Former Leaf traded for his own brother on deadline day; this has never happened before in NHL history
As today marked the annual NHL trade deadline, teams across the league have been making their final moves and adjustments before 3:00 pm hit the clock. Just before we crossed the finish line, the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes made a trade involving Troy Stecher and Nick Ritchie from the Coyotes in exchange for Connor Mackey and Brett Ritchie.
The deal exchanges a defenseman for a defenseman and a forward for a forward, straight up. More interestingly though, the deal is a direct swap of brothers in Nick and Brett. The Orangeville, Ontario natives were the first set of siblings in league history to be traded for one another.
As for the trade itself, the Flames are bringing in Stetcher, 28, who has seven points through 61 games this season with the Coyotes and a career 96 points through 420 games in his eight-year NHL tenure. They also get brother Nick, who has 9 goals, and 12 assists tallying for 21 points in 58 games this season whilst bringing a physical presence to the table in the bottom six.
The Coyotes receive Mackey, 26, who has 3 points in 10 games this season. Mackey is playing in his third season in the NHL but has jumped between the AHL Stockton Heat for the past couple of seasons prior. They also get brother Brett, who has 6 goals, and 2 assists tallying for 8 points in 34 games this season while this will close his three-year tenure in a Flames jersey as he joins his fourth NHL team since entering the league in the 2014-15 season.
