Insider Pierre Lebrun Drops A Bomb In Regards To Canadian Team

Nikita Zadorov's trade request made headlines Friday, but it was just a part of a bigger-picture reality for a Flames team that sounds ready to shift gears.

With GMs gathering in Toronto the past couple of days, word spread on the fact the Flames are willing to listen on most of their pending unrestricted free agents, a list that includes Zadorov but also Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.

Flames GM Craig Conroy politely declined to comment on the team's plans Tuesday, but the buzz is growing from front offices around the league.

Hanifin came very close to signing a sizeable extension a month ago (believed to be close to $60 million) but decided to hold off to see how the season started. Now that ship has sailed. For both parties.

But whether it's Hanifin or Tanev or Lindholm, teams showing interest also will potentially want to talk extension, so they're trying to gauge that part of it, too. We could see an extension as part of a trade with these players, which would help the Flames garner more in return.

There's no urgency to any of this. The Flames have until the March 8 trade deadline to figure it all out, but they are for sure in listening mode, looking to reset their roster to some degree and get high-end future assets. And that's dominating chatter across NHL circles.