The Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals love trading with one another.
On Tuesday evening, the Flames will take on the former Flame Andrew Mangiapane and the league-leading Capitals for the first time this season in what will likely be an unfriendly affair. Off the ice, the two teams can’t help themselves by trading together, with the Flames’ second-most recent trade being with the Capitals.
In total, I counted 19 separate trades since the Flames arrived in Calgary. We won’t look into all of them, as there were just a handful of picks exchanged or minor league deals. An example of that was on Jul. 17, 2009, when the Flames acquired Keith Seabrook for future considerations.
We’ll start with the oldest trades to the newest trades.
Flames trade Jean Pronovost for cash
Jean Pronovost had a successful National Hockey League career, starting in 1968-69. He joined the Atlanta Flames in 1978-79, scoring 28 goals and 67 points, followed by a 24-goal, 43-point season in 1979-80.
A month after the Flames moved to Calgary, he was traded to the Capitals for cash considerations, playing 90 games for the Capitals where he scored 23 goals and 61 points.
It was the fourth-ever trade in Calgary Flames history.
The Ken Sabourin saga
Ken Sabourin was a career American/International Hockey League player who played 74 National Hockey League games with just two goals. Selected 33rd overall in 1984 by the Flames he only played 27 games with the team from 1988-89 until 1990-91, scoring his first goal against Washington Capitals.
This must’ve helped make their decision to trade for him, as they gave up Paul Fenton for the defenceman. He scored another goal (this time against the New York Islanders) and played an additional year with the Capitals the next season.
He never played another game in the NHL after the 1991-92 season, but the Flames did acquire him again for future considerations before the end of 1992. Oh, he also received a Stanley Cup ring for his six games with the Flames in 1988-89.
Two separate trades, two current coaches, same day
On Jun. 26 the Flames made two separate trades with the Capitals, both of which involved a current head coach. The first saw them trade their 1993 seventh-round pick for Brad Schlegel, who played 26 games with the team in 1993-94 and never appeared in another NHL game.
That seventh-rounder was used by the Capitals to select Andrew Brunette. The forward played 16 seasons in the NHL, scoring 268 goals and 733 points in 1,110 games for the Capitals, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks.
He may have only played 77 games with the Predators, but he became their head coach in the 2023-24 season where he has a 65-53-12 record. Burnette also coached the Florida Panthers to their first Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-22.
On the same day in a separate trade, the Flames traded Craig Berube to the Capitals for a 1993 fifth-round pick used to select Darryl LaFrance. The right wing never played an NHL game, but Berube finished his NHL career with the Flames in 2002-03.
Keep this small town in mind, but the Calahoo, Alberta native never won hardware during his playing days, but won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, one of the most incredible Stanley Cup wins in history. Berube currently coaches the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Rick Tabaracci saga
If I had a nickel for every time the Flames and Capitals made two trades with the same player in it, I’d have two nickels. It’s not a lot, but it’s weird it’s happened twice.
On Apr. 7, the Flames acquired Rick Tabaracci for a 1995 fifth-round pick that turned out to be Joel Cort. The netminder had a strong 1995-96 season, posting an .892 save percentage and a 2.94 goals against average as they made the post-season. Cort’s career fizzled out before he could turn professional, but after playing 18 games for Wilfrid Laurier University in 1997-98, he re-emerged to play for the University of Windsor five seasons later. I’ve never seen that before and thought it was a cool trivia fact.
The Flames traded Tabaracci to the Tampa Bay Lightning early in the 1996-97 season and re-acquired him from the Lightning in the 1997 off-season for the pick used to select top prospect Cole Beaudoin’s father. The Flames then traded him back to the Capitals for a 2000 ninth-round pick that turned out to be Björn Nord.
Just a wild sequence of trades from the Flames, that’s what Throwback Tuesday is all about.
Flames acquire a pick used to select Levente Szuper
If you don’t know much about me, I got my start as a sportswriter writing about baseball. Now, I love hockey and I grew up with it as my favourite sport, but I write a lot about baseball prospects. There’s a 20-80 grading system with intervals of five used by most baseball scouting sites, with 20 meaning not good and 80 meaning one of the best. Netminder Levente Szuper has an 80-grade name.
