Huberdeau traded to Flames in massive deal

Calgary Flames Twitter

The Saint John Sea Dogs' connections to the Calgary Flames continued to grow late Friday.

In a blockbuster trade, the Flames acquired former Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau in a deal that saw Matthew Tkachuk dealt to the Florida Panthers. The Flames also acquired former Halifax Mooseheads defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a conditional first-round pick.

WE HAVE A TRADE TO ANNOUNCE!

The #Flames have acquired Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a conditional 2025 first-round pick from the Florida Panthers!

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) July 23, 2022

The Flames dealing Tkachuk comes as no surprise. The surprise is that he was dealt to the Panthers, a team that was not overly rumoured to be interested. Many expected the Flames to struggle to find a good trading partner, but this is a huge haul.

The big risk for Calgary is that they may only get one year out of Huberdeau and/or Weegar. From Sportsnet:

Both Huberdeau and Weegar have one year remaining on their respective contracts before hitting unrestricted free agency. Huberdeau's cap hit for next season is $5.9 million, while Weegar's is $3.25 million.

This deal rejuvenates the Flames who have had a horrendous off-season following their rough playoff loss to the rival Edmonton Oilers. Calgary has lost two of its franchise players in Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, but the acquisition of Huberdeau and Weegar gives the team some much needed positive vibes.

Huberdeau spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Sea Dogs, helping the club win two President Cups and a Memorial Cup. He has spent his entire NHL career with the Panthers, the team that drafted him third overall in the 2011 NHL Draft.

The 29-year-old is coming off the best season of his career, recording 30 goals and 85 assists in 80 games. "He leaves the Panthers holding the franchise record for games played (671), points (613) and assists (415) among other things," notes George Richards of Florida Hockey Now.

"Those No. 11 jerseys will be spotted in the crowd for years to come and, when Huberdeau decides to call it a career, that No. 11 Huberdeau first wore on the draft stage in St. Paul will be hanging from the rafters in Florida," writes Richards.

It will be interesting to see Huberdeau play in a big hockey market. Huberdeau hasn't had a ton of media attention on him in Florida, but that certainly will not be the case in Calgary where he'll be a headliner on Hockey Night in Canada many weekends.

The Flames will likely have two former Sea Dogs on their AHL squad this season in defensemen Jeremie Poirier and Yan Kuznetsov. Calgary opted not to sign forward Ryan Francis, who has since moved on to the Laval Rocket, Montreal's AHL affiliate.

Calgary's yet-to-be-named AHL club will play at the Saddledome this season.