In a photo-finish transaction at the 1:00 pm deadline: the Flames pulled off a compelling multi-player deal.
Brett Ritchie and Connor Mackey for Troy Stetcher and Nick Ritchie. Brother for brother.
Nick, 27, has a bit more of a scoring touch. Brett scored six goals early in the season, Nick has potted nine over 58 games.
Nick has twenty pounds on his brother at 236lbs. He scores in bunches. Ten of his 21 points this season have come from multi-point performances. He has a heavy shot and can be hard to contain when at full speed.
Stetcher, 28, is more the opposite. A finesse defenceman with strong puck skills. He has issues breaking up the cycle in his own end. The best part of his acquisition is that he was a fan favourite in Vancouver. This trade will drive their fans nuts.
The Real Win The most admirable part of this trade is the human aspect.
Brett Ritchie was recently passed on the right wing column of the depth chart by Walker Duehr. As an impending UFA with no guarantee of a contract next season — the situation likely affected Brett.
A move to Arizona provides plenty of ice time. Great news for a guy who has sacrificed his health a number of times for the team. Go get paid, Brett!
Likewise, Connor Mackey has been professional about being passed by Dennis Gilbert. He just couldn’t seem to find his game with such inconsistency in deployment.
Much like Jusso Valimaki before him, Connor gets a lineup spot out of this trade.
Brad Treliving has pulled off this type of trade in the past. October 1st, 2018, featured Brett Kulak being traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Rinat Valiev and Matt Taormina. Trading an NHL defenceman for two AHL might-be’s is rarely a good idea. Many Habs fans look at as a huge win. Treliving simply wanted the burgeoning talent to get a regular spot on an NHL team.
Much like Mackey, Kulak had watched most of the season from the press box.
This also happened with Markus Granlund.
Granlund was floundering on the Flames during the 15-16 season. He simply wasn’t good enough to push into the top six and he was to too small to play a bottom six role. With just seven points in 31 games by late February 2016, the Flames elected to find him somewhere that he fit better. Former 1st round pick Hunter Shinkaruk was the return.
Hunter had talent, but injuries held him back from taking the next step.
It was enjoyable to hear Canucks fans bragging about stealing a top six forward from their Pacific Division rivals. The 2016-17 Canucks had such poor depth that Granlund played on a line with the Sedins for most of the year. He finished the season with 19 goals and 13 assists for a career high 32 points.
Obviously, Brad wasn’t expecting to win either trade, but both transactions were the right thing to do on a human level. Zo Long! With twenty minutes remaining before the trade deadline, we saw our first player swap involving the Calgary Flames.
Per Darren Dreger and Shayna Goldman, 6’6… Wranglers forward Radim Zohorna is headed to Toronto in exchange for 27 year old left winger, Dryden Hunt.
The 6’0… Hunt plays a fearless style, but just can’t seem to land a lineup spot. He started the year on the Rangers and has made his way to Colorado and then the Leafs all within the same season. He has a goal for each organization and has the potential to score a goal for six different teams if he records one on both the Wranglers and the Flames.
The Cranbrook native has three goals in 37 NHL games this season. In the AHL, he has nine points in 15 games. He may provide playoff depth should the Flames beat the odds.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via eliteprospects.com.