The Calgary Flames‘ summer of subtraction has slowed, but the phone is still on. Calgary continues to listen on much of its roster, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said Tuesday on the Hello Hockey podcast (transcribed by NHLRumors.com), with Morgan Frost‘s name “still out there” and teams continuing to show interest in defenseman Zach Whitecloud.
Neither name is new, and that is the point: the direction hasn’t wavered since the draft-week trade for Simon Nemec and the five-year extension that followed. Pagnotta pointed to the Blake Coleman deal as the shape of things — a move Calgary had been working toward for some time, with Dallas a preferred destination that couldn’t fit the money, before Coleman landed in Minnesota with a Cup chase in front of him.
On timing, Pagnotta expects trade activity around the league to resume in sporadic bursts starting as soon as next week, once the remaining free agents find homes, and named Calgary among the teams likely to be part of it. Frost, 27, is the piece with the most obvious market — a center in his prime years on a roster committed to playing younger down the middle. Whitecloud’s appeal is simpler: experienced defensemen with playoff mileage draw calls every summer.
The pragmatic read is that Calgary doesn’t have to move anyone, and that is the only leverage a rebuilding team holds in July. Teams that miss on their first choices in free agency tend to come back in August with better offers. If the return on Frost or Whitecloud is real, take it; if it isn’t, both players open camp as Flames and the calls resume at the deadline, when the acquiring side is more desperate and the price goes up.
For fantasy managers, Frost is the name to track. His value is landing-spot dependent: a contender’s second line with power-play time makes him a late-round flier in deeper leagues, while staying in Calgary means steady minutes but thinner linemates on a rebuilding depth chart. Whitecloud carries minimal category impact wherever he plays, though a trade would push another young defenseman up the depth chart behind Nemec.
