Canucks Acquire Elias Lindholm from Flames for Andrei Kuzmenko and More

The Calgary Flames traded Elias Lindholm for Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, a first-round pick and two other pieces from the Vancouver Canucks.

The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames made a significant trade ahead of the NHL's all-star break.

The Flames are trading center Elias Lindholm to the Canucks. Heading back the other way is winger Andrei Kuzmenko, defensemen Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, a 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.

Calgary currently sits five points out of a wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, while the Canucks lead the NHL. The move between Pacific Division rivals allows the Flames to get a return on a top-six forward with an expiring contract and Vancouver to take advantage of its resurgence this season.

Here's Tony Ferrari's video reaction to the trade, including the prospects involved. More trade details and analysis follow below:

Lindholm, 29, has nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 49 games. He was part of rampant trade speculation throughout the beginning of the campaign, with one season remaining in his $4.85-million-per-year contract before unrestricted free agency.

The two-way forward from Boden, Sweden, has won 55.5 percent of his faceoffs, the best among Calgary's regular faceoff-takers and higher than any of Vancouver's players with at least two draws taken. Lindholm had 64 points last season and 82 points in 82 games in 2021-22. His ice time could decrease from his 20:44 per game in Calgary since the Canucks have Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller as their top two centers before the move. However, Miller can play on the wing if the team wants to better use Lindholm as one of their top six forwards.

“In acquiring Elias Lindholm we feel that he vastly improves our hockey team,” Canucks GM Patrik Allvin said in a team release. “He is a proven front line performer and will give head coach Rick Tocchet some more options when putting together our top two lines.”

Kuzmenko, a 27-year-old left winger, had an impressive 39 goals and 74 points in 81 games with the Canucks last year, but he hasn't had the same success this season. Through 43 games, Kuzmenko has eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points, seeing his ice time drop to 14:21 per game from 16:14 in 2022-23.

The Yakutsk, Russia, native has a 12-team no-trade list on his two-year contract worth $5.5 million annually, per PuckPedia. His agent, Dan Milstein, posted to X (formerly Twitter) that Kuzmenko spoke with Flames GM Craig Conroy and coach Ryan Huska before agreeing to the deal.

Allvin also thanked Kuzmenko for all he did for the Canucks.

“Andrei worked hard at improving his game and trying to adjust to life as a pro in North America,” he said.

While the Flames get a forward who could slot into their lineup right away and try to bounce back to his production from last season, they also get some prospects and picks to support them long-term.

Brzustewicz, a 19-year-old from Washington, Mich., leads the OHL in scoring by a defenseman, and he ranks third among all skaters with 61 assists and 69 points in 47 games. The Canucks drafted the Kitchener Ranger in the third round, 75th overall, in 2023. Brzustewicz (pronounced brew-STEHV-itch) is a six-foot, 190-pound right-shot blueliner known for his vision, puck-moving skill, quarterback abilities on the power play and being strong on the breakout. THN prospect expert Tony Ferrari notes there are concerns with the defensive side of his game.

Jurmo, a 21-year-old left-handed defenseman, has a big presence at 6-foot-5 and 209 pounds. The Espoo, Finland, native currently plays for KooKoo in the Liiga after skating for Ilves earlier in the season. Through 35 games overall, Jurmo has three assists and four points. The Canucks drafted him in the third round, 82nd overall, in 2020. In Ferrari's 2023-24 prospect pool overview during the off-season, he said Jurmo is more of a long-term project, but he is strong in transition and facilitates from the blueline.

Calgary also adds a second first-round pick for the 2024 draft to go along with its own. The Flames now have seven picks and the conditional fourth-rounder in hand for this off-season's draft, having previously traded their seventh-rounder.

The Canucks, meanwhile, now only have five picks in 2024 – a third-rounder, fourth-rounder, two sixth-rounders and a seventh-rounder. They still have their top two picks for 2025 and 2026. Despite trading two blueliner prospects, Vancouver hangs on to 11th-overall pick Tom Willander as well as Cole McWard and Kirill Kudryavtsev, two B-list prospects, according to The Hockey News' Prospects Unlimited 2024 issue.

Vancouver ends up saving $650,000 in cap hit. They now have about $1.866 million in cap space, per PuckPedia. The Flames have about $3.65 million in space.

This is the second trade this season between the Flames and Canucks. In November, the Canucks acquired defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Flames for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2024 fifth-round selection.

As far as the All-Star Weekend goes, Lindholm was on a flight to Toronto as Calgary's representative when the trade went down. The Canucks now have six players taking part in the action, with Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko as the others.

The NHL trade market will only heat up from here until the March 8 trade deadline, so time will tell whether these two franchises will stay active.

For more reactions to the trade, check THN's Flames site and Canucks site.