CALGARY — Suspense on the ice and off of it made for an eventful night in Calgary's Saddledome.
While the Flames surged past a one-goal deficit to beat the Anaheim Ducks, player personnel decisions fuelled trade speculation during Thursday's 4-1 win.
Calgary general manager Craig Conroy confirmed post-game that left-wingers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier and a pair of draft picks had been shipped to the Philadelphia Flyers for centre Morgan Frost and left-winger Joel Farabee.
The last-minute scratch of Kuzmenko from the game lineup and the sudden absence of Pelletier after the first period signalled a transaction was afoot.
Both players' names were already removed from the plates above their dressing-room stalls after the game as reporters surrounded their former teammates.
Conroy also packaged a second-round draft pick in 2025 and a seventh-round pick in 2028 in the deal with Philadelphia for the 25-year-old Frost and the 24-year-old Farabee.
"We felt at this point, these two players are going to be a huge bump in our lineup," Conroy said. "They're at the right age. They're 24- and 25-year-old guys that we can grow with."
Calgary (25-18-7) continued to duel with the Vancouver Canucks at the Western Conference playoff cutline. Thursday's victory vaulted the Flames over Vancouver into wild-card position.
"They're real good players and I want to integrate them in as quick as we can, to get them feeling good about the Calgary Flames and be a part of this group, because it is a tight group," Conroy said.
The Flyers added to the evening's trade buzz when Frost was pulled midway through a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders. Philadelphia drafted the six-foot, 193-pound forward from Aurora, Ont., in the first round, 27th overall, in 2017.
Frost has 11 goals and 14 assists in 49 games this season and 50 goals and 85 assists in 278 career games with the Flyers.
"Morgan Frost is a centre, is a natural centre that we don't have," Conroy said. "Really nice playmaking, great hands, sees the ice, vision.
"I watched him tonight on the power play and he made some real nice plays. Quick one-touches. He can transport the puck up and get it in and we've had some problems at times this year getting the puck in, so he's going to help with that."
Farabee was the 14th overall pick in the 2018 draft by Philadelphia. The six-foot, 186-pound winger has eight goals and 11 assists in 50 games this season. Farabee compiled a career-high 22 goals and 28 assists in all 82 games last season.
"With Joel, he's got some jam and he can score," Conroy said. "When you watch him, he's a younger maybe Blake Coleman-type player where he chips in offensively, he can score, put up points, but he's got some grit and you feel very comfortable when he's on the ice in all situations."
Farabee is in the third season of a six-year, $30-million contract. Frost is scheduled for restricted free agency next summer when his two-year, $4.2-million contract expires.
Kuzmenko, 28, was dealt on the eve of the one-year anniversary of his trade from the Canucks to the Flames. The Russian, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, seemed destined for the trade floor with four goals and 11 assists in 37 games. He was a healthy scratch in early January.
The 23-year-old Pelletier was a first-round pick (26th overall) of the Flames in 2019. He had four goals and seven assists in 23 NHL games this season.
The Flames weathered his abrupt departure after Thursday's first period by scoring in the first and the last minute of the second.
"It's an awkward situation," said Flames forward Nazem Kadri. "It's not something that us as players want to happen, but management is put in a situation where you might have to pull the trigger here, or trades fall through, or they escalate. They're hard to come by, so I understand you've got to hop on the decision.
"It's never easy watching guys you've formed bonds with leave the dressing room."
Matt Coronato scored twice, including an empty-netter, and had an assist. Blake Coleman and Adam Klapka also contributed goals to the victory, while goaltender Dustin Wolf continued to be a difference-maker for the Flames with 31 saves.
"You don't often see things transpired the way they did tonight, with how players had to be told," Flames head coach Ryan Huska said.
"I thought our older guys' leadership group were fantastic with it, so the game was the most important thing. You deal with stuff after the fact and I was proud of the way they did handle themselves tonight.
"We have two players coming in that we're very excited about for different reasons. They bring different skill sets to our team, so we're looking forward to getting them here and getting in the lineup right away."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press