Hurricanes get Hamilton in blockbuster trade with Flames
DALLAS (AP) Dougie Hamilton got home from a workout, turned on the TV to watch the NHL draft and saw his name on the screen as part of a trade to the Carolina Hurricanes.
''That's where I found out,'' Hamilton said.
He might want to stay tuned because the Hurricanes are just getting started.
Carolina acquired Hamilton, winger Micheal Ferland and forward prospect Adam Fox from the Calgary Flames on Saturday for center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin in the latest move during a time of drastic turnover. The Hurricanes, who have missed the playoffs each of the past nine seasons, have gotten a new owner, general manager and coach so far this year and will have a very different team on the ice.
''When you've gone as long as we have without making the playoffs the message is we want to be better, we want to compete and we want to win,'' GM Don Waddell said. ''We have a lot of other possibilities, pieces to move around. We wanted to acquire the best players we could and let the rest shake out as we move forward.''
Waddell started shaking up the roster by shipping out two pending restricted free agents in Lindholm and Hanifin and added a right-shot defender in Hamilton who could make co-captain Justin Faulk expendable. The Hurricanes should trade for a goaltender and could move Faulk and winger Jeff Skinner soon.
''We'll stay busy,'' Waddell said. ''I can't say for sure anything will get done. I'm pretty confident something will get done, whether it's in the next few days or next 10 days.''
The 25-year-old Hamilton now has been traded at the draft twice after going from the Boston Bruins to the Flames three years ago. Waddell said there were ''no red flags'' about Hamilton because of that and was thrilled to pick up an offensive-minded blue liner who has 220 points in 423 regular-season games.
Hamilton figures being traded is easier this time.
''It's definitely a learning experience, something that helps you grow,'' Hamilton said on a conference call. ''You have to go through different experiences and stuff and I think you get growth from that.''
The Hurricanes have gone through some growing pains over the past few months. Tom Dundon bought the team from Peter Karmanos Jr. removed Ron Francis as general manager and replaced him with Waddell and promoted assistant Rod Brind'Amour to head coach.
This trade changes Brind'Amour's mix as Carolina looks to end the league's longest playoff drought. Ferland gives the Hurricanes a big winger who can produce after putting up a career-high 41 points last season with Calgary.
''We talked all along that we feel like we've got a lot of skill pieces up front and we need a little size and muscle up front, so Ferland, who scored 20 or 21 goals last year, fit that bill pretty well for us,'' Waddell said.
Giving up the 21-year-old Hanifin and 23-year-old Lindholm was a heavy price to pay for the Hurricanes. Hanifin was the fifth overall pick in 2015 and joins an already deep blue line that includes Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie.
Hanifin and Lindholm are reunited in Calgary with coach Bill Peters, who stepped down from the Hurricanes at the end of the season amid uncertainty within the front office.
''Obviously Bill spoke very highly of both players and really likes both players,'' Flames GM Brad Treliving said. ''Both guys are great character. He liked both players. It was a great resource to have.''
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This story has been corrected to show that Micheal Ferland had 41, not 78, points last season.
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Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SWhyno
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