“Pretty chaotic”: Flames talk about human element of Trade Deadline Day

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On the morning of April 12, Erik Gudbranson was laying on his couch in Ottawa as his six-day-old son Benny napped on his chest. His Senators were set to face the Winnipeg Jets later that evening when Gudbranson got the call that he was headed to the Nashville Predators.

“I had to like whisper into Pierre Dorion and David Poile’s ear when they called me,” he said. “I didn’t want to wake the kid up…Benny was six days old and didn’t even have a passport, so I didn’t see him for a month after that. That was difficult.”

With the trade deadline coming up, fans and media often fixate on stats, rumours and trade boards. There is, however, a human element. 

Gudbranson has been traded four times in the past six years. He has credited his partner Sarah for her support during those frantic moments of packing, loading the moving van, unpacking, and getting settled.

“I’ve had the easy route,” he said.

“I jump on a flight, pack a bag, and am playing hockey. She’s the one that has to pack the house, find storage lockers, and do all that stuff. From our experience, it’s been harder on my wife for sure to uproot everything and set up a new home…she’s done a great job with it.”

Blake Coleman, considered one of the best in-season acquisitions in recent memory when he went from New Jersey to Tampa Bay in 2020, is in the first of a six-year contract that has no-trade protection. Still, he empathizes with players who get stressed out during trade season.

“I had a crazy deadline experience with my wife being ten days out from giving birth,” he said.

“The first few weeks are typically pretty chaotic, getting set up and comfortable and meeting your new team…it can be a process, which is why I think teams try and make moves as