Calgary Flames makes the most sense to trade for Evgeny Kuznetsov

Thinking about what we wrote earlier, we didn’t realize the perfect Washington Capitals trade scenario for Evgeny Kuznesov was right in front of us! The Calgary Flames make perfect sense for a good trade destination for Kuzy and the return should be Elias Lindholm.

Here’s what Rory Boylen of Sportsnet said on Lindholm:

"Lindholm didn’t exactly commit to the Flames at his year-end press conference, and new GM Craig Conroy said he wouldn’t allow another Johnny Gaudreau situation to happen where a top player walks out the door for nothing. At the same time, perhaps the situation has changed with Darryl Sutter being replaced behind the bench by Ryan Huska. Will Lindholm sign an extension over these next two weeks to keep himself in Calgary (and is that number around $8.5 million?) or will Conroy trade one of his best players? Eric Francis wrote recently that it was about to get really interesting with Lindholm and this next Flame…"

Lindholm has a cap hit of $4.85 million. It is likely the Caps could sign him to an extension after the trade as he’s an unrestricted free agent after this upcoming season. And maybe the Caps have the money to do it next season. Maybe the cap goes up a little bit.

Lindholm had 22 goals and 42 assists for 64 points. He had 42 goals the previous season. So you’re basically getting someone who can at least score in the 20 or 40 goal range.

Kuznetsov has never flirted with 40 goals in his career. the most he’s had is 27 in 2017 18 which happened to be his best season and possibly final good season. Last year he had just 12 goals and 42 assists.

The best case scenario would be to send Kuznetsov out west to a team like the Calgary Flames. He won’t be in the division let alone the Eastern Conference.