Johnny Gaudreau trade rumors expectedly have the New York Rangers involved
Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames has been in the NHL trade rumor mill a few times this season. The speculation started in The Athletic back in November but died down. Those rumors picked up at the deadline and went off the charts when Gaudreau temporarily took the Flames out of his Twitter bio.
Johnny Gaudreau trade rumors
Now here we are with the NHL ready to swing back into action and Johnny Gaudreau’s name is back in the rumor mill. I mean, for the love of all things hockey, the Flames haven’t even been eliminated.
So why are we talking about the Flames trading Johnny Gaudreau? The Flames left winger is going to turn 27 this August. He had a decent year with 58 points in 70 games, but a far cry from last year’s 99 point campaign. Surely that can’t be the reason why you would trade a player entering his prime years.
For the Flames it all comes down to money and the cap. Calgary operated with just under $1 million in space before the pause. Add on the fact the cap will remain flat at $81.5M for the next two seasons, and the Flames need to find some room. Heading into next year Calgary only has $16M in cap space with just 9 forwards, 4 defensemen, and 1 goalie signed.
If you do the math, that isn’t enough money to fill a roster. However, should the Flames trade Gaudreau, who has two years left at $6.75M AAV and will receive a $3.5M signing bonus before the start of next season, they could get it done.
Johnny Hockey to Broadway Johnny?
One of the Calgary Flames weakest areas is in goal. As I mentioned earlier, they need to sign a goaltender for next season. David Rittich has done a decent job for the Flames, but they are said to be looking for a better #1 in net.
Enter the Rangers and their three-headed goalie monster. Should the Flames be interested in RFA, Alexandar Georgiev there could be something here for the teams to discuss.
David Quinn who coached at Boston University and is familiar with Johnny Gaudreau who played at rival Boston College, would love to add him to the lineup. Trust me, it’s a Boston thing.
Just understand, it will take more than Alexandar Georgiev to get Johnny Hockey to turn into Broadway Johnny. The good news is that it wouldn’t be a big roster player, since the Flames are looking for some cap maneuverability.
On the flip, can the Rangers take on another decent sized contract in Gaudreau? I mean anything is possible, but that would certainly mean the end of Jesper Fast who is a UFA this coming off-season. They also couldn’t possibly retain both Ryan Strome and Tony DeAngelo who are RFA’s with arbitration rights.
Still, with a player like Gaudreau rumored to be available, it isn’t a shock that the Rangers name has come up as a potential destination.
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