On Jan. 31 of this year, the Vancouver Canucks kicked off trade deadline season with a huge splash that saw Calgary Flames center Elias Lindholm go to the Canucks as Vancouver prepared for a big playoff run. Lindholm was seen as the missing piece for Vancouver as the team was in dire need of a second-line center that could help solidify their forward core and help their top six forwards. But with this trade came a high price, the Canucks gave up several assets to their division rivals the Flames. They will have to play them four times a season and the Canucks could potentially see the Flames in a future playoff match based on the current format. With how the Canucks’ season ended and how effective Lindholm turned out to be, this trade could come back and haunt them for years because they gave up too much.
The Players Traded Are Already Contributing in Calgary
In this trade, the Canucks gave the Flames a struggling Andrei Kuzmenko, prospects Joni Jurmo and Hunter Brzustewicz, along with a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 Draft. The Canucks had a mindset with this trade to do whatever it took to get this player. Management did not care what the price was, as long as they got Lindholm. But with the price tag that they paid, dominos would soon follow which proved to Vancouver that the organization paid too high of a price.
What happened very soon after the trade was Kuzmenko seemed to find his game and started putting up points with the Flames. After scoring only eight goals with the Canucks in 43 games, the Russian winger nearly doubled his goal-scoring with his new team in fewer games as he scored 14 goals in 29 games. But that was only the first of many dominos to fall.
When parting ways with prospects like the Canucks did with Jurmo and Brzustewicz, you never know if they will end up blossoming into NHL players. But even after only five months, both prospects have impressed the Flames immensely and general manager (GM) Craig Conroy looks to have plans for both of them to play for his team. Both defencemen signed entry-level contracts with the Flames and will be playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the Calgary Wranglers in rather short order.
Conroy spoke about both players at the Flames’ recent development camp. When asked about Brzustewicz he said, “He sees the ice so well offensively, he’s a guy we were excited to be able to get.” Then when it came to Jurmo, Conroy said, “He had a great week, I don’t think I was expecting the offensive output he had. He’s big, he moves well, he’s competitive. I think he’s had a great week.” Both of these prospects are already close to NHL-ready and close to being impact players for the Flames as they are rising in the prospect pool.
The Draft Picks Became Great Prospects
Then you look at what the draft picks turned into. The Flames held on to the Canucks’ draft selection at pick 28 and selected Russian prospect Matvei Gridin from the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Gridin scored 38 goals and 83 points for the Lumberjacks and is expected to play in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) next season with the Rimouski Oceanic, according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, as he will be de-committing from the University of Michigan due to insufficient grades. Gridin has already signed an NHL contract during development camp and with that contract, he is now a part of Calgary’s future.
The fourth-round pick that was also acquired in the trade was used to trade down into the fifth round where the Flames selected Brampton Steelheads forward Luke Misa. He was projected to go much higher than where he went at pick 150 but his 5-foot-10 stature had most teams turn away from him, which is why he fell so far. He scored 81 points in the 2023-24 season for the Steelheads and will be heading into his fourth year of Ontario Hockey League (OHL) hockey and will be a leader on his team come September.
For what Lindholm did for Vancouver in their playoff run, this trade was not worth it. The Canucks only got to the second round and Lindholm was not as effective as they were hoping he would be and left in free agency the first chance he got. Now they have to deal with the fallout from that decision and it could be bigger than management could have imagined.
