Basically yes, though I think the appeal for the player is that he wouldn't be a FA until August, not July 1st. He probably wanted to be signed before then just out of personal preference.
My thought is that perhaps this is a guy Botterill was targeting as a free agent but found out he was getting a lot of interest and decided to see if trading for his rights was something Arizona and the player were both interested in.
Sounds like a deal got made that worked for all parties involved. Hickey gets to sign early, AZ gets something for a FA they weren't going to sign, and Botterill gets a guy he was targeting.