Most trades where teams utilize cap space for draft picks are when they’re the third team and retaining. There is a limit to how many contracts you can retain on, and the Flames actually have three players they need to retain on to get the highest value out of, so none of those trades are available to them and it has zero to do with Huberdeau.
Trades where players are moved with a pick for future considerations or a far lower pick are much more rare. And with three of Lindholm, Hanifin, Tanev, and Markstrom out the door, the Flames will have significant room to make any of those deals. So Huberdeau isn’t holding them back there.
I mean, if all we want to do is make more of those trades, isn’t every other player that isn’t being traded holding the team back, too? Why not trade everyone for beans?
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