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Calgary Flames: Hypothetical Flames Trade With Every Atlantic Division Team

By Ken MacMillan

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: Brandon Montour (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: Brandon Montour (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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DETROIT, MICHIGAN – DECEMBER 22: Henrik Borgstrom. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – DECEMBER 22: Henrik Borgstrom. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Florida Panthers

The Panthers are a bit of an odd team. They have spent big money in free agency, mostly to try and fix their defence and goaltending, but they still allow far, far too many scoring chances and goals against.

They had a nice top six, but are about to lose Evgeni Dadonov and Mike Hoffman to free agency. Erik Haula, who they traded Vincent Trocheck for, for some reason, is also going to hit the open market. Any of those three would be nice targets for the Flames, but there is no need in trading for a pending free agent.

A fit isn’t easy to find between these two teams but the Panthers have one intriguing prospect. Henrik Borgstrom was a first round pick in 2016. He went to the University of Denver after that and looked terrific. He scored 95 points in 77 games during his only two seasons of college hockey.

The big, Finnish centre looked good in his first pro season, but took a step back this season. He scored just 23 points in 49 AHL games after putting up 22 points in 24 games the years previous. There were rumours midseason that he was unhappy and wanted to return to Finland rather than stay in the Panthers organization.

The 6’3″ and 200 pound centre is a restricted free agent. If the player and team can’t agree to a contract, maybe Borgstrom gets his wish and is moved. the return wouldn’t be huge if he is threatening to go back to Finland.

Johannes Kinvall just signed with the Flames, but he scored 40 points in 51 games in the SHL last season. That is pretty impressive for a 23 year old defenceman. Impressive enough to land Borgstrom?

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