Hunter Shinkaruk got a fair shake, at least in the mind of Jim Benning.

The Vancouver Canucks GM defended his contentious decision to part with the 21-year-old former first-round pick and perhaps the club's top prospect at wing to acquire Markus Granlund from the Calgary Flames in a trade completed Monday.

Related: Canucks deal Hunter Shinkaruk to Flames for Markus Granlund

"I don't think we gave up on Hunter Shinkaruk," Benning said in a conference call. "He's having a good year in the (AHL) for us this year. We worked with him to improve the details in his game. But we just felt that we're getting a good player for him in return.

"This is a move that when we get to where we want to be (competitively) and win on a nightly basis that Markus is the guy that can do that for us."

Benning further explained why Shinkaruk, who ranks seventh in American Hockey League goal scoring this season, had only been called up for one game in his brief tenure with Vancouver.

"When we call players up, it's to fit a role with our group," he said. "I think at the end of the day, we didn't feel he was ready to be a full-time NHL player yet. We thought it was important for him to stay down in Utica and keep developing the parts of the game that he needed to work on.

"Our goal, if we were to have kept him, was for him to be ready to play in the NHL next season."

Benning acknowledged Shinkaruk's penchant for finding the back of the net, but indicated he wasn't convinced that skill would translate to the next level.

Vancouver and its 29th-ranked offense sits nine points out of the final postseason spot in the Pacific Division.

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Hunter Shinkaruk probably needed a seat when he heard the news.

The 21-year-old was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to his hometown Calgary Flames on Monday, and while being dealt for the first time in his career is jarring, there's relief in knowing he's going somewhere familiar.

"I've never been traded before in junior or pro, so obviously it's a big surprise and a big shock," Shinkaruk said, according to the Vancouver Province's Ben Kuzma.

"Obviously my head is spinning," he added, "but I could not be happier."

"A kid growing up in Calgary, he wants to win in Calgary," Shinkaruk said. "So it's pretty cool I have that opportunity."

Shinkaruk never got much of an opportunity in Vancouver, the Canucks deeming him not NHL-ready. After a full season in the AHL in 2014-15, in which the winger scored 16 goals and added 15 assists in 74 games, Shinkaruk's taken strides this season. He has 21 goals - good for seventh in the AHL - in 45 games, along with 18 assists.

Shinkaruk will report to Calgary's AHL affiliate in Stockton, but he's a Flame, and will soon live out a dream he undoubtedly had as a child.

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For the second straight season, the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames have swung a deadline deal.

Vancouver has sent winger Hunter Shinkaruk - a former first-round pick and Calgary native - to the Flames in exchange for center Markus Granlund, the Canucks have confirmed.

Shinkaruk has appeared in one game - and logged less than 10 minutes - with the Canucks since being selected 24th overall back in 2013. He leads the AHL's Utica Comets in scoring in his second professional season, with 21 goals and 39 points.

Granlund, selected in the second round two years prior, has four goals and seven points in 31 games with the big club this season. He's seen time in the minors in all three seasons with the organization, amassing 14 goals and 14 assists in 86 total games.

Vancouver landed Sven Baertschi in exchange for a second-round pick in a deal with Calgary last spring. The Flames used the pick to select Rasmus Andersson, a defenseman contributing at nearly a point-per-game pace with the OHL's Barrie Colts.

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Vancouver Canucks forward Radim Vrbata left Sunday's game late in the third period after taking an awkward fall, but his injury isn't believed to be serious, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Vrbata scored his first goal in February Sunday night, but ended up playing only 12:41 in the contest. He has 12 goals and 12 assists - with nine of those points coming on the power play - in 57 games this season.

His contract set to expire this summer, Vrbata and his $5 million salary and cap hit are expected to be on the move come next week's trade deadline. Vancouver's nine points out of a playoff spot in the Pacific Division, and seven behind in the wild-card race, so all signs point to the club selling off assets as Feb. 29 approaches.

Vrbata, who will turn 35 in June, is in his second season with the Canucks.

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