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Originally Posted by dissentowner
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God that was an ugly read. That guy needs to put his thesaurus away and get to the ####ing point. Somewhere in that mess of imagery and metaphor was an a few ideas on keeping Gaudreau. But our Oscar Wilde wannabe missed in his overwritten testament to the most precarious and possibly pernicious position the pucksters from Calgary find themselves (see , its contagious) is the team is in need of significant change and the premise of trading Gaudreau is built on the signing of Hall and then filling gaps.
Frankly, the only reason you move Gaudreau is if you have signed Hall as a lateral move, allowing you to trade Gaudreau for those pieces that help the team round out the lineup. If you don't get Hall, the you look to other means to support the top six by signing a free agent that fills the gaps. If Hall isn't on the books, then they should be trying to grab Tofolli as a proven scoring RW. A reclamation project worth investigating would be Nichushkin, as the big body with some skill would be a benefit, even if he slotted lower in the lineup. The best option may be both.
Even if Hall isn't in the mix, and the Flames are looking to make a shakeup move where Gaudreau is shipped out of town, there are options in free agency that could soften the blow. While Hoffman and Dadonov are not as sexy as Johnny Hockey, they may be able to provide the same bang for the buck on the scoresheet in games where the play gets more physical. The most important thing about a Gaudreau trade is changing the makeup of the team and making it one that can win in tough games. This is a team that needs a couple more bodies, and those are not coming from within. The system is tapped out and change needs to come from outside.
I'm all for keeping Gaudreau, but that would meaning adding a Tofolli and a Barrie or Vatanen to the lineup to fill holes, but with an albatross contract eating up a big chunk of cash, that likely isn't possible. The most likely way the Flames can make the changes needed is by dealing away a player who has value and is replaceable in the market. Like it or not, that guy is Johnny Hockey, and you have Lucic's contract to thank for that. Treliving's hands are tied here IMO. As big a Gaudreau fan as I am, he has to be moved this summer for the Flames to take a step forward.