A month ago it seemed possible, if not likely, the Calgary Flames would be trading defensemen at the trade deadline.
Now? They’re trading *for* them.
Injuries to Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic quickly turned a team strength into a weakness.
I mean, they went from healthy scratching Michael Stone – a player they bought out last summer – to playing him 20+ minutes a night. That’s not ideal for a team on a playoff bubble, especially one that could lose some valuable members to free agency in a few months.
In an effort not to waste their pending UFAs – and another year of Johnny Gaudreau, Mark Giordano, etc – GM Brad Treliving appears to have made a couple of moves in quick succession.
He parted with a 4th round pick to land defensive defensemen Derek Forbort from the LA Kings.
A trade for offensive-minded blueliner Erik Gustafsson, only a year removed from a 60-point campaign (heavily influenced from PP production), looks imminent.
Flames acquire Gustafsson from Chi. #SNTrade
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) February 24, 2020
To me, this means a) Giordano and/or Hamonic are still a while away from returning; b) Treliving wants to be overly safe to avoid relying on a guy like Stone or; c) the Flames wanted to add multiple defenders so they can flip one of their own for a forward.
Luckily for us, it won’t take long to find out.
I’ll have more on these moves, and any that follow, in next day or so.
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