Johnny Gaudreau - re-sign or trade?

[cowtown75]

Honestly, if the contract is reasonable, I think it's important to keep him as a Flame. 7 X 5 years is the goal if I'm the GM. It's going to be a flat cap for the foreseeable future and everyone is going to have to adjust to that.

[Savvy27]

Originally Posted by ---Hatrick---

I can’t see LA offering up Byfield. His ceiling is as high or higher than Eichel in many peoples eyes. That and the Eichel injury concerns, why take the risk there

Byfield seems like a really strange trade centerpiece to me. Either he is good enough that Buffalo is ecstatic because they got a comparable player on an ELC and LA looks foolish for the swap...

Or he's not nearly as good as Eichel and Buffalo traded a star for quantity like they did with O'Reilly and lost the trade.

If Byfield is really that good then LA should be keeping and building with him.

[DomeFoam]

Im not very high on Byfield. He's never dazzled me in the way a guy with this much hype and draft pedigree should. I think he has a decent third line forward ceiling with potential room to grow.

Any return for Eichel should be a player that has either dazzled his way to the cusp of the NHL like a Caufield or someone who already does it in the show like a Tkachuk.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Originally Posted by DomeFoam

Im not very high on Byfield. He's never dazzled me in the way a guy with this much hype and draft pedigree should. I think he has a decent third line forward ceiling with potential room to grow.

Any return for Eichel should be a player that has either dazzled his way to the cusp of the NHL like a Caufield or someone who already does it in the show like a Tkachuk.

I admit to not having seen much of Byfield, especially this year, but the bolded seems unfair for a ceiling. Why so down on him?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by flambers

I would think they will want another top line type of center in return.

I doubt Tkachuk fits what they are searching for.

Centers are tough to find,

What team has a top line center to offer? I'm sure Nashville could offer Johansen or Duchene but those are declining players on bad contracts. Monahan is no worse than those players and on a better contract and Tkachuk is a borderline elite winger. I'm not saying the Flames could come in with the best offer but they have more to offer than a lot of teams.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ---Hatrick---

I can’t see LA offering up Byfield. His ceiling is as high or higher than Eichel in many peoples eyes. That and the Eichel injury concerns, why take the risk there

Who's eyes? He broke out with one really good OHL season but this is not a guy that has much of a track record like other highly touted prospects. Also how much of his success in junior was due to him being bigger and stronger than other teenagers? I didn't think he looked overly impressive in the WJC vs elite junior players and to me he's no sure thing.

[Scroopy Noopers]

In what reality are two teams going to swap top line centres?

Buffalo ain’t getting a top 6 centre back in this deal, because that doesn’t make sense.

[foofighter15]

Gaudreau is a great hockey player, despite being frustrating at times. My main opinion on him is he is not good enough to be the best player on the Flames, or any other team for that matter. He is ideal as the number 2 guy setting up the true number 1

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

What team has a top line center to offer? I'm sure Nashville could offer Johansen or Duchene but those are declining players on bad contracts. Monahan is no worse than those players and on a better contract and Tkachuk is a borderline elite winger. I'm not saying the Flames could come in with the best offer but they have more to offer than a lot of teams.

No clue, however I would think the Sabres will definitely target a center.

For example how about the Canucks

They have a pretty decent core group of forwards would they move one or two of them?

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by cowtown75

Honestly, if the contract is reasonable, I think it's important to keep him as Flame. 7 X 5 years is the goal if I'm the GM. It's going to be a flat cap for the foreseeable future and everyone is going to have to adjust to that.

I think if you want to sign Johnny to a $7M per year contract, he would only be willing to do so on a longer contract than 5 years. It'd have to be 7 or 8, which takes him to 35.

Even with that, I'd be ok with it.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by flambers

No clue, however I would think the Sabres will definitely target a center.

For example how about the Canucks

They have a pretty decent core group of forwards would they move one or two of them?

Not sure the Canucks would be a good trade partner. Petterson would have to go the other way for it to make sense and I doubt the Canucks would do that.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by ---Hatrick---

I can’t see LA offering up Byfield. His ceiling is as high or higher than Eichel in many peoples eyes. That and the Eichel injury concerns, why take the risk there

Really? That's the first I've ever heard of that opinion. All opinions I've seen, Byfield's ceiling is a top line centre. Eichel's still viewed as a franchise centreman. The only thing Byfield has over Eichel is ELC and age. Heck, I don't even think his ceiling is viewed as high as Dylan Cozens, and Cozen's ceiling is viewed lower than Eichel's.

