After missing the playoffs in seven of the last nine seasons leading up to the 2018 offseason, the Calgary Flames decided to make a massive trade that would change their franchise for the better. The team acquired 22-year-old Noah Hanifin and 24-year-old Elias Lindholm in exchange for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, and the signing rights to Adam Fox from the Carolina Hurricanes on June 23, 2018.
The trade did wonders for the Flames, adding two young and talented players who fit with the team’s young core but who were stuck behind others in the Hurricanes’ lineup. At the time, Hamilton didn’t really fit in the Flames’ locker room, while Ferland was a necessary sacrifice to make the deal happen, and Fox wasn’t going to sign with the team anyway. Calgary won this trade despite what seems to be happening with Lindholm, Hanifin, and the rest of their 2024 unrestricted free agents (UFA).
Hanifin & Lindholm’s Impact on the Flames
In five full seasons in Calgary, Hanifin and Lindholm have helped the team qualify for the playoffs three times and make it out of the first round once. Here’s a look at how each player has performed and progressed in that time.
Noah Hanifin
At age 26, Hanifin is still considered fairly young, especially for a defenceman playing at his level. But he developed early and has been in the league for eight seasons now, starting when he was just 19 years old. When he made the switch to the Flames in his fourth season, his ice time jumped up to over 20 minutes per game, and his responsibilities increased, but his offensive numbers didn’t increase.
Related: Flames: 3 Potential Trade Destinations for Noah Hanifin
His role changed in Calgary. While he was a power-play specialist in Carolina with almost no time on the penalty kill, his power-play time dropped with the Flames, and he became a staple on the penalty kill.
This showed his all-around game and gave the Flames someone who has now logged 150-plus minutes on the power play and penalty kill in each of the past two seasons while serving on the top pairing against the toughest matchups. While he recorded 0.35 points per game from 2015-2021, the Flames have seen a big uptick in his offence without sacrificing any of this defensive play. Along with a career year, recording 10 goals and 48 points in 2021-22, he has a 0.52 points-per-game average over the past three seasons. He has formed a great partnership with Rasmus Andersson, and these two have grown together and been counted on.
Elias Lindholm
Lindholm saw an immediate positive career shift as getting a better opportunity with the Flames pushed him to be a number one centerman and top-tier player in Calgary. In his first five seasons in the league, his career highs were 17 goals and 45 points. In every season with the Flames, he has scored more goals and recorded more points, even during the shortened 2020-21 season.
Lindholm started to get noticed for his two-way play in his first season with the Flames, finishing 10th in Selke Trophy voting. He continues to be great at both ends of the ice and just missed out on winning the Selke Trophy in 2021-22, finishing second. He is very good in the faceoff circle, plays huge minutes on the power play and penalty kill, and is effective in all aspects of the game. It took the trade to Calgary for him to live up to his draft position (fifth overall), and the Flames have really benefited.
The Flames made this trade at the perfect time too, because they signed him to a contract indicative of what he had done to that point, and he became a steal at $4.85 million AAV. It’s rare for a player as talented as Lindholm is at both ends of the ice to fall into a team’s lap. With a career-high of 42 goals, 82 points, and a plus-61 in 2021-22, while performing at a high level for all five seasons he’s been in Calgary, the team got their money’s worth.
Players & Production Flames Lost in the Trade
Hamilton was a couple of years ahead of Hanifin at the time of the trade and was already an offensive force on the back end. He scored 12-plus goals and 43-plus points in all three seasons with Calgary and finished ninth and 14th in Norris Trophy voting the final two seasons. His overall game improved in Carolina, despite that he was only there for three seasons.
Hamilton finished again 14th in Norris Trophy voting his first season with the Hurricanes, scored 18 goals, but didn’t record as many points. He played under 20 minutes a game that season, which was also a step back. The following two seasons were when the Hurricanes got what they had traded for, scoring 24 goals and 82 points in 102 games. He finished seventh and fourth in Norris Trophy voting, respectively, in those two seasons, but the Hurricanes lost him in free agency after just three years, electing to go cheaper. He has since been on the New Jersey Devils, where he struggled in his first season, but put up an incredible performance in 2022-23.
I mentioned that Ferland was a necessary sacrifice in this trade, but the Hurricanes really only got value from him in his first season. He did exactly what they expected him to do, scoring 17 goals and 40 points, but he left for the Vancouver Canucks the following season, playing 14 games before he was forced to quit playing hockey after suffering multiple concussions in his career.
The final piece of the deal, Fox, never played a game for either the Flames or the Hurricanes. He forced his way onto his hometown team, signing with the New York Rangers. He was dealt less than a year after being acquired by the Hurricanes. In four seasons, the elite-level defenceman has won a Norris Trophy and racked up 235 points in 285 games. Yes, the Flames would have liked to have kept him, but there was nothing they could do besides trading his right or losing him later on.
Even though it looks like the Flames will be parting ways with both Hanifin and Lindholm within the year, the trade was a success. Either the Flames got five great years from both players and should get part of their investment back through trades this offseason or the team gets another year-plus of service from them. This trade tree could continue to grow for many years, and we’ll be sure to check in on it in the future.