Kent Hughes got (much) more for Ben Chiarot than the Flames got for Nikita Zadorov

A few minutes ago, the Canucks pulled off a major coup (for very little money). They acquired the services of defenseman Nikita Zadorov.

In return, Calgary received two relatively distant draft picks: a fifth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round pick in 2026.

General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the #Canucks have acquired D Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft (acquired from CHI) and a third-round pick in 2026.

– Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 30, 2023x

The Russian defenseman isn’t the most offensive player in the NHL, but he’s very effective defensively. In 2023-2024, he has six points.

Vancouver doesn’t need offense, the club needs defense. Zadorov is the perfect piece, then. According to Rick Dhaliwal, Patrick Allvin isn’t done shopping yet.The Swede is reportedly in the running to acquire the services of Ethan Bear.

But Zadorov, who recently requested a trade, was highly coveted. He will now have a chance to win this season. The Leafs, among others, were among the teams interested, but Toronto doesn’t have enough room on its payroll. In the same transaction, the Toronto club would also have liked to acquire Chris Tanev.

However, Brad Treliving wanted his former team to withhold part of the salary. Zadorov and Tanev have salary tags of $3.75 million and $4.5 million respectively until the end of the season. The Canucks, meanwhile, got rid of AnthonyBeauvilier ‘s contract two days ago to free up some cash.

Efficient Cap management by the @Canucks in the Trade acquisition of Zadorov. I’m told the @MapleLeafs needed the @NHLFlames to retain salary during their pursuit of Zadorov to make it work on their end. #HockeyTwitter #HockeyX

– Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) November 30, 2023

Could Calgary have received more at the trade deadline and/or by keeping 50% of their (former) defenseman’s salary? Perhaps. After all, Kent Hughes received a lot more for Ben Chiarot. The defenseman was traded at the trade deadline, and Hughes retained half of his defenseman’s salary.

As part of the deal, the GM obtained Ty Smilanic, a fourth-round pick (Cedrick Guindon) and a first-round pick in 2023. The first-round pick was used to acquire Alex Newhook.

Coming back to the comparison between the returns from the Chiarot-Zadorov transactions, it’s undeniable that the two defensemen share a similar style of play.

Joel Edmundson’s value is very close to Zadorov’s on the trade market. He was traded for a third-round pick (2024) and a seventh-round pick (2024). Similarly, in the first trade involving Jeff Petry, the Tricolore managed to acquire Mike Matheson, among others.

An excellent job by the Montreal GM, who was able to maximize the value of his guys. He owns the defenseman market.

For his part, perhaps the Flames GM rushed things a little, as he’ll be very busy at the next trade deadline. In addition to Zadorov, several other players, including Elias Lindholm, will be free agents at the end of the season.

One thing’s for sure: the fire sale is on in Alberta.