Dale MacMillan
Just in case you were thinking Darryl Sutter got a raw deal being fired by the Calgary Flames, consider this story from an NHL source.
About two months ago in late November, the Washington Capitals were calling around looking for a veteran defenceman. They spoke to Sutter, then the Flames' general manager, about Robyn Regehr. To get the 30-year-old stay-at-home rearguard, the Capitals were willing to offer 26-year-old forward Tomas Fleischmann, who was struggling to score with Washington.
Regehr has a no-movement clause in his contract but likely could have been convinced to leave the floundering Flames and join Alexander Ovechkin and the playoff certain Caps. Moving Regehr would have also allowed Calgary some salary cap space. In fact, Fleischmann for Regehr would have saved the Flames roughly $1.4-million (US) and given them some flexibility to make other moves.
Plus - and this would have been the best part - Fleischmann would have been a welcomed addition as an emerging talent with offensive skill.
In the end, the Caps traded Fleischmann to the Colorado Avalanche for defenceman Scott Hannan. In the 21 games Fleischmann has played for the Avs, he's scored eight goals and 12 assists and appears to have found a home.