Flames dominate top of TSN’s first Trade Bait list

It’s not necessarily a fire sale, but it is an expected sale of Flames.

Three Calgary Flames head up TSN’s first Trade Bait list of the season: No. 1 centre Elias Lindholm, No. 2 right defenceman Chris Tanev and No. 3 left defenceman Noah Hanifin.

It’s a rarity for a single team to have so many highly coveted players so high on the board – and that’s after dealing left defenceman Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver last week.

Lindholm, 29, shares the team lead in scoring (7-10-17) but has points in just one of his past six games. He has been linked to the Boston Bruins.

Tanev, who turns 34 on Dec. 20, is a heart-and-soul defender who leads Calgary defenceman at plus-3.  He would be welcomed with open arms on any NHL team; the one most commonly associated with him is Toronto, where ex-Flames’ GM Brad Treliving is in charge.

Hanifin, 26, is in his sixth season since being traded to Calgary from Carolina. He is second to Rasmus Andersson in average time on ice for the Flames this season.

All three Flames are impending unrestricted free agents. Their futures inside or outside the Flames’ organization will occupy much of new GM Craig’s Conroy’s time in advance of the March 8 trade deadline.

That’s exactly three months from today. So there is plenty of time for plenty of change.

Sharing a spot at No. 4 on the TSN board are a pair of Montreal goalies – Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau. They are co-No. 4’s because only one of them will be dealt, the other carrying on in a tandem with recently signed Samuel Montembeault.

No. 5 is right defenceman Tyson Barrie, who has requested a trade from Nashville and was scratched for the third time in four games Thursday.

As usual, defencemen are regarded as the most likely trade targets: 12 of the 20 players on TSN’s first Trade Bait list are blueliners, seven on the right side.