The Calgary Flames dealt d-man MacKenzie Weegar to the Utah Mammoth in an exchange that truly appears beneficial to both teams. Utah, which occupies the first wild card position in the Western Conference, in less than two seasons now has added three top-tier d-men in Weegar, Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino. Also, MacKenzie is in just the third year of an eight-year deal. As such, he has become a key piece in the Mammoth’s future, alongside players such as Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
This is a good deal for Calgary as well, as they received for Weegar three 2026 second-round picks, proven NHL d-man Olli Maata, and point-per-game forward prospect Jonathan Castagna of Cornell University. Although the Flames are not technically out of playoff contention, currently they sit twelve points out of the final wild card spot in the West. For the Flames, it certainly appears time to restock the prospect pool, and this deal affords them that possibility. Additionally, they have added a known quantity on the blueline in Matta. Therefore, this represents the second time this season they have acquired a serviceable player to replace an outgoing one. In Calgary’s Jan. 18 deal sending d-man Rasmus Andersson to Vegas, they received the very consistent d-man Zach Whitecloud in the exchange.