My take on the recent Calgary Flames trade:
To Carolina:
Dougie Hamilton (RH RD) - 25 years old, 6’6”, 210lb. Drafted in the first round (9th overall) in 2011.
Hamilton is a very good offensive defense-man, who has often been prone to defensive gaffs and lazy, undisciplined penalties. He has played most of his career with Top D partners Zdeno Chara and Mark Giordano, who have covered for some of his defensive lapses. Despite being a big man, he plays quite a soft game. Beginning in Boston and continuing in Calgary; there have been persistent (though unsubstantiated) rumours that he doesn’t fit in well with his teammates. Signed to the end of 2020/2021 at $5.75M per.
Michael Ferland (LH LW/RW) – 26 years old, 6’2”, 208lb. Drafted in the 5th round (133rd overall) in 2010.
Ferland is a bottom 6 forward that played quite well with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau for several months. His career has been consistently inconsistent, a world beater one night, invisible the next. The physical play that he famously displayed against Vancouver in the 2015 play-offs has all but disappeared since his last concussion. Signed to the end of next season at $1.75M per, he will then be a UFA probably looking to at least double his salary.
Adam Fox (RH RD) – 20 years old, 5’11”, 181lb. Drafted in the 3rd round (66th overall) in 2016.
Fox is a good offensive defense-man who doesn’t appear to care much about his own end of the ice. He is a decent skater with great vision and elite passing skills. His size prevents him from having much of a physical presence. He has played for Harvard in the NCAA for the last two seasons and had refused to talk about contract offers from the Flames. This has led some people to believe that he intends to play out all 4 seasons in Harvard. He’d then become a UFA and could sign with the highest bidder.
To Calgary:
Noah Hanifin (LH LD) – 21 years old, 6’3”, 206lb. Drafted in the 1st round (5th overall) in 2015.
Hanifin is a talented “all-around” defense-man who has continued to improve every season. He seldom chips the puck out of the D zone; preferring to skate it out or pass it up to a forward. He is very skilled at O-zone entries; which should eliminate the need for some of the Flame’s “dump and chase” plays. Hanifin is projected to play on the 2nd pairing with veteran Travis Hamonic. This will allow Calgary to move TJ Brodie back to playing on Giordano’s right side, where Brodie had his greatest success. Hanifin is a RFA without arbitration rights coming off of an ELC ($925k Cap Hit, $1.775M AAV).
Elias Lindholm (RH C/RW) – 23 years old, 6’1”, 192lb. Drafted in the 1st round (5th overall) in 2013.
Lindholm is a hardworking, versatile, skilled forward. He competes well in all 3 zones and has averaged a 52.7 FO% over 5 NHL seasons. His shot could use some improvement; while it is accurate, it’s not especially hard. He is projected to play at RW with Monahan/Gaudreau and will probably share face-off duties with Monahan, depending on which side the draw is. During his draft year, the Flames were reportedly just as interested in him as they were in Monahan. Lindholm is a RFA with arbitration rights coming off of a two year, $2.7M per contract.
Overall, I feel that this trade could benefit both teams, but I think that it will take 4 years before we know for sure.
If Carolina pairs Hamilton with Jaccob Slavin, they should have a great Top D pairing for at least 3 seasons. Ferland could help them out for at least one year; as he can play up and down their lineup. For the Hurricanes to win this trade, they would need to sign Fox and hope that he can become their PP quarterback 4 years down the road.
Among other things, Calgary apparently needed a dressing room shake-up and a Top 6 RW. I believe that it's "mission accomplished" on both of those items. They also got a little younger. Lindholm should be able to put up 50+ points playing with SM & JG, anything more will be a bonus. It will probably help that both players are very familiar with Calgary’s new coach (their old coach). For the Flames to win this trade, Hanifin will need to continue his steady development and come close to filling Giordano’s spot in 4 years.
Trivia
Calgary now has 20% of the first round draft picks from the 2013 Entry Draft.
#5 Lindholm
#6 Monahan
#17 Lazar
#22 Poirier
#24 Shinkaruk
#28 Klimchuk
IMO, Lazar is on the bubble; and Poirier, Shinkaruk, and Klimchuk probably have only one more season to make it to the NHL.