What the Canucks, Flames get in big Lindholm-Kuzmenko trade

If you can count on one thing, it's that a Jim Rutherford-led front office will work early ahead of the trade deadline.

One year plus a day after the Canucks traded Bo Horvat right before he was to represent them in the All-Star Game, this time Vancouver added Elias Lindholm just before he was to represent Calgary at this year's festivities. In those 366 days the Canucks have gone all the way from playoff long shot with an unclear path ahead, to the top of the NHL table.

It's the second time this season that Rutherford, GM Patrik Allvin and the Canucks struck a deal with Flames rookie GM Craig Conroy. In late November Vancouver picked up towering defenceman Nikita Zadorov from Calgary and he, curiously, is coming up in trade rumours once again already.

Wednesday's trade is a further signal that Vancouver feels confident about going all-in for a 2024 playoff run. With Zadorov already added for his size and muscle in a depth third-pair spot, Lindholm strengthens the Canucks' top-six, where he and J.T. Miller will fill the top two centre spots and leave Elias Pettersson safely on the wing. And as Conroy was shopping Lindholm around to several interested teams, he says the Canucks were the buyer that stepped up.

"All of a sudden, Vancouver became way more aggressive probably two days ago, so I circled back to all the teams that expressed interest, which was, you know, numerous teams had interest," Conroy said on Sportsnet 960's Flames Talk. "So, I went back and tried to get the best offers from each team and I went back to Vancouver and we arm wrestled a little bit more."

The Canucks might not be done yet either. As rumours of this Lindholm trade began leaking out on social media, Chris Tanev's name was also being bandied about — Vancouver surely would love to bring back the veteran shutdown defender.

For Calgary, the way they limped into the break losing four of their last five and slipping five points off the wild card pace seems to have locked them in as a seller this deadline, but Conroy did well to maintain some flexibility with the assets he has.

Not only was he able to secure a 2024 first-round pick for pending free agent Lindholm, but also two prospects and Andrei Kuzmenko, a 27-year-old scorer one year removed from a 39-goal season and with one year remaining on his $5.5-million contract. Time will tell if Kuzmenko can settle into more of a role and home in Calgary after being scratched several times by Canucks coach Rick Tocchet this season, but he will be given opportunity to do it. What we know is that Kuzmenko has a 12-team no-trade list in his contract and had to sign off on this move.

"You look at his skill set and what he does on the power play and his ability to score goals from everywhere on the ice. He has great vision, especially from the tops of the circles down. I watch a lot of his shootout stuff, he's very good at the shootout," Conroy said. "He's one of those guys with high, high-end skill and he's a right shot which, especially with losing a right-handed-shot guy, you're always looking for those skilled right-handed players. So, we explained where we thought he'd fit in with our team, where we see him playing on the power play, and he was excited. He had the right to say no and we were just happy he said, 'You know what, I like what I heard, let's move forward with this, I want to be a Flame.'"

No salary was retained in the deal from either side, which means the Canucks actually saved $650,000 off the cap in the move and still have $1.866 million in projected deadline-day cap space, per CapFriendly.

Two of Calgary's really big pending UFAs remain in Tanev and Noah Hanifin. There had previously been reported momentum toward Calgary and Hanifin coming together on an extension after talks cooled earlier in the season. Tanev could be the next to go.

For a deeper breakdown of both sides of this trade, including insight on the prospects Calgary picks up, we turn to our scout, Jason Bukala:

SCOUT'S ANALYSIS

The Vancouver Canucks believe their team is positioned to contend for a Stanley Cup. They identified a need to upgrade their second line and went big-game fishing ahead of the trade deadline by acquiring Lindholm from the Calgary Flames.

I believe this has the potential to be a strong hockey trade for both organizations.

To Vancouver: Elias Lindholm

My analysis is very fresh when it comes to Lindholm. I’ve been tracking his play pretty religiously for an extended period of time.

