NHL Draft 2018: 5 moves we totally loved

1. Flames And Hurricanes Swap Stars

The second day of the NHL Draft 2018 saw some action. Maybe Kovalchuk’s return woke everybody up. On Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades at an NHL draft in recent memory.

Carolina sent young All-Star defenseman Noah Hanifin and promising young forward Elias Lindholm to Calgary. In exchange, the Flames sent defenseman Dougie Hamilton, forward Micheal Ferland, and blue-chip prospect Adam Fox to the Hurricanes.

Both teams were looking to change up their rosters. The Flames missed the postseason after making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2016-17. Ironically, former Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters is the Flames head coach. So maybe he had something to do with this trade?

Meanwhile, Carolina has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past nine seasons. If they don’t make the postseason in 2018-19 (and the odds are against them doing so), that will make it a full decade without the playoffs.

Only time will tell who won this trade. However, the Hurricanes appear to be the initial winners. They’re getting the best player right now (Hamilton), though Hanifin could wind up being better if he develops properly. But that’s a fairly significant if, especially since he’s already 21 years old.

Next: Best hockey player from each state

If the trade was just Hanifin and Lindholm for Hamilton and Ferland, the trade would be pretty even. But the inclusion of Fox, a defenseman who is averaging nearly a point per game with Harvard, pushes the trade in favor of Carolina.