Johnny Gaudreau - re-sign or trade?

[Britflamesfan]

This team needs burning to ground, it is not even remotely close to being able to challenge for the cup. 23 years following this team and only one year of excitement 17 frigging years ago. Get what you can for him whilst other GMs only remember the end of this season (when it did not matter) and hopefully have forgotten his disappearing act when the going gets tough in all the previous seasons.

[Nelson]

If most ppl want to re-sign Gaudreau, it could indicate his value his high, which means it could be a good time to trade soon-to-be-28-year-old Gaudreau if the Flames need a shakeup.

[Macindoc]

Not sure why the most recent stats comparing Gaudreau with Couturier would be the only relevant ones. They are based on playing with a centre who I believe has been suffering from an injury for the entire year (not just 20 games) and a right winger (prior to forming the Gaudreau/Lindholm/Tkachuk line) who wouldn't even make the lineup of most NHL teams. Not sure that Couturier would have done any better in those circumstances.

Bottom line, you won't be able to replace Gaudreau's scoring with any other player at anywhere near the same AAV. At the same time, with the flat cap and most teams being capped out as it is, I don't see his AAV increasing as much in the next contract as most people think. I say make him a reasonable 4-5 year offer on July 1, and trade him if he says no.

[Bingo]

Answering before I read everyone's responses and see the poll results ...

I can't answer the question in that format sadly. Or I guess if I had to I'd say trade him, because I wouldn't miss my window to move him without knowing what it would take to sign him.

If he wants an 8 year deal for $10M a season you move him for sure.
If he wants a 5 year deal worth $8M I think you sign it and keep him.

But as this poll stands .... trade.

[Toonage]

We need a "depends" vote button

If the Flames get Eichel they likely move Tkachuk. They will need a top tier LW to play on that line, so re-sign Gaudreau. Not getting Eichel (which is far more likely)? Then yeah you have to get him signed soon and have a plan to bolster that lineup otherwise you may as well look at moving him.

My vote was trade him.

[bdubbs]

Our offense is anemic without him. I think he'll keep playing well under Sutter, so re-sign.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Re-sign for me.

But the key here is talking to him during the offseason. If either signs point to him bouncing after next season or has no desire to stay here then you need to trade him. He won’t have the same value when he gets to choose only 5 teams to go to when the first day of free agency comes up.

He’s still an effective player. The Gaudreau - Lindholm - Tkachuk line was on fire. I’m all for keeping him but I do understand if it’s time we part ways.

Going to be an interesting offseason.

The Oilers for many years finished the season strong ... when they were eliminated from the playoffs. The analysts would pick them to be playoff contenders the next pre-season and they would be basically eliminated by November.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

It’s true, even Tkachuk and Lindholm looked lost without Gaudreau. Those 2 were together virtually all season long and Lindholm had 9 goals in 40 games and Tkachuk lost his mojo and had fans were left questioning his future here for the first time.

Stick that duo with Gaudreau and Lindholm scores 10 in 16 and Tkachuk finishes the season with a 5 game goal scoring streak. Gaudreau stirs the drink on this team and without him, they’ll be the same team that couldn’t score back in March and lost 8 of 9.

Now if they can only play the whole schedule against teams that were playing their 19th game in a month after being off the ice for 2 weeks while the Flames are playing 12 games over the same time frame.

[Mass_nerder]

I want to re-sign Johnny, but it all depends on whether he wants to re-sign. Unfortunately because of the trade protection in his contract, Tre needs to do his best to understand what Johnny's intentions are between now and when that kicks in (free agency deadline?).
If he gets even the slightest inkling that Johnny may not want to come back, he needs to trade Gaudreau this off-season to ensure we maximize the asset. The flames cannot afford to let another star player go for peanuts.

[BaconGuy]

The sudden outburst of productivity once Gaudreau was moved off of Monahan's line was no fluke. Mony really hurt the value of both players as well as the overall productivity of the team.

Re-sign Johnny, and I will drive Mony to the airport once we trade him

[ricardodw]

In what scenario can you see Gaudreau shining in the playoffs?

How much bigger and faster and meaner does the rest of the team need to be for Gaudreau to dominate in important games?

The Flames have done a poor job of providing a supporting cast if indeed Gaudreau is the key to the team.

Gaudreau would prefer to play on a team that already has the pieces in place where protecting him and creating space is the normal way the team plays.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by BaconGuy

The sudden outburst of productivity once Gaudreau was moved off of Monahan's line was no fluke. Mony really hurt the value of both players as well as the overall productivity of the team.

Re-sign Johnny, and I will drive Mony to the airport once we trade him

I would be cautious looking at any of the stats from the last 5 to 6 games

Especially against the Canucks who looked like a team that are totally exhausted (COVIID)

[R2theJ]

Voted trade... doubt he wants to re-sign in Calgary. Don't forget he got engaged last off-season and she lives in the East (Philly?) and works as a nurse. I would bet he would want to be closer to her - which is understandable. Trade him now before he has the NTC kick-in and you can have a bidding war between BUF/PHI/NYI/NYR/BOS...

[Strange Brew]

Can Gaudreau be a key component of a Cup contending team? Absolutely so trading him isn't addition by subtraction.

It's all about salary and how the team is constructed.

Personally I hope he wants to sign a reasonable contract to stay as I'm leery of what they will receive back in trade. This team isn't about to start a rebuild.

[TheIronMaiden]

Sadly, next year is the year the Flames really struggle.

With that in mind, there is no sense in wasting assets.

[BurningSteel]

You keep him. As long as the term and money work. He's the kind of talent Calgary can only get via draft and a boatload of luck. Wont replace his value via trade.

[BaconGuy]

Originally Posted by flambers

I would be cautious looking at any of the stats from the last 5 to 6 games

Especially against the Canucks who looked like a team that are totally exhausted (COVIID)

If i remember correctly, Sutter changed the lines up between the Toronto game on April 5th and the Edmonton game on April 10th, since that point Johnny had 22 points in 16 games to close out the season.

Obviously the flames were not eliminated till well after this point, so Johnnys sudden point outburst cant be attributed to only playing Vancouver in meaningless games

[GioforPM]

Voted trade but only because I think the stars have to line up perfectly to make keeping him work.

A. you need to get Eichel or someone like that to play with him (I'm not 100% trusting the recent spurt of success and I think you need to deepen the top 6 anyway).

B. Gaudreau has to commit to staying, and at a reasonable price as well. Not "probably" and not "depending on getting a good contract, and we will negotiate that later".

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Sadly, next year is the year the Flames really struggle.

With that in mind, there is no sense in wasting assets.

What do you mean next year is the year they really struggle? Did you post this from the future?

[Saqe]

Worst for the Flames would be to be again a middle of the road team. Which I can definitely see happening under Sutter especially if they're still going for it with this core.