Fansided

5 teams that didn’t do enough at the NHL Trade Deadline

By Griffin Youngs

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 5: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers listens to the national anthem before the game against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on January 5, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 5: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers listens to the national anthem before the game against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on January 5, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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CALGARY, CANADA – FEBRUARY 27: General manager Brad Treliving of the Calgary Flames address the media before the trade deadline prior to the team’s NHL game against the Ottawa Senators at the Scotiabank Saddledome on February 27, 2016 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
CALGARY, CANADA – FEBRUARY 27: General manager Brad Treliving of the Calgary Flames address the media before the trade deadline prior to the team’s NHL game against the Ottawa Senators at the Scotiabank Saddledome on February 27, 2016 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Calgary Flames

The Pacific Division got much more interesting in the span of just a few hours. The San Jose Sharks added to their stacked offense by picking up Gustav Nyquist, and the Vegas Golden Knights got the prize of the deadline in Mark Stone. With both the Sharks and Golden Knights landing huge deals at the deadline, the Calgary Flames now find themselves on the losing side of the arms race, having struck out on multiple deals.

The lone deal made by the Flames over the trade deadline period was acquiring depth defenseman Oscar Fantenberg from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick. In 35 games with the Kings this season, Fantenberg has one assist. Unless there’s an injury, Fantenberg will hardly be a regular in the Flames lineup and have no affect on the roster.

The Flames have been excellent all year long, but they have a hole on the right wing that they needed filled at this deadline to really have the depth of a Stanley Cup contender. They had the assets to pay, and were reportedly in on a lot of the big names so they were willing to make the trades yet landed nobody at all. What happened?

The night before the deadline, it was revealed that the Flames had negotiations with the Ottawa Senators about Stone fall through, likely the price too high for their taste. As a result, Ottawa found another trade partner in Vegas, a divisional foe that the Flames might have to play in the playoffs this year. That’s a serious whiff.

It was later revealed that the Flames had yet another deal fall through before the deadline, this time with the Minnesota Wild for Jason Zucker. The Flames get a pass for this miss, though, as Zucker is locked up until 2023 at $5.5M a year, and the Flames will be in some cap trouble soon. But regardless, there were other options for the Flames to chase.

In fairness, the Flames are still favorites in the Western Conference even by standing pat at the deadline. Keeping their first-round pick and high-end prospects is a solid plan as their window to compete has just opened, and Johnny Gaudreau is a Hart candidate that can take the Flames far. But with San Jose and Vegas getting significantly stronger, the Flames missed out and might pay for it with their season come playoff time.

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