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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterJan 31, 2024, 10:31 PM ET
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
The Calgary Flames had one lone All-Star game representative at the start of Wednesday in Elias Lindholm. By the end of the day, they had none after trading him to the Vancouver Canucks.
Lindholm’s future with the Flames had been in question as he was slated to be a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. It’s why Lindholm, who has nine goals and 32 points in 49 games this season, was considered to be one of the most sought-after player ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8.
That’s also the reason why the Canucks parted ways with forward Andrew Kuzmenko, a pair of prospect defensemen in Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo along with 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick to bring Lindholm to Vancouver.
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Getting Lindholm accomplishes several things for the Canucks. He gives them another top-six center in addition to what they already have with J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson who is capable of creating either for himself or for his teammates. He’s also a legitimate scoring threat. The 29-year-old Lindholm has reached the 20-goal mark four times in his career while surpassing the 40-assist plateau on three separate occasions.
In addition, Lindholm provides the Canucks with a reliable two-way center who can be used in several defensive situations — such as the Canucks penalty kill which entered Wednesday ranked 15th. Lindholm, who led all Flames forwards in short-handed ice time, was anchoring a penalty kill that was fourth in the NHL with a 84.4 percent success rate.
On the day the Canucks announced they gave general manager Patrik Allvin a contract extension, the franchise watched him execute the latest move in what has become a transformation over the last 12 months.
It was this time a year ago when the Canucks were left to answer questions about their future. They had just moved on from Bruce Boudreau,…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39433326/vancouver-trades-calgary-center-elias-lindholm
Author : Ryan Clark
Publish date : 2024-02-01 03:36:21
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