Some flames burn brighter than others, Darryl Sutter is not one of them

Since it involves a former Maple Leaf, today’s Calgary Flames-Carolina Hurricanes trade must be big news.  But really, we’re talking about a third-line forward, third-pair defenseman, and two borderline NHLers, which is just one of the reasons this trade is bad.

Let’s start with the Flames.  First, we have a GM trading away his own son a week after his son got arrested, which demonstrates a lot of loyalty.  Then, we have the Flames trading away their lone remaining defenseman from last season’s big Dion Phaneuf trade.  A defenseman they made a big deal about re-signing this past summer.  Seriously, it was front-page news in Calgary when White signed his new deal.

In return, the Flames got a borderline NHL defenseman in Anton Babchuk and a great third line player in Tom Kostopolous.  TK won over every Habs fan on the planet during his stint with Montreal and is exactly the kind of player you need to have if you’re trying to win a championship (and it’s not exactly obvious that’s the goal in Calgary right now).  But the Flames already have too many third-line forwards (I don’t consider any of their guys other than Jarome Iginla or David Moss, or maybe Rene Bourque first or second-line players).

For Carolina, they’re stuck with Ian White now.  That’s bad enough, just ask any Leafs fan.  At best, this guy is a number-five defenseman in the NHL. 

So the Flames got a little cap relief (that they wouldn’t have needed if they’d just traded Phaneuf for draft picks instead of $9.5 million in third-rate players), and the Hurricanes, I dunno, got to the salary minimum?  Neither team will actually perform better this season as a result of this trade.

In the end, despite the fact Kostopolous is a really valuable player, this deal once again underscores the Flames’ inability to properly identify the moves and players that will make them a better team.  It also illustrates the strange idea of loyalty that exists in the Flames front office.

These two issues are prime reasons this trade keeps the Flames perfectly on course to be a middling team for all eternity. 

--Steve