The Calgary Flames pain train is the gift that keeps on giving, and the most recent news is surely a gift that Flames fans did not want to hear this close to the holiday season.
During the 2021–22 NHL season, the Flames were heavily rumoured to be in the thick of things when it came to potentially acquiring Jack Eichel. Eichel’s trade request, and subsequent neck fusion surgery, was the hottest topic in hockey as the 2015 number two overall pick was looking for a new home.
The rumours picked up immensely when Kevin Weekes tweeted the following:
From there it was wildfire.
Well now, Eichel has put some legitimacy to these rumours confirming that the final two teams involved were the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights.
Eichel’s comments on his trade saga
On his Empy Netters podcast appearance, Eichel had this to say about the potential deal.
“There were some teams out east that were in the mix, trying to make things happen. The whole medical part of it was definitely a big component, the team had to be ok with the surgery that I wanted to do. The injury, you know, a lot of things had to work. I think as the summer went on, you’d always hear different teams call you know whether it was the Minnesotas, the Carolinas, or there was a period in the early fall where it was Colorado. But I think as you’re going through it and looking back on it until it becomes realistic you don’t want to believe anything. With trades, there are so many possibilities that could happen and I switched agents in the middle of it too. When I brought in my new agents there were some new teams that became part of the mix, but when it came down to it towards the end it was between Calgary and Vegas…those were the last two.”
– Jack Eichel on the Empty Netters Podcast
During Brad Treliving’s tenure, there were always so many rumours that he was in the thick of everything but could never get things to the finish line. This just further proves the point.
What is even more painful is just a few months after this failed trade Matthew Tkachuk, who was going to be the centrepiece of the rumoured deal, forced his way out of Calgary leading to the Jonathan Huberdeau trade.
What could have been for Calgary
There is no telling what the Flames would look like now had this deal gone down. I still think that the supposed asking price that the Flames had on the table for Tkachuk, a future first-round pick, a former first-rounder, and two prospects was far too high. Especially compared to what Eichel would eventually be traded for by Vegas.
That being said, there is no doubt the Flames would have been far better off if they had Eichel in their lineup right now over Huberdeau. They wouldn’t have gotten MacKenzie Weegar or had the first-round pick to use in the cap-clearing deal for Nazem Kadri, but the team would have been on an entirely different trajectory.
Add in the fact that maybe an Eichel acquisition might have kept Johnny Gaudreau in town had he wanted to play on the wing of Eichel for seasons to come and the pain is too much to bear. On top of that, imagine the years of the McEichel rivalry being baked right into the Battle of Alberta.
Unfortunately, this alternate timeline will remain nothing more than fantasy and fiction.
