I've hated this trade from the beginning, and especially because it was to Vancouver. Has Calgary ever won a trade with Vancouver? I think of Paul Reinhart almost derailing the Stanley Cup run as the worst example.
I don't buy the reasoning re urgency in getting a deal done." A mid to late second round pick is nowhere near a sure thing to turn into anything as good as Sven is now. So Sven and his agent were unhappy with his treatment by Hartley et al and wouldn't re-sign when this contract was up. Well, the Flames still would have his rights, and if he'd played out the string in Adirondack with a good performance, and the situation was re-assessed at contract time, who's to say whether the dissatisfaction would still be there, or whether a trade for a prospect or draft pick with another team couldn't have worked out just as well. In the meantime, the baby Flames would have had a better chance of playoffs, and there was always the possibility that the big club would need him because of injuries down the stretch or in the playoffs.
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