Back in 2021, Jack Eichel’s future hung in the balance while Buffalo and several other teams tried to work through one of the most complicated trade situations in recent NHL memory. In the end, the Calgary Flames were right there in the mix - close enough to matter, but not close enough to finish the job.
Eichel’s standoff with Kevyn Adams and Sabres management began after he suffered a herniated cervical disc in March 2021. Buffalo wanted him to undergo a traditional spinal fusion procedure, which would have severely limited the mobility in his neck.
Eichel preferred artificial disc surgery, a procedure that had never been done on an NHL player before. The Sabres rejected that route, stripped him of his captaincy and started shopping him.
By 2023, Eichel confirmed the final decision had come down to Vegas and Calgary.
Kevin Weekes reported that the Flames’ framework would have sent Eichel to Calgary, likely with another player included to make the money work. Buffalo, though, was said to want a huge haul: Matthew Tkachuk, a first-round pick, a former first-round pick - rumored to be Andrew Mangiapane - and two prospects.
Brad Treliving wasn’t willing to meet that price.
Elliotte Friedman later said Calgary was involved throughout the process, but not as close as some reports suggested. “I’ve said this many times: I think Calgary was in this the whole way.
There have been some reports that they were close. I don’t like to say I’m any smarter or better than anybody else.
I’m just saying what I’ve heard. I don’t know that they were ever close.
As a matter of fact, I was told that they weren’t close, but they were always there, and they were always trying to find a way to make it work.
I think they were willing to deal some of their top prospects. I think they were willing to deal upcoming first-round picks.
I think they were looking to deal maybe a player or two off their roster. But they didn’t have anyone that Buffalo liked as much as Krebs and they didn’t have anyone that Buffalo thought would be as excited to go there as Tuch, and that’s what I heard were the two big strikes against Calgary.
The other thing too is I think Buffalo asked about Tkachuk, and I think they asked about Mangiapane, and Calgary just wasn’t willing to go there. And I know it got out… I don’t like shooting down other people’s reports.
I’ve had that done to me; I don’t like it. The internet was set afire by the whole Tkachuk thing the night before the trade was made.
I really think by that time, everybody knew he was going to Vegas.”
What makes the near-deal sting in Calgary is how much it could have altered everything that followed. A Gaudreau-Eichel-Lindholm line would have given the Flames a terrifying center spine, and the team already looked built to contend.
Maybe that group still falls short of the 2022 Avalanche. But the broader impact would have been massive.
If Eichel lands in Calgary, he becomes the face of the franchise after Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk leave in the summer of 2022. The Battle of Alberta would look different too, with Connor McDavid on one side and Jack Eichel on the other. A Flames return to the playoffs in 2023 and a rematch in that Alberta rivalry would have been must-watch stuff.
The ripple effects go even further. With Eichel in town, the Flames rebuild might never have taken off.
Noah Hanifin, Eichel’s close friend and a former Flame, might have stayed. Nazem Kadri might have chosen Calgary with Eichel and Lindholm anchoring the middle.
Brad Treliving’s future as GM would have been up in the air, and Darryl Sutter’s time behind the bench might have played out differently too.
The biggest domino, though, is obvious: the Tkachuk-Huberdeau trade likely never happens. That deal reshaped both franchises.
Jonathan Huberdeau may have stayed a dominant NHL force. Matthew Tkachuk turned Florida into a contender.
If Tkachuk is in Buffalo instead, do the Panthers make three straight Cup Final appearances? And if that happens differently, does Edmonton still go on to win back-to-back Stanley Cups and revive the dynasty talk from the 1980s?
Even Vegas would have been altered. Their rise, and their 2023 Cup win, might never have happened with Eichel headed to Calgary instead.
That’s the kind of branch-point this was. The Flames didn’t land Eichel, and the NHL followed a very different path. In Calgary, this one may go down as one of the biggest “what ifs” the franchise has ever had.
In Other News...
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Hurtigs profile is built less on flash than on reliability, with a physical style that has made him stand out in a role that often asks for simple, dependable hockey. He also earned a spot on Swedens World Juniors roster, another sign that his game is tracking in the right direction and giving Calgary something worth monitoring as he continues to develop. [Read more 🡒]
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For Calgary, the real question is less about whether Frost can draw interest and more about what kind of market eventually forms around him. He has been available since April, but the Flames have yet to find a taker, and his contract and no-trade protection only add another layer to the negotiation. Even if nothing is imminent, Frost still feels like one of those names that could shape the next move whenever Calgary decides to make its next swing up front. [Read more 🡒]