Hope to be bad

Why would Calgary trade Mangiapane with retention for scraps?

Devils trade is bad for both sides

Mang trade is around what wingers get in recent offseasons. Not much. I think Conny has to trade wingers to make room in the top 9 for Coronato and Pelletier. I didn’t quite get there - Pelletier still a fourth liner here

That's what wingers get when a team needs to move them for cap reasons. Calgary is not remotely close to being in cap trouble. For example look at the returns Fiala and DeBrincat got, both were moved in the off-season. I don't think anyone will trade that since it's strictly less team control but let's look at some other examples. Arvidsson with no retention for 2nd + 3rd, Reinhart for 1st + Levi, Gusev got a 2nd and 3rd without even playing in NA yet. The Flames aren't desperate to move him, they will sell him if a team wants him and is willing to pay what they are asking

Debrincat: RFA star
Fiala: RFA star
Reinhart: Quality RFA
Arvidsson: 3 years of reasonably priced term
Gusev: highly touted star KHLer

Meanwhile Mangiapane:
6 million dollar mediocre rental winger

It's funny how hard you try and fail. Casually ignoring the 2.5M retention like it doesn't exist, calling a guy with nearly 40 even strength points and while playing the 4th highest %TOI among forwards vs elite competition league wide (behind Martinook, J. Staal, and Wennberg, tied with Coyle).