a door open for perreq to play every night we know they're going to load manager you're talking about flipping a wiger to the left side to make it all right well now they don't have to do that now they've got now it's like okay well where are they going to get mata in who's going to come out from mata is and i guess if Joel handly gets traded there's uh there's a way you can do that but now he's going to be on power play one and he's probably going to be there the

48:03rest of the season and now he's got a little bit more of an opportunity to show what he's all about and i think you take the reins off just a slight bit more now on zane perreq so i think that's going to be really interesting as well and one of the things i'm super interested in watching now is how perreq responds with wiger no longer here yeah and the other thing i'm wondering about and this is more about the return for mccenzie wiger than the player himself and you know what you do get that contract off your books i'm fairly confident mccenzie wiger will find his game again yep what if he doesn't five years that the six point two five there's definitely some risk yeah yeah so the mammoth uh and you know what ryan smith their owner uh he is very anxious to become competitive in mccenzie wiger i believe we'll move them closer to uh to achieving that goal but the flames have what a million in one draft picks i mean they've got 11 picks in this draft including eight in the first three rounds two in the first round four in the second round and it

49:07looks like all six of those picks will be top 50 which is ridiculous and then they've got two more in the third round so you've got tons of draft picks and you've got tons of draft space because you have Vancouver's in your own yes tons of picks tons of space so it gets me thinking it's Craig Conroy going to select eleven players or potentially more if he makes more deals between today and tomorrow is one p.m. deadline or is he going to start to package some of the assets that he has acquired and you can do that in different ways you can make a trade you can trade some of your picks for actual players or and this is something i've been thinking about since the trade yesterday it's hard to get your hands on a number one sentiment or even a top six sentiment and let's say the flames win the NHL's draft lottery or if even if they don't let's say that Gavin McCann is not the top pick and he lands here in Calgary he's not a sentiment he doesn't solve that problem what do you guys think about using some of your picks and some of your cap space to

50:10offer sheet a guy who can center one of your top two lines i mean i know that it's been a little risque and not a lot of teams have done it the blues did it to the orders with great success getting bro burger all the way i do wonder if the flames explore going down that rodent and trying to fill a need or maybe more than one need via an offer sheet with all the picks and all the cap space they have if he's out there i mean it's it's definitely a route that you could explore you have to have your first round pick so they're your picks right gotta use in in the compensation and you're probably i was doing this exercise on on the post game show on Tuesday so you're probably looking at anywhere between uh a first second and a third as compensation or two first second and a third depending on what the the dollar figure is the you end up signing a guy too so you know and and sometimes that could be exactly the type of price that you're willing to play to pay to bring in that type of guy um kind of all depends on where the flames end up in this

51:14year's draft lottery in a lot of ways or uh what that player that they end up drafting high ends up looking like right absolutely i just think that there are a lot of different directions the flames could go with the all of the draft picks that Craig Conroy has accumulated and all the cap space that uh he has to work with so it's going to be fascinating to see what happens between now and tomorrow's 1 p.m. mountain time trade deadline and as we get into the offseason yeah and they start to figure out uh how they're going to continue to push this rebuild rebuild rebuild whatever they're going to call it in the right direction 100% he's Derek Willes he's Logan Gordon my name is Pat Steinberg that is your daily flames roundtable brought to you by Mercedes Benz country hills the fastest growing segment of vehicles they sell is electric informed buyers are coming to see perhaps you should discover why minutes from the Calgary airport as we move towards the end of this hour on the program at Steinberg and Logan along with you we did not do best bets on Wednesday we were uh going to take the day and then uh the trade happened so we

52:16didn't get the day but we did not end up doing best bets on Wednesday uh so we got went one and one on Tuesday so we are one and three on the week we got a couple more days to try to make up some ground in that regard time now for your flames talk best bets brought to you by the heating ninja is your furnace ready to face the freeze stay warm and cozy all winter with the heating ninja visit the heating ninja dot com and so here's what i've got for Thursday in this game between the flames and senators i'm going to go Dylan cousins of Ottawa over two and a half shots i actually like the value on that one that's paying plus 114 over at play Alberta so i'm going to go cousins over two and a half shots and then i've got Clayton Keller of Utah going over half a point versus Philadelphia not as good value on that one that's paying minus 200 but Keller has historically torched the flyers and has been very good against Dan Bladar as well so i've got cousins over two and a half shots and Keller over half a point those are your Thursday flames talk best bets as we start to

53:20wrap up this hour flames talk best bets brought to you by the heating ninja is your furnace ready to face the freeze stay warm and cozy all winter with the heating ninja visit the heating ninja dot com President Barack Obama Virginia we are counting on you Republicans want to steal enough seats in congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years but you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st help put our elections back on a level playing field and let voters decide not politicians vote yes by April 21st paid for by Virginians for fair elections you