The Calgary Flames appear to headed towards a retool ahead of the NHL trade deadline after moving one of their largest trade pieces to Vancouver in a deal with the Canucks Wednesday.
Calgary sent forward Elias Lindholm to the west coast in exchange for a haul of prospects and picks which included Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, a 2024 first-round draft pick, and a conditional 2024 fourth-round draft pick.
Speaking to members of the press, Flames GM Craig Conroy said that the decision not to wait until closer to the March 8th trade deadline was relatively straightforward in the sense that Vancouver offered a package which he didn’t believe other teams would be willing to exceed.
“Obviously I’ve been communicating with teams all year, but probably after Saturday morning, I talked to them and they came with an offer,” Conroy said. “I think I talked to a lot of teams, and it was more, ‘What are you looking for?’ and ‘What are you thinking about?’ conversations. They threw a real offer at me, and I circled back with all the other teams just to kind of work through to see where we were at.”
“Went back to Vancouver, we added things. We went back and forth, the negotiation process, trying to get more to see what deal worked for both sides. Probably today we got right down to the end. I circled back with all the other teams, and they put their best offers forward, and this deal just made the most sense to me.”
In addition to gaining a top six forward to add to their NHL leading lineup, the Canucks also gain some financial flexibility as well which could set the stage for another move down the line. Kuzmenko has another year remaining on his 2 year contract which carried a cap hit of $5.5M per season, but will only take back $4.85M in salary via Lindholm, who will be an UFA at season’s end.
Vancouver already boasts the league’s 2nd best offence in terms of goals per game, scoring at a 3.80 GF/GP rate, and will now add some additional firepower behind their prolific trio of Miller, Bowser, and Pettersson. Their current goal scoring pace trails only the Colorado Avalanche at the mid-way point of the season.
While the Canucks could continue to load up for what they hope will be a deep playoff run, Calgary will be working the phones diligently over the next few weeks to ship off additional pieces from their underperforming roster.
Blue liners Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin are both rumoured to be on the trading block given their upcoming UFA status at season’s end. Meanwhile goaltender Jacob Markstrom could also be on the move, but may be tough for to fit under the cap for a contender given his $6M AAV cap hit.
With teams now adjourning for the NHL All-Star Break, GM’s will have plenty of time to take stock of where their teams sit in the standings midway through the year. With a log jam of teams vying for playoff spots, particularly in the Metropolitan division where only 5 points separate 3rd from 7th place in the division, there’s likely to be more buyers than sellers as March 8th approaches.
A fact that could bode well for the Flames over the next couple of weeks.
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