The Calgary Flames are starting to emerge as a top Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference and they are making the right moves to help them make a serious run.
They were able to add more forward depth on Wednesday evening when they acquired forward Calle Järnkrok from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for three draft picks. The Flames are sending a 2022 second-round pick (originally belonging to the Florida Panthers), a 2023 third-round pick, and a 2024 seventh-round pick to Seattle in exchange.
Järnkrok is a solid addition for the Flames, bringing a two-way presence to their forward lineup given his strong defensive ability and the fact he is pretty much a lock to score 15 goals every season. So far this season he has 12 goals and 26 total points in 49 games for the Kraken.
[Related: Flames acquire Tyler Toffoli from Montreal Canadiens]
He has a salary cap hit of $2 million and is eligible for unrestricted free agency after this season. He is also the cousin of his Elias Lindholm, one of his new Flames teammates.
Calgary has one of the best top line duos in the league this season with Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, an outstanding defense, and great goaltending to drive their success this season. The one thing they were desperately missing was some secondary scoring and some forward depth. They have addressed that in a significant way over the past couple of weeks, adding Järnkrok on Wednesday after acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens a few weeks ago. Jarnkrok and Toffoli are definitely significant upgrades to their top-nine forwards.
The Flames are in first place in the Pacific Division, owning a five-point lead over the second-place Los Angeles Kings entering play on Wednesday night. Given that they have multiple games in hand on the teams chasing them in the division and that lead from a points percentage perspective is even more significant.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.