been a few hours and I still can't wipe the smile off my god damn face. Amazing how a simple hockey trade can lift your mood for a whole day haha
honestly, I couldn't have imagined a bigger homerun trade. Apart from the asset management and cap flexibility, I just love that this trade gives them multiple options going forward. I was on the "tear it down" train, but that was before I realized that Tre could get Huberdeau and Weegar back. Two very fine players that allow Sutter and the remaining core to run it back, and even though a proper rebuild would have been sweet, I can't get mad at this. And the beauty of it is that, even if it doesn't work out, you can still trade Huberdeau and/or Weegar at the deadline for a king's ransom. Remember when Ben Chiarot fetched a 1st, a 4th and a prospect last year? Can you imagine the haul you could get for a Huberdeau or Weegar then? Those are prime trade pieces in case you do want to rebuild after all.
But my sincere hope is that we can re-sign both of them this offseason. Huberdeau is an electric superstar who, in my opinion, should age very well and would fully be deserving of an offer similar to the one we made to Gaudreau. I think quite a few people on here are sleeping on Weegar, but this one excites me a lot. I already really like our blueline, but Weegar probably comes in and is our #1 defenseman right from the get go, which is kind of insane. If you can re-sign him long-term at 6m-ish, you do it. Factor in that both are relatively cheap this season and their new deals would kick in when we get Lucic and Monahan off the books ... it's bloody perfect. Please get it done.
A couple of great futures in there too. Obviously the focus will be on the others in the deal, but Cole Schwindt is a decent prospect and is a nice addition to the prospect pool. Right handed center with good size, solid rookie season in the AHL, first taste of NHL hockey too. I see him on a similar level as Zary maybe? Think he'll be a player for us. The 1st is obviously down the road, but a 1st is a 1st ... and depending on how the next couple of years go, that can be a great trade chip too.
Full marks for Treliving on this. You can criticize the man for a lot of things, but this is a hell of a trade. Especially when you consider that he was close with his back to the wall here ... sure, Tkachuk had given them a list, but it's still a very limited number of options and Tre wasn't exactly dealing from a position of strength here. To come out of this with these 4 assets is absolutely stunning to me. I was one of the more optimistic posters in terms of what we could get for Tkachuk, but I never imagined the return to be this good. This trumps every lopsided homer idea that I could have come up with in my mind.
Finally, I'll echo the thanks to Matthew Tkachuk. He's handled all of this in a very mature way, he gave the Flames a heads up and options to work with. No hard feelings there at all. Thanks for the wonderful years and all the very best to him in Florida!
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