On the first day of the 2000 NHL draft, the Flames sent a second-round pick in that year’s draft to the Capitals for Miika Elomo (another coach, he coaches Norwegian team Storhamar Hockey) and a fourth-round pick – Levente Szuper.
If you’re wondering about that name, it’s Hungarian. Unfortunately, he never played an NHL game, but did back up nine games during the 2002-03 season. Szuper also won the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup with the Saint John Flames in his first professional season in 2000-01.
Szuper, Hungarian for “super”, helped his country earn a promotion to the 2009 IIHF World Championships. Interestingly, there was a player who played for Hungary who played in the National Hockey League. Frank Banham was born in Calahoo, Alberta, and played 32 NHL games with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes, representing Hungary late in his career after taking that nationality thanks to him playing there for several years.
Calahoo, a town of 143 people, has produced two NHL players, a Boston Bruins prospect Ian Mitchell, and former University of British Columbia alternate captain, Ireland Perrott.
Flames acquired Dennis Wideman
Moving to more recent times, also known as “I was old enough to remember these players”, the Flames acquired defenceman Dennis Wideman on Jun. 27 for Jordan Henry and a 2013 fifth-round pick from the Capitals.
Henry played exclusively in the minor leagues, but that fifth-round pick was eventually traded to the Winnipeg Jets and used to select Tucker Poolman, a player who reached the NHL.
However, the Flames didn’t lose this trade by any means, as Wideman played five seasons with the team with 32 goals and 136 points. While many remember him for that incident, he was a steady defenceman for the Flames, once scoring 15 goals and 56 points in 2014-15 to help push the rebuilding Flames into the post-season.
Flames trade Curtis Glencross
One of Wideman’s teammates on that 2014-15 team was Curtis Glencross, who was at the tail end of his career. Glencross was an important player for the Flames in the late naughties and early 10s, scoring 114 goals and 242 points in 418 games.
Before the 2015 trade deadline, the Flames traded him to the Capitals for a 2015 second and 2015 third-round pick. The 2015 draft was incredibly deep, with that second-round pick being used to select Jeremy Lauzon, who currently plays for the Nashville Predators but was drafted by the Boston Bruins.
The Flames acquired two second-round picks before the 2015 trade deadline and packaged them to the Bruins for Dougie Hamilton, a pretty good trade considering how badly the Bruins fumbled the 2015 draft. Needing a second, the Flames traded this third-rounder and another one for the 60th overall pick in the draft. They used it to select Oliver Kylington, seven picks after selecting Rasmus Andersson.
Just a really good piece of business here.
Flames trade down, pick Connor Zary
Instead of trading up at the 2020 trade deadline, the Flames traded down. Twice. Originally owning the 19th overall pick, they traded it to the Rangers for the 22nd overall and the 72nd overall pick, the latter being used to select Jérémie Poirier. The Flames then flipped the 22nd overall pick to the Capitals for the 24th overall pick and the 80th overall pick, using the third to pick up Jake Boltmann.
The musical chairs of picks saw the Capitals select defenceman Braden Schneider 19th overall. Picking 22nd overall, the Capitals selected Hendrix Lapierre. And the Flames, picking 24th overall, collected Connor Zary.
Time will tell if Poirier or Boltmann will develop into anything, although Poirier does look good this season, scoring three goals and 25 points. However, Zary is arguably the best player of the three, as he has 24 goals and 56 points in 103 games.
Flames trade Andrew Mangiapane
There’s a good chance if the Flames need a trade at the draft, they’ll make a deal with the Capitals. At the 2024 draft, they traded veteran Andrew Mangiapane to the Capitals in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick.
Mangiapane had a great Flames career, scoring 119 goals and 232 points in 465 games, very similar to Curtis Glencross. Unfortunately, the rebuilding team wanted to move his cap, moving him to the Caps. So far this season, he has 10 goals and 17 points in 48 games.
However, the Capitals, a team that barely snuck into the 2024 post-season, has had one of the most impressive turnarounds in recent memories. On Tuesday, the Flames welcome the best team in the league, as the Capitals have a 33-11-5 record with 71 points.
It will be Mangiapane’s first game back in Calgary since the trade. Let’s hope it ends with a Flames win.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
Brought to you by bet365:
