2016/2017 Trade Speculation and Rumors

[Matty81]

People are just shooting the #### and talking hypotheticals and value during a long offseason, no need to get worked up and conclude people are writing johnny off or advocating to trade him for the sake of it

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Gaudreau > MacKinnon
Gillies > Pickard

The Avs would need to add.

Mackinnon vs gaudreau is subjective imo. Both fantastic young players. Johnny scores more but mackinnon is tougher on the puck and better defensively. Ultimately nate is cheaper, younger and signed longer though.

I find in assessing trade value as flames homers we need to find equal value in our heads and make it 25% more painful to be realistic lol.

Ultimately it seems like a pointless trade anyway. Gaudreau and Monahan have chemistry. No way of telling if mackinnon and monahan would so why take the risk.

But on trade value I think they are fairly close and if the flames are really concerned about johnny's size amd/or he wants to bolt to the states they should focus on an equal player like NM not a volume deal for 2 or 3 lesser parts.

[Jacks]

I'd rather not trade Johnny but ...

1) It's stupid to compare him to St. Louis when the only thing they have in common is being short.
2) Nate MacKinnon is not "magic beans".

Thank you and good night.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Haha some of you should probably calm down a bit. It's just a discussion. That is what we do here isn't it?

Other than FanIn80 saying he was a little worried about Johnnys ability to handle the rigours of playoff hockey, nobody is down on JG. He even back tracked when he realized his quick idea he thought up might be great for the team in the long run.

All anybody else really said was that if he did get traded it would have to be for a HUGE return or forget about it, or that they don't care who the Flames trade as long as it makes the team better now and in the future.

Talking about who to add to Johnny's line is constructive and reflects a sensible approach to bringing that line to the next level. Talking about trading him seems like a typical thing unbridled fans would do. Trading a young proven talent would reflect poorly on the organization not to mention the risk of bringing in unknown players, "who may not even gel with the team." This team has improved and heading in the right direction, add a couple more key players as this group could do some damage

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Toonage

While we're speculating, any deal for Gaudreau starts with Philly's #2 overall and then goes up from there.

#2, Schenn and Gudas. I know Philly would balk, but it is the only way I'd do it.

[868904]

Originally Posted by alan21

He's playing in a tournament with not the best players in the world plus it's on a big ice surface which suits his game a lot more.

I think the Flames should switch the Saddlesome ice back to the Olympic size while Gaudreau is still here and while they are still in the Dome.

Might as well make home ice work to their advantage.

Just charge a bit more for the rest of the seats to justify the lost revenue from the lost seats. You have an exciting product and one of the most exciting players in the league, I think the higher ticket price would be justified.

Flames are a pretty fast team now and the defense is mobile, it's not just Gaudreau who would benefit from it.

[Love]

nvm

[Calgary4LIfe]

Johnny has been doing way better in this WC tournament, but I don't think it is because he is playing with 'elite talent'. It is because he has way more time and space right now, and there is nobody hacking and slashing at his wrists. The NHL figured out how to somewhat neutralize Gaudreau, and that is by taking his time and space away and hacking at him often.

With that being said, did he have a bad season? Or did he just have to take a small period of adjustment + injury + playing through some pain? My guess is the latter. His numbers aren't far off from the previous season in PPG. He did not have this horrible season.

What Johnny needs isn't another premier scorer on his line. He needs another serious nightly threat on another line to help spread the attention, and to help drive offence consistently to help the Flames win games. That is coming I think with Tkachuk and Bennett.

Speaking of which, I think Monahan needs to play with someone like Tkachuk on his wing (and preferably Versteeg on the RW), as I really believe that Monahan defers way too much to Gaudreau on the ice. Separate them, and you get two lines. Bennett can play that speed game with Gaudreau just fine.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

The one thing about Gaudreau that people aren't mentioning is his extremely competitive nature. Sure, he doesn't show that competitiveness by physically dominating the opponent, so people tend to miss it, but he's shown it at every level by improving whatever part of his game he can in order to be the best player on the ice. This off-season he'll refocus and prepare for next season knowing full well that other teams will slash him and generally try to irritate him. He shows frustration when you do that, so other teams will continue to do it until he stops showing that frustration. That's the downside to his competitive side. Sometimes it shows up as visible frustration when he doesn't produce for his team.

It's going to take a small adjustment to what he does on the ice physically in order to protect himself a little more, but mostly I think he just needs to be a little more forceful with the puck on his stick and go to the net. MOST of the adjustment needs to be mental, in that you won't let the other team's tactics bother you, nor will you let the lack of calls from the ref bother you. Become unflappable, and then continue to put up the points. You'll see the opposition take a different tactic with him at that point, and perhaps he'll get a few more calls.

Knowing the character of Gaudreau that we've seen throughout his amateur, and now pro, hockey career, I am fairly certain he will at least be back to a 1 PPG pace, and possibly more. If Ferland can become more consistent on that top line, I suspect they'll be a dangerous trio next year. Of course, there's a lot of moves that can be made before then, so perhaps Treliving will find a better option on that top line to take some of the focus off Gaudreau. That's my hope for this off-season, along with getting a real goalie.

[sureLoss]

Islanders "likely" to offer Tavares 8 years @ $10 million plus:

http://www.tsn.ca/report-8-year-80m-...vares-1.746529

[CliffFletcher]

I'll cheerfully speculate about trading any player in a Flames uniform. Doesn't mean I'm impatient or dislike the player. If a trade improves the team - and yes, big trades involving star players sometimes improve a team - I'm all for it.

I don't see linemates as big issue with Gaudreau. He has one of the better triggermen in the league in Monahan. And these days most teams spread out their top 6 forwards on three lines, with two skilled guys and a supplementary player on each line.

Gaudreau got 30 points in his last 30 games. Not too worried about his production. He'll always look better on the big ice, but that's to be expected for a player of his style.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'll cheerfully speculate about trading any player in a Flames uniform. Doesn't mean I'm impatient or dislike the player. If a trade improves the team - and yes, big trades involving star players sometimes improve a team - I'm all for it.

I don't see linemates as big issue with Gaudreau. He has one of the better triggermen in the league in Monahan. And these days most teams spread out their top 6 forwards on three lines, with two skilled guys and a supplementary player on each line.

Gaudreau got 30 points in his last 30 games. Not too worried about his production. He'll always look better on the big ice, but that's to be expected for a player of his style.

The problem is that Chiasson and Ferland are not top line players on any team in the league outside of the Flames (and maybe Canucks). Name teams that have a "supplementary" player on their top line that's on the level with Chiasson. People always talk about the substandard wingers Crosby has had to work with over his career but at least Kunitz was a 20 goal, 50 point forward with the Ducks prior to playing with Crosby. Chiasson was a waiver wire player and I'm not slagging Ferland but he's nowhere near a gifted offensive player. Monahan is a great trigger man but he's not quick in transition or a gifted passer and every team knows that line goes through Gaudreau for possession and they can place their best checking forwards on him as well as a defender knowing that the other two players on the line do not drive the play. Of course the bigger international ice provides him more room but the only way he's going to get more room in the NHL is to have a winger on the other side that demands some attention and right now teams have little regard for the player on the other side of that line. The fact that Chiasson played close to 1/2 the season on the top line and only got 24 points proves he was barely a participant on that line in the offensive zone. That makes it far too easy for teams to take away Gaudreau.

[TheScorpion]

^ Umm, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust say hello from Pittsburgh

[Vinny01]

Pat Maroon was a Chaisson/Ferland type before this season

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

^ Umm, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust say hello from Pittsburgh

Guentzel is a skilled rookie that was well over a point a game in the AHL so I fail to see your point.

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Pat Maroon was a Chaisson/Ferland type before this season

He's clearly having a career season and as good as Gaudreau is McDavid is on another level and it helps when Draisaitl is the 3rd forward on that line. He's so big that he essentially is tasked with going to the net and cashing in on rebounds and loose pucks which is Monahan's role already. I don't see either Chiasson or Ferland with that element to their game and I don't see Maroon as a long time solution on the Oilers top line.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

The one thing about Gaudreau that people aren't mentioning is his extremely competitive nature. Sure, he doesn't show that competitiveness by physically dominating the opponent, so people tend to miss it, but he's shown it at every level by improving whatever part of his game he can in order to be the best player on the ice.

I actually think his competitiveness is one of the things that is stopping him from being loved league wide. Most people associate diving and whining about calls as being unsportsmanlike, but they are also signs of a high competitive player that will do anything to try and give himself and his team an edge.

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Pat Maroon was a Chaisson/Ferland type before this season

That is a good point, I'm sure you meant it as a knock on Maroon but it's also like Craig Conroy with Iginla, or Anson Carter with the Sedins, or Rob Brown with Lemieux; sometimes a 3rd line calibre player just needs the right fit with a linemate to perform like a top 6 player.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Guentzel is a skilled rookie that was well over a point a game in the AHL so I fail to see your point.




He's clearly having a career season and as good as Gaudreau is McDavid is on another level and it helps when Draisaitl is the 3rd forward on that line. He's so big that he essentially is tasked with going to the net and cashing in on rebounds and loose pucks which is Monahan's role already. I don't see either Chiasson or Ferland with that element to their game and I don't see Maroon as a long time solution on the Oilers top line.

What about Nick Schmaltz? Ryan Hartman? Zack Hyman? Ryan Dzingel? Devin Shore?

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He's clearly having a career season and as good as Gaudreau is McDavid is on another level and it helps when Draisaitl is the 3rd forward on that line. He's so big that he essentially is tasked with going to the net and cashing in on rebounds and loose pucks which is Monahan's role already. I don't see either Chiasson or Ferland with that element to their game and I don't see Maroon as a long time solution on the Oilers top line.

I don't disagree. Just pointing out a forward that is not top 6 material that is putting up the numbers. He clearly fits better in that spot than Lucic who was not as successful when given the same opportunity this year.

For the Flames to move forward though I believe they need to upgrade the RW spot with Ferland and get a better player in that spot.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I don't disagree. Just pointing out a forward that is not top 6 material that is putting up the numbers. He clearly fits better in that spot than Lucic who was not as successful when given the same opportunity this year.

For the Flames to move forward though I believe they need to upgrade the RW spot with Ferland and get a better player in that spot.

Gaudreau has been playing RW at the WC. Why not try him there, bump Tkachuk up to 1st line LW and put Bennett with Back and Frolik, where he has had the most success. It would also free up the 3C spot for Jankowski.

Tkachuk/Monahan/Gaudreau
Bennett/Backlund/Frolik
Ferland/Jankowski/one of Brouwer, Chiasson or Lazar

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

What about ? Ryan Hartman? Zack Hyman? Ryan Dzingel? Devin Shore?

Not sure the point you are making as Hyman is the only one of the list that played more than sporadically in top line roles and all of them listed are 22 years or younger (Hyman 24) and Ferland (25) and Chiasson (26) are in their prime and what they are. We would be pretty excited if the Flames had those player as options as at least they have potential to be top six players (not Hyman IMO who is just at the right place at the right time) while Ferland and Chiasson are what they are in bottom six guys.

Johnny Gaudreau is maybe the smallest player in the league. You can't compare a guy like Hyman riding shotgun with a big strong center like Matthews. Johnny can't create his own space and needs a complementary player that commands attention.