It took awhile, but we finally got a blockbuster NHL trade between Flames, Hurricanes

We waited quite a long time for our first blockbuster trade of the offseason, but it was well worth the wait with the deal the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames cooked up.

After such high expectations for some blockbuster trades at the draft, the first day was a massive letdown. Some minor picks were swapped, but after weeks of juicy trade rumors, nothing interesting got done.

For most of day two it was the same thing, but then you saw the Hurricanes and Flames table talking, then getting up and heading to the central registry, andthe rumors started to circulate; we finally had a blockbuster trade on our hands, and it was a doozy.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie had the details of the blockbuster trade:

So the official deal is: Calgary sends Dougie Hamilton, Michael Ferland and unsigned draft pick Adam Fox to Carolina in exchange for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.

Lindholm and Hanafin were both restricted free agents and the talks were that negotions for a new contract, especially with Lindholm, went badly, and that prompted Carolina to start shopping them around.

Some extra food for thought: Bill Peters was hired to be the head coach of the Flames after being let go by the Hurricanes, So he’s plenty familiar with both Hanifin and Lindholm. That could be a big reason why Calgary pursued them and paid such a heavy price in a trade.

Early reaction to the trade? Carolina won this deal. The Canes gave away a top six forward and potential top pairing defenseman, but they replaced both of them in Hamilton, Ferland and in addition added a solid prospect in Adam Fox.

Dougie Hamilton is one of the most underrated defensemen in the league who can put up production consistently for around 40-50 points a season at just 25 years old. Calgary’s defense may have underperformed, but Hamilton was not the reason why in the slightest. If Calgary wanted Hamilton traded, it certainly didn’t get the best possible return for him.

Ferland is also a great piece for the Hurricanes who can get to the physical areas and bang home pucks from in front of the net. There isn’t a lot of downside to this trade for the Hurricanes.

General manager of the Carolina Hurricanes Don Wadell told NHL Network that they needed to “change up the culture” after missing the playoffs for the eight straight season, and feel that all three pieces acquired will make them better now and in the future. He also mentioned that the deal had been in the works for a couple weeks, and today was the last day they were willing to work on it.

Carolina clearly has a plan for what it wants to be next season, and Wadell said they’re not done making deals quite yet, but there’s no rush.

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This could be the trade the gets the ball moving across the market, and at the very least is the start of a plan in motion for the Hurricanes. The draft may be over, but the offseason is just getting started.