from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,

Jeff Skinner came back and scored three weeks ago. Not to be outdone, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Derek Ryan all scored for the Calgary Flames on Sunday. The quickest path to NHL success seems to be a trade away from the Carolina Hurricanes.

Couldn’t the Hurricanes have used these guys?

Sunday was particularly galling, with every former Hurricanes player on the Flames’ roster scoring in a 4-3 win for Bill Peters behind the Calgary bench. Even more so than Skinner’s return since it was a loss, and especially once Lindholm mocked the Hurricanes’ postgame celebrations on his way off the ice. If only he had showed that kind of spirit in a Carolina uniform more often....

But those offseason moves, the Skinner trade for not much and the massive draft-weekend swap with the Flames that sent Lindholm and Hanifin north for Hamilton, Micheal Ferland and prospect Adam Fox, were as necessary a part of the franchise’s transition as the coaching change from Peters to Rod Brind’Amour or the belated appointment of Justin Williams as captain. (Ryan followed Peters to Calgary as a free agent.)

Perhaps the most telling part of all of it are the answers to different questions: Would any of these guys be doing any of this here? Would the Hurricanes be better off with them than without them?

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