The Calgary Flames almost traded for Jason Zucker — but they couldn’t get ahold of their owner

The year was 2019, and the Minnesota Wild were looking to move on from Jason Zucker.

Numerous teams were in on the winger, and the Wild had, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, three trades in place with different teams at different times. One was with the Calgary Flames.

On Feb. 25, 2019 — the NHL’s trade deadline — the Wild were scheduled to fly to Winnipeg to take on the Jets. With the flight set to depart at 2 p.m., the same time as the trade deadline, Zucker was told to stay home, only to be told to get to the plane immediately after what was believed to be a trade fizzled out.

That deal was with the Calgary Flames, and Russo reported the return was to be forward Michael Frolik and the Flames’ first-round pick that year (later used by Calgary to draft Jakob Pelletier).

According to Russo, it’s not exactly known why the deal fizzled out. The Wild, however, were led to believe the reason the trade wasn’t consummated was that the Flames couldn’t get approval in time from their owner Murray Edwards, who was out of the country at the time.

A calendar year later, the Penguins acquired Zucker in exchange for prospect Calen Addison, forward Alex Galchenyuk, and a first-round pick later used to select defensive prospect Carson Lambos.

Frolik, meanwhile, was traded in January 2020 to the Buffalo Sabres for a 4th round pick and was out of the NHL after the 2020-21 season after a stint with the Montreal Canadiens.