Flames acquire Eddie Lack, Ryan Murphy and a pick from Carolina

For the second time in the last two weeks, Brad Treliving has acquired a goaltender. According to a report by TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Flames have acquired Eddie Lack from the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-player, two-pick deal.

Lack, 29, is in the final year of his deal with Carolina. With 50% salary retained by the Hurricanes, he’ll cost the Flames $1.375 million against the cap. He was dynamite with the Vancouver Canucks – when Glen Gulutzan was the coach there – but failed to repeat that performance in Carolina. He was the odd man out there, so the Flames get an established NHL goaltender with 136 games under his belt (at half price) rather than rushing their kids into the backup position.

Murphy, 24, is in the final year of his second contract. He’s a right shot defender who’s played 151 games in the NHL, fairly quietly, after a pretty strong junior career. He has a $787,500 cap hit and is most likely in the bottom pairing mix with Matt Bartkowski and Brett Kulak. If you want the Flames to emphasize speed, puck movement and youth on their bottom pairing, this is the type of player you’ll see on the third pairing.

Kanzig, 22, has one year left on his entry level deal. Originally selected by the Flames in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft, he never really gelled into what the Flames had hoped as a pro despite having good size and a pretty strong junior career with Victoria and Calgary of the WHL. Through two years of his first contract, he spent a year in junior and a year primarily in the ECHL – which tells you everything you need to know about where he sat organizationally.

The picks are late round selections in 2019 are largely inconsequential here. The trade, overall, seems to address a few of the Flames’ big question marks in terms of the bottom end of their lineup heading into July 1 at a fairly reasonable price.