It’s been a summer of speculation in Calgary, especially when it came to Flames key players entering contract years, including Elias Lindholm. Trade rumours kept surfacing about the forward, but the Flames only made one transaction this offseason, shipping winger Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils.
Earlier this month, Lindholm himself addressed the chatter saying how he’s looking to re-sign with the Flames and is interested in staying in Calgary.
However on the opening day of training camp on Thursday, the update from Lindholm in this whole extension saga was not encouraging, revealing to TSN’s Salim Valji that talks with the team have cooled in recent weeks.
“We talked early on in the summer and that was the last time we talked,” he said. “There hasn’t been much.”
“It’ll be handled when there will be time for that,” he said, pointing to his agent Craig Oster. “For now, I’m focused on the season and trying to make the most of it and try and help this team win as many games as possible.”
Coming off a disappointing 2022-23 season, the Flames are expected to get back on track this time around, and that might be what Lindholm is waiting to see before making the decision to re-sign in Calgary.
It just feels like the Flames cannot afford to lose Lindholm, who’s been their top-line centre for the past four seasons. Since 2018-19, he leads the team with 139 goals and 325 points.
For now, he enters the final season of a six-year, $29.1 million contract he signed back in 2018.
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