Best Flames Trades Countdown: #3 – a productive trade with Carolina

Quite often, the perception of trades is zero sum. Not everybody can get what they want, and one team is out to fleece the other. It’s pretty energizing for everyone involved when everybody gets what they want out of a swap.

At the 2018 NHL Draft, the Calgary Flames and the Carolina Hurricanes made one of those trades.

Coming out of the 2015 NHL Draft, the Flames were pretty happy with their haul. They made five picks and leveraged some expiring assets into picks they used to land Dougie Hamilton from the Boston Bruins. Without losing a roster player off a playoff team, they managed to make themselves a lot better, deeper and more talented.

Three years later, the Flames had a few potential…