The key to being a good general manager in big league hockey is asset management. One of the times where it’s crucial to use assets wisely is the trade deadline, particularly when acquiring players on expiring contracts on a rental basis.

Here are the 10 best rental players in Flames history – those that came in via trade or the waiver wire and then left afterwards – factoring in their contributions and the cost paid to make them a Flame.

Borschevsky didn’t play a ton with the Flames – he was limited to eight games and didn’t see any action in the playoffs – but he cost just a sixth round pick and managed to put up five points in the games that he did play.

The Flames have a long, disappointing history of acquiring goaltenders. But their swap for Backstrom was unique, in that the Flames sent an expiring deal in the form of David Jones to Minnesota and in exchange for eating the last few months of Backstrom’s contract for the Wild they also gained a sixth round pick that they used to take Matthew Phillips. It was a worthwhile gamble.

In their second year of existence, the Atlanta Flames were actually pretty good and made the playoffs. McDonough was acquired in January from Pittsburgh in exchange for Chuck Arnason and Bob Paradise. He had 19 points over 35 games and was a useful piece for the Flames. (He didn’t do anything in the playoffs, but the entire team scored six goals in a sweep by Philadelphia.)

One of the hallmarks of Al Coates’ tenure as GM was getting teams to throw in expiring deals into larger hockey trades. Lemieux was the fifth piece of a swap that saw the Flames packaging Phil Housley and Dan Keczmer to New Jersey for Lemieux, Cale Hulse and Tommy Albelin. Lemieux walked as a free agent, but he played a bunch and made the Flames a deeper team in the short term.

Leclerc was a useful two-way player acquired from Phoenix as part of the never-ending “Who will be Miikka Kiprusoff’s backup?” series of trades that characterized Darryl Sutter’s tenure. Philippe Sauve and Steve Reinprecht went to the Coyotes in exchange for Leclerc and Brian Boucher. (The games they played for the Flames were, incidentally, the final NHL games played by either Leclerc or Boucher.)

Another Coates special, Featherstone was part of a bigger deal that saw Steve Chiasson and a third round pick go to Hartford in exchange for Featherstone, Hnat Dominichelli, and second and third round picks. Like Lemieux he wasn’t a huge addition, but he was a low-cost depth piece.

Stuart was a really good player for the Flames, basically acting as a defensive zone bull in a china shop and playing some tough minutes. But he’s not higher on the list because of the price paid: Andrew Ference and Chuck Kobasew went to Boston in exchange for Stuart, Wayne Primeau and a fourth rounder later used to select TJ Brodie. Ference subsequently won a Stanley Cup.

Acquired for a third round pick, Gustafsson fit right in with the Flames’ Swedish core group and quarterbacked their power play for the rest of the season. Had the 2019-20 season not been cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he may have crept higher up this list.

The Flames added Schlemko via the waiver wire in 2015 after Mark Giordano tore his bicep. Schlemko largely stayed off the scoresheet and was a rock-solid everyday defender. But he did provide this gem, winning a key game for the club in the playoff race.

All he cost was the waiver fee.

Previously traded to Colorado for Alex Tanguay, the Flames re-acquired Leopold in exchange for Lawrence Nycholat, Ryan Wilson and a second round pick – a waiver claim, minor league depth and a decent draft pick, respectively. Leopold came in, was a big part of their power play, and then was flipped to Florida so the Flames could sign Jay Bouwmeester before he went to free agency. Aside from getting playoff success, the Flames squeezed as much value as they could out of Leopold as an asset.