5 Strong Signs Blake: The Blake Coleman rumors have been ramping up around the National Hockey League for several weeks now. While the Calgary Flames have cooled down some of the trade talk with a nice run to get back to .500 and within striking distance of a Wild Card spot, hockey insiders are still speculating on where some of their top trade candidates could be headed.
And while Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson get most of the ink, Coleman is quite the wanted man in trade circles, coming with a much less onerous contract situation, and bringing with him a playoff-ready game.
Insider Pierre LeBrun has projected that his old team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, is an ideal landing spot for Coleman. The Bolts know all about the player’s aptitude for the postseason.
There’s no guarantee the Flames move him, but it’s going to be tough to resist the calls that will come closer to the deadline. And I like the idea of Coleman being traded back to Tampa Bay, where he won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.
He wouldn’t be the first ex-Lightning Cup champion the team has brought back in the past couple of years, as they’ve also reunited with Ryan McDonagh and Yanni Gourde.
Coleman posted 24 points in 48 games across those two playoff runs, with a whopping 209 hits with a +11 rating.
The problem, however, is the Bolts’ lack of draft capital and deadline cap space. The Flames would have to retain on Coleman’s $4.9M cap hit, among other complications. But LeBrun doesn’t see those things as an impediment.
Making this deal work would need some creativity… Few, if any, are more creative than Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois. He can get it done.
The Lightning are currently holding down second place in the Atlantic Division, and tied for second in the Eastern Conference, which seems wide-open for the taking this season. BriseBois knows an opportunity when he sees it. He might jump at the chance to bring back yet another member of the back-to-back Bolts.