This is how I described him in my most recent scouting report from a week ago:

Vancouver gets a player who will embrace the three-zone detail its coaching staff values. When Lindholm isn’t producing offence, he can be relied upon to take key faceoffs in all areas of the ice and in any situation.

He plays quick and fast. He isn’t punishing physically, but he’s involved. He has the secondary battle the Canucks expect from their players. At worst, expect Lindholm to contribute secondary scoring at even strength and the second power-play unit.

To Calgary: Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, 2024 first-round pick, 2024 conditional fourth-round pick

Kuzmenko scored 39 goals last season in Vancouver, but he wasn’t a fit for the style of play Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet expects from his group.

Here’s my scouting report on Kuzmenko:

We now know the result of Kuzmenko’s disconnect in Vancouver. The Flames are getting a player who has a history of being streaky at every stop in his career path, but he’s worth the risk if he can get back to playing to his goal-scoring identity.

If the Flames aim to get the most out of Kuzmenko, he has to play in their top-six forward group and have an established role on the first power-play unit. He will never be described as a stalwart defensively.

His contract expires at the end of next season.

Hunter Brzustewicz, D, 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, drafted 75th overall in 2023

Brzustewicz is one of the feel-good stories in the OHL this season. He's on pace to produce 100 points as a defenceman (he’s scored eight goals and 61 assists) for the Kitchener Rangers and is third in league scoring across all positions.

Used in all situations at the junior level, he's an average-plus defender who's stocky strong. Solid skater. He's not a pure burner, but he's also not slow.

He sees the ice exceptionally well in the offensive zone and accurately distributes the puck. He identifies seams and open lanes to make plays, and leans distributor more than shooter.

The kind of prospect who might end up on the third pairing at even strength, but should find a home on one of the power-play units as well.

NHL Projection: Third pairing at even strength/Second unit power play/Two-way transitional defenceman

Joni Jurmo, D, 6-foot-5, 209 pounds, drafted 82nd overall in 2020

At the end of the 2022-23 season, Jurmo appeared to be improving in several categories, including execution with the puck, skating on straight lines, and generally making more plays and launching the attack via outlets.

His 2023-24 season hasn't gone as well playing for KooKoo in Finland.

Jurmo is a big body who, in his current form, is best described as a defensive defenceman. His approach is very simple. He uses his size and reach to his advantage in his zone. He's 'in the way' disrupting the flow of his opponents. His small-area game has not gone to another level. There is room for significant improvement with his tight turns, continuation pace when pivoting and jump to the wall or back to his crease.

At this stage, Jurmo adds organizational depth and could become a recall defenceman in time. He will never produce much offence, but he competes consistently and takes up space.

NHL Projection: Recall defenceman/potential No. 6 D. Defensive specialist/shutdown defender

Draft Capital

It never hurts to add to your draft board when you have an opportunity, so it's certainly a positive that Conroy and his staff acquired an additional first-round selection in this transaction. It will take some time for this piece of the transaction to develop, but if the Flames pick the right player in the late stages of the first round with this extra swing, it could turn out to be an extra “victory layer” in this deal.

And if the Canucks reach the Western Conference final, that conditional fourth-round pick would become a third-rounder and enhance Calgary's capital even more.

Conclusion

• Both clubs do well in this transaction.

• There’s some risk on Calgary’s side with Kuzmenko, but he only has one year left on his deal.

• Solid drafting in Vancouver has led to flexibility for upper management. Not enough people recognize how important the Hunter Brzustewicz selection was for Vancouver last summer. Todd Harvey, and their other Ontario-based scout, Phil Golding, should be recognized for making the selection.

• Lindholm definitely adds the secondary layer the Canucks were looking for. Who knows? Maybe there’s room for him to sign an extension in the off-season if the fit works out for both the player and the team.

• Since the Canucks didn’t have to retain any salary in the trade, they still have nearly $1.9 million in cap space to work with. Something tells me they aren’t done. They could be looking to add another depth piece, perhaps on defence.