The “Battle of Alberta” between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames has been one of the most heated hockey rivalries in NHL history. Regardless of the current situation of their respective clubs, both teams consistently put up exciting shows for their respective fanbases when they play each other. Both clubs are struggling and toward the bottom of the rankings this season, but that doesn’t mean their matchups and storylines haven’t been entertaining to watch.
While the past few seasons have ended in sadness for both teams, as neither of them have been able to go all the way and bring home a Stanley Cup, it was recently revealed that a game-changing player almost completely altered the history of the Battle of Alberta and the league as a whole. On the Empty Netter Podcast, superstar forward Jack Eichel admitted that when he requested a trade from the Buffalo Sabres, the sweepstakes had come down to the Vegas Golden Knights, who did acquire him, and the Flames who lost out on his services.
The massive package that the Flames were offering the Sabres, which included Matthew Tkachuk who was eventually traded to the Florida Panthers, wasn’t good enough for the Sabres who eventually settled for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and draft picks instead. Looking back at the Golden Knights’ successful Stanley Cup run in the 2022-23 season, it was evident how impactful Eichel was and how much he could be helping a struggling team like the Flames right now. Instead, they have multiple long-term contracts they may regret signing already.
Flames Missed Out On Eichel, What Did They Do Instead?
The Flames ended up trading Tkachuk anyway, and he ended up going to the Stanley Cup Final (against the Golden Knights last season) with the Panthers who shocked the world and went on an insane run after having no expectations to do much in the playoffs after barely sneaking in. In return, the Flames acquired forward Jonathan Huberdeau, defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwnidt, and a lottery-protected first-round draft selection in 2025.
In the beginning, the trade looked good for the Flames. Huberdeau was coming off a season where he exploded offensively, Weegar was considered one of the best defensemen in the NHL, and the Flames were able to get two future assets in the deal as well. They locked Weegar and Huberdeau up long-term and since they’ve joined the Flames, have been extremely underwhelming.
Before being dealt, Huberdeau had scored 30 goals and added 85 assists for 115 points through 80 games and was considered one of the top 10 players in the NHL. However, since joining the Flames he has taken a massive step back offensively. In 112 games so far over two seasons, he has only scored 19 goals and added 51 assists for 70 points, which isn’t terrible by any means, but it’s not what they expected out of a player they traded for in hopes of making a Stanley Cup run the following season, especially after giving up one of their star players in exchange for him.
Weegar on the other hand has stayed strong defensively but is nowhere near the player he was with the Panthers. It’s also interesting to note that Weegar, who isn’t as offensively minded as most defencemen, has four more points than Huberdeau this season. Looking back, it also didn’t help that the Flames lost Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets during free agency, but his massive contract doesn’t look great either, so maybe that’s a bullet the Flames were able to dodge.
The Flames also chose to sign forward Nazem Kadri to a massive seven-year contract after his incredible run with the Colorado Avalanche, and with him joining the roster, it seemed to be a lock that the Flames were going to contend for a while, but that hasn’t been the case. While they replaced the players they lost with assets that should have brought them tons of success, it has been the opposite. It’s clear if they won the Eichel sweepstakes that this team would be going down a different path right now, but we’ll never know how that could’ve gone.
While the Flames are hoping they can turn their season around, their 14-14-5 record heading into the Christmas holiday isn’t one they’re proud of by any means, and they aren’t where they expected themselves to be after acquiring a massive package that should be taking them into the playoffs consistently.
