Flames swap Ritchie brothers and get Stecher from Arizona at trade deadline

The Calgary Flames' trade deadline deals included a swap of brothers.

The Flames got Nick Ritchie from the Arizona Coyotes and sent his older brother Brett to the desert in a four-player deal that included defencemen Troy Stecher to Calgary and Connor Mackey to the Coyotes.

Calgary also picked up winger Dryden Hunt from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Radim Zohorna.

In the Ritchie-for-Ritchie deal, the younger sibling from Orangeville, Ont., arrived with nine goals and 12 assists in 58 games for Arizona this season. In 480 career NHL games, Nick Ritchie scored 80 goals and had 101 assists.

Brett Ritchie, 29, departs after three seasons in Calgary's organization. He totalled 13 goals and seven assists in 107 games as a Flame.

The 28-year-old Stecher from Richmond, B.C., had seven assists in 61 games for the Coyotes. He's played 420 career games with the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Coyotes.

Hunt came to Calgary from the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies to join his fourth NHL organization this season.

The 27-year-old from Cranbrook, B.C., has 15 goals and 28 assists in 202 NHL games with the Coyotes, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and Toronto.

Mackey, 26, appeared in 10 games for the Flames this season for two goals and one assist. Zohorna played eight games for the Flames.

The 26-year-old Czech compiled 10 goals and 19 assists in 40 games for the AHL's Wranglers.

Calgary is five points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Flames' deadline moves were their first in-season trades.

General manager Brad Treliving engineered blockbuster transactions last summer when he traded for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, and signed free agent Nazem Kadri.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2023.