We will probably never know what else was out there, so it's hard to make a judgment. But like I've said before, I find it stupid when I read stuff like "Calgary got fleeced" or "Flames look stupid now". They had no choice but to trade Tkachuk (or let him walk free). They got a pretty decent package for him.
No, they look very stupid.
For trading Tkachuk for a 29 year old coming off a career year who was a UFA in 1 season, and then putting themselves into a situation where they basically had no choice but to sign and massively overpay said 29 year old to a long term contract that completely hampered the future of that team.
You
could make the argument that the trade was a good one if they had just recognized the unfortunate situation they were in having lost both of its superstar players in one summer, and did the smart thing and started a fresh rebuild.
If they had done that... Then getting Huberdeau + Weegar + 1st for Tkachuk, turned around and flipped both Huberdeau and Weegar for a massive haul of futures, then the trade would have actually looked pretty great for them tbh. Instead they did the dumbest thing possible in all of it. Huberdeau and Weegar held all the negotiating power over the Flames in contract discussions because the Flames were so desperate to try and continue being a contender, and thus signed both guys to horrible contract(Moreso Huberdeau).
They would have gotten a 1st+ from Ottawa for Weegar, and multiple quality pieces for Huberdeau, probably 2 1st round picks + a good prospect sort of return.
Then they could have easily continued the scorched earth rebuild this summer with the likes of Hanifin, Lindholm, Toffoli, etc. All not wanting to re-sign with them.
They honestly could have come out of the situation with like ~8-10 1st round picks across the next 3 drafts and be well on there way towards a very fast and highly efficient rebuild that would be completed just in time for the new arena to be ready in Calgary.
Instead, they've saddled themselves with one(Maybe 2 with Kadri) of the worst contracts in the league for the next 8 years, they've got 4 impact level players that want out of the team and another that already left... They're a complete mess right now and have a really bleak looking future.
So maybe they didn't get "fleeced" in the trade itself(Although it isn't great either), but everything they've done as a reaction to the trade has made them looks very dumb quite frankly. Smells a lot like ownership meddling and focing a team to try and stay competitive.
