Any time you can trade a player who doesn?t want to be there for a much older player on an expiring contract who also doesn?t want to be there, you gotta pull the trigger.
Initially, I thought this trade was so lopsided in Calgary?s favour, but I honestly don?t feel that way anymore. Huberdeau will be 30 at the end of this season. A star 30-year-old looking for a big long contract isn?t the greatest asset to have, other than as trade material. In the absence of this trade, Florida almost certainly wouldn?t have traded him this year, they certainly wouldn?t have traded him at the deadline, and they risked losing him for nothing/being cap-unable to re-sign him at the end of the year. They flipped him, with other assets, for a superstar player 5 years younger signed long term.
If Calgary extends Huberdeau with a big long contract, they probably regret it in a few years. And if they trade him by the deadline (Weegar, too), they?re getting more futures, including late 1st round picks. Which is fine, but in the end, they will have traded a current young superstar for a small bucket of moderately valuable assets that may help the team in a handful of years.