This series features players the Calgary Flames drafted and—regrettably—moved on from too soon. Be prepared for pain, frustration, and anger as we delve into what could have been!
The series will consist of 10 players and five honourable mentions. The criteria for the players selected for this list were that they had a career of at least 500 NHL games, the Flames moved on from the players in their mid-20s, and the players had a noteworthy career after leaving Calgary.
Next up is the 10th player on the list—Jonas Höglund.
Why does Höglund make the list?
First, let’s look at who Höglund was as a player. Born in Hammaro, Sweden, the soon-to-be-20-year-old Höglund was drafted by the Flames in the 10th round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 222nd overall. He was a big winger—listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds—who loved to shoot the puck. Höglund would play seven seasons in the NHL with the Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Over that span, he recorded 1,264 shots on goal in 545 games, averaging 180 shots on goal per year.
Höglund’s career as a Flame was short. He debuted with the Flames in 1996–97 at age 24—finishing 15th in the Calder Trophy race—and was traded to the Canadiens partway through the following season. In 118 games in a Flames uniform, Höglund scored 25 goals and 49 points. His 0.41 points per game was nothing special but solid for a tenth-round pick.
Höglund spent nearly the same amount of games with the Habs—he played 102 games for the Habs, scoring 14 goals and 29 points. After a season and a half in Montreal, averaging a little over 12 minutes of time on ice per game and sporting a meager 0.28 points per game, Montreal let the 26-year-old Höglund walk in free agency following the 1998–99 season.
The Leafs scooped Höglund up, signing the free agent winger on July 13, 1999. Höglund’s most productive years would come in a Leafs uniform, averaging 0.56 points per game. He scored 29 goals in his first year in Toronto and 23 goals in his second year there—the only 20+ goal seasons of his NHL career. Overall, he missed just three games over his four-year term as a Leaf. In that span, he scored 78 goals and 184 points in 325 games.
While Höglund provided excellent value relative to what it cost the Flames to acquire him, his best years in the NHL came after he left the organization. We’ll never know if he would have reached those levels of a Flame, but it’s safe to say that the organization let him go too soon.
What did the Flames have to show for Höglund?
As I mentioned above, the Flames traded Höglund to the Canadiens on February 1, 1998. The Flames packaged him with Zarley Zalapski for Valeri Bure and a fourth round pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft (Shaun Sutter).
Let’s evaluate Sutter first. Sutter was an average-sized right wing, listed at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds. The WHL product scored 11 goals and 20 points to go along with 146 PIMs in his draft year as an 18-year-old, which would go down as his second-most-productive season in the WHL. Sutter played a few seasons in each of the AHL and ECHL before taking his trade across seas to the United Kingdom’s EIHL. He never appeared in an NHL game.
Looking at the trade with hindsight, the best piece involved was easily Valeri Bure. The younger brother of NHL legend Pavel Bure, Bure had scored 46 goals and 110 points in 215 games spanning three and a half seasons for the Habs, topping 20 goals just once.
Bure spent three full seasons with the Flames, and they were his three most productive seasons in the NHL, highlighted by 35 goals, 75 points, and 308 shots on goal in 1999–00. As a Flame, Bure scored 93 goals on 889 shots and added 99 assists for 192 points in 256 games (0.75 points per game). He was a force on the power play, too, scoring 36 goals and 43 assists with the man advantage. Without a doubt, Bure’s best years came as a Flame—and they were good years.
Summarizing how costly the Flames’ mistake was
It cost the Flames a tenth-round pick to get Höglund, and they later traded him for Bure, who provided very good value through his short stay in the organization. Overall, looking at the low cost of acquisition combined with the value received in return for Höglund, it’s safe to say this was not a costly mistake by any means; in fact, one might argue that the Flames made the correct decision in this instance. While it would have been nice to have Höglund become the type of player in Calgary that he was in Toronto, the Flames received exceptional value in the trade.
If you’re wondering, the Flames traded Bure and Jason Wiemer to the Florida Panthers on June 23-24, 2001, in exchange for a second-round pick in 2001—Andrei Medvedev—and Rob Niedermayer. They acquired the assets from Florida on June 23 for players to be named later and completed the trade on June 24. Niedermayer played 111 games in Calgary before being dealt to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on March 11, 2003, in exchange for Mike Commodore and Jean-François Damphousse.
Do you agree with our assessment of the Flames’ handling of Höglund? Let us know your thoughts!
Check out all of The Win Column’s posts from this series:
Main list: #10 Jonas Hoglund | #9 Robert Svehla | #8 Travis Moen | #7 Steve Begin | #6 Sam Bennett | #5 Dion Phaneuf | #4 Derek Morris | #3 Jarret Stoll | #2 Craig Anderson | #1 Cory Stillman
Honourable mentions: #5 Michael Nylander | #4 Jean-Sebastien Giguere | #3 Sean Monahan | #2 Marc Savard | #1 Martin St. Louis
