Arizona Coyotes trade goalie Mike Smith to Calgary Flames

The Arizona Coyotes and Calgary Flames made a move ahead of Saturday’s afternoon roster freeze, sending goalie Mike Smith to Calgary.

Arizona will retain 25 percent of Smith’s salary, per TSN insider Bob McKenzie. Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman first broke the trade, which wasn’t official until the trade call is completed. Which it officially is now:

Calgary sends the rights to prospect Brandon Hickey and a conditional third round pick along with backup goalie Chad Johnson. Johnson is an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Calgary will take on Smith’s $5.667 million cap hit, which expires after the 2018-19 season. Arizona had to get Smith to waive his no-trade clause to make this deal happen; the veteran had eight teams on a no-trade list.

Smith had a decent year in Arizona, considering the Coyotes were one of the league’s youngest and weakest teams. Smith put up a 2.92 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 55 games.

Calgary needed an upgrade in goal considering how the Brian Elliott experiment went. On a one-year deal and coming off a strong playoff run with the Blues, Elliott had an up-and-down season that ended with a horrific playoff run. In four games, Elliott gave up 3.89 goals per game and sported a .880 save percentage.

With his impending free agency, the expansion outlook for both teams changes after the trade.

Hickey was taken 64th overall by Calgary in the 2014 NHL draft. The 21-year-old defenseman played in 35 games with Boston University this season, racking up 15 points.