Calgary Flames Acquire Curtis Lazar and Another Mike From Senators

After thinking the Calgary Flames may stay relatively quiet on trade deadline, they made a semi-big move by acquiring RW Curtis Lazar from the Ottawa Senators. They also acquired yet ANOTHER Mike.

Many people didn’t know if the Calgary Flames would be making any sort of big moves on trade deadline day. Since they have already fixed their defence situation and their goaltenders are performing much better. They also fixed that top line RW for now, with how well Micheal Ferland has been performing on that line.

The only thing fans were maybe hoping for would be a trade for Troy Brouwer or a Dennis Wideman trade.

And sorry Flames fans, but Wideman is still here.

However within the dying minutes of deadline, the Flames made quite a bold move. They made a trade for RW Curtis Lazar and D Mike Kostka from the Ottawa Senators. In exchange for D Jyrki Jokipakka and a second round pick.

Now, Kostka was playing in the AHL, so he’ll probably be sent down when he gets to Calgary. Also since the Flames have like, a million defencemen right now. They don’t need another one. However, there were many mixed emotions about Curtis Lazar.

Lazar was taken 13th overall in the 2013 draft, however he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. In his first year in the NHL, he had just 15 points in 67 games. In his second season, he had 20 points through 76 games.

And now this season? He has just one assist and a -10 rating through 33 games. Leading to him being a healthy scratch in some games.

Calgary Flames

Another Mike

Before we talk about the mixed emotions from fans, let’s quickly mention how the Calgary Flames now have ANOTHER Mike. I love it. It’s like they just needed a defenceman to send down to the AHL to go with the trade and they’re like, “Alright Sens. Give us a Mike.”

They just made a trade a couple weeks ago in acquiring Michael Stone from the Arizona Coyotes. The Flames now have six Mikes, including two in the AHL. They also have like, a million M’s. They are now referred to as the Malgary Mlames.

Moving on.

Mixed emotions

There were many mixed emotions on Twitter. Half were saying that we don’t need him right now and the Calgary Flames should have maybe tried to get another player as opposed to Lazar. And the other half want to give him a chance, he’s a young guy that has lots of potential. And maybe going to a new team is what he needs.

He does have a right-hand shot and he plays at center and RW, so maybe they’ll test out a few different line combos on that third line, since that’s the biggest concern for the team right now.

Some are happy

However, there is one person who’s pretty excited about this trade: Curtis Lazar himself.

Via calgaryflames.com:

“I think,” said the newest Calgary Flame, “that Flames’ fans are going to fall in love with my smile right away. They’ll be able to tell. When I’m loose, I’m playing around, having fun, I’m smiling. That’s when I’m playing my best and I’m looking forward to doing that in a Flames’ jersey.”“There’s a reason I was a first-round draft pick in 2013. I kinda got away from that. A lot of the game is mental and that’s where most of my mistakes were coming from. To eliminate that and just get back to having fun.”

Brad Treliving also talked to Flames media to explain why they had their eye on the former world junior Canadian captain.

Via calgaryflames.com:

“He’s still a very young player,” said GM Brad Treliving in formally announcing the deal. “His ability to play multiple positions, centre/right wing, a right shot, and he really fits in well what we’re doing here. It’s been a difficult year for Curtis. But this is a transaction we’ve done a lot of homework on. We’re not making this bet based upon what he’s doing today. There’s significant upside. We think with the environment and the group we have here, he fits right in.“Don’t look at the stat line right now. You’ve got to use some projection. We weren’t real interested in the rental market, we gave up an asset, a second-round pick. We gave a player, an NHL defenceman.“This is a long-term play.“This is a kid that moves well, thick body, excellent character, competitive kid. We look at hockey sense and compete level as attributes we value. And he’s got them in spades.”

Twitter reacts

As many mixed emotions as there were, let’s stick to the positive ones because I’m still upset that Jarome Iginla is now a King and I need some positivity in my life.

Next: Flames Daily - Post-Game Win, Not Phased by Deadline

So what do you all think about this trade? TSN gave Calgary a C+ for this grade, so maybe they’re not as positive as all of us.

But I’m all for giving people and players a chance. The only thing I don’t like about this trade is that the Flames are losing a guy with an awesome name