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The NHL trade deadline is still a week away but the Calgary Flames have elected to get in on the action early.

The Flames have reportedly sent forward Markus Granlund to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for former 1st round pick Hunter Shinkaruk.

Hearing Canucks & Flames have completed a deal. Markus Granlund to VAN. Hunter Shinkaruk to CGY. Not sure what else is involved. #NHL

— AJ Jakubec (@AJonSports) February 22, 2016

Granlund is a 22-year-old forward who has gotten off to a respectable start to his NHL career tallying 14 goals and 28 points in his first 86 NHL games.

Though his counting totals are not bad they're nothing to write home about, and he hasn't been particularly good at either suppressing shots or helping the Flames generate them (chart via OwnThePuck).

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Shinkaruk has spent the 2015-16 season in Utica (AHL) where he's posted very impressive numbers as a 21-year-old. In 45 games he has 21 goals, 39 points and has averaged more primary points per game than some highly touted prospects such as Nic Petan, Jason Dickinson, Anthony Mantha, Marko Dano and Oliver Bjorkstrand, among many others.

Obviously both players still have their careers ahead of them but at this point it seems like Granlund projects to be a middle-6/bottom-6 forward while Shinkaruk's productions leaves reason to optimistic about his future as a top-6 guy at the NHL level.

I like this deal for Calgary.

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