[---Hatrick---]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Who's eyes? He broke out with one really good OHL season but this is not a guy that has much of a track record like other highly touted prospects. Also how much of his success in junior was due to him being bigger and stronger than other teenagers? I didn't think he looked overly impressive in the WJC vs elite junior players and to me he's no sure thing.

Did you not witness the hype around him in his draft year? He was extremely highly touted, and I don’t think that he gone away yet.

I don’t think he lived up to his hype in the WJC’s, outside of one impressive game, but he was also one of the youngest players.

LA drafted him to be their future 1C, and I can’t imagine they’d be to eager to offer him for Eichel who has known neck/back issues.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ---Hatrick---

Did you not witness the hype around him in his draft year? He was extremely highly touted, and I don’t think that he gone away yet.

I don’t think he lived up to his hype in the WJC’s, outside of one impressive game, but he was also one of the youngest players.

LA drafted him to be their future 1C, and I can’t imagine they’d be to eager to offer him for Eichel who has known neck/back issues.

I don't buy into hype. Druin had a great draft year like Byfield and some scouts liked him better than McKinnon who had a bigger body of work. I don't see LA wanting to move him for sure but if I was the Sabres I would want more than Byfield in return as he's not proven.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by foofighter15

Gaudreau is a great hockey player, despite being frustrating at times. My main opinion on him is he is not good enough to be the best player on the Flames, or any other team for that matter. He is ideal as the number 2 guy setting up the true number 1

I think that’s selling pretty low on him. He was 4th in Hart votes a couple years ago. He’s one of the most skilled and dangerous players in the league and the stats back that up. I think he can be the centerpiece of a team, but, he needs more help. Even a first ballot hall of famer in Iggy needed help and we weren’t able to get that for him.

The elite teams in this league don’t put all their eggs into one basket. I think the Flames should do everything they can to nab a Jack Eichel without eliminating the current top line. That would give the Flames 2 top scoring lines and I think would instantly propel them into elite team territory.

[---Hatrick---]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Really? That's the first I've ever heard of that opinion. All opinions I've seen, Byfield's ceiling is a top line centre. Eichel's still viewed as a franchise centreman. The only thing Byfield has over Eichel is ELC and age. Heck, I don't even think his ceiling is viewed as high as Dylan Cozens, and Cozen's ceiling is viewed lower than Eichel's.

I don’t know, maybe I’m out to lunch. I swear I recall some crazy hype around Byfield in his draft year with projections comparable to Malkin

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I think if you want to sign Johnny to a $7M per year contract, he would only be willing to do so on a longer contract than 5 years. It'd have to be 7 or 8, which takes him to 35.

Even with that, I'd be ok with it.

If there's anyone on the team who would probably perform well into their mid-thirties, it's Gaudreau (other than Gio, that is). He has been considerably durable and he's not some power forward that is going to be worn down. He doesn't rely on top speed, moreso agility. Kane hasn't slowed down at all. Martin St. Louis won the Art Ross when he was 38. Even Mats Zuccarello just had a career season in terms of points per game.

I would be fine with a max term deal if it meant a lower AAV. Is he says he wants to retire a Flames, let him.

He's a year older than Monahan by birthdate, but in terms of his hockey lifespan, he's probably quite a bit younger.

[cowtown75]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I think if you want to sign Johnny to a $7M per year contract, he would only be willing to do so on a longer contract than 5 years. It'd have to be 7 or 8, which takes him to 35.

Even with that, I'd be ok with it.

Yeah, I'd be ok with that too.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by DomeFoam

Brad said in his presser there's holes on this team, but I don't think he has any idea what those are because he believes he filled them all last summer. He's going to have to find a way to get Eichel cause whether he believes it or not that's the hole he needs to fill now if he wants to keep this train going - someone to play with Johnny who is as or more skilled.

The only holes Tre sees is the one in front of the goal. He got an expensive patch last summer and then gave up on his backup that did the bulk of the workload before getting hurt. Now, he'll have another hole he needs to patch up in the goal mouth area again. It's like an annual habitual cycling of goalies.

Let's say if he would've picked up both Tiffoli and Perry, which happened to be RHS, like what the Habs did instead of picking up Markstrom, I think the Flames would be in a different place.

[Stanley]

With what the Rangers and Kings are likely able to offer, I doubt the Flames is a destination for Eichel.