Fire up those Johnny Gaudreau Flames rumors again
Anthony Scultore
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The Calgary Flames want to get better, but with just about $4 million in cap space, they are likely going to need to trade a key roster piece to do so. After signing Andrew Mangiapane on Friday, Flames GM Brad Treliving said, “We don’t expect this is the team we’ll go to training camp with.”
This team needs to get better too. They were eliminated in spectacular fashion in these past playoffs. With their backs against the wall, the Flames took a three goal lead before surrendering 7 unanswered goals to the Stars dropping their series in six games.
One player in particular seems to be the poster child for the Flames inability to win in the postseason is Johnny Gaudreau. That seems pretty unfair for a guy who scored 7 points in 10 games in the playoffs (including the qualifying round).
Calgary Flames rumors with Gaudreau go back to last November
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.
The Flames left winger turned 27 this past 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.
Flames have some cap concerns
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 if they want to improve more than already have. Jacob Markstrom was certainly a really good start.
Potential trade destinations for Gaudreau
- Philadelphia Flyers
- New Jersey Devils
- Carolina Hurricanes