Calgary Flames: Is it time to put the Johnny Gaudreau trade rumors to bed?

Has the time come to move on from discussing Johnny Gaudreau in trade talks?

Johnny Gaudreau just came off of his seventh full season with the Calgary Flames, one in which was full of opinions and rumors discussing the possibility of trading away the uber-talented forward in order to hit the refresh button for this franchise.

It is something that hasn’t been exclusive to this past season, but it is a repeated storyline that seems to surface when things aren’t going too well for the Flames.

Calgary appears to be stuck in an unfortunate fever dream where they show signs of being a contender in their division and the league overall, then something happens. They hit a stretch of games where goals are much harder to find and the bounces go the opponents way. In some ways, that’s just hockey. But the highs and lows of this team seem to come at the wrong time over and over again, season after season.

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So, when you have a repeated problem, what do you do? Look at what you are working with. The Flames have made five head coaching changes since Johnny Gaudreau joined the team. So head coaching? Quite possibly an issue, but not one that is the main cause of the team’s performance.

The Flames have also had a revolving door of goaltenders take their place in net over Gaudreau’s career as a Flames, starting with the Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo era and currently including Jacob Markstrom most recently.

In recent months, and even seasons, conversations around a possible Gaudreau trade have definitely come back. But if this were to happen, who would they get in return?

Timing may have been in his favor in the past as the other players on the market weren’t what the Flames were looking for in return. It is quite difficult to replace a key player in your lineup without a clear picture of who may replace him. What the conversations would have looked like regarding possible trades with Gaudreau are between the GM’s for the most part, and obviously have not resulted in his departure up until this point.

Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau shouldn’t be in trade talks any more

However, there is this overarching narrative that Johnny is destined to return home. He is a native of Salem, New Jersey and many expect to see him be a Philadelphia Flyer at some point. In a practical sense, it would be any NHLer’s dream to play for the team they cheered for when they grew up.

Gaudreau’s long-time friend Kevin Hayes also is a current Flyer and you can assume Johnny would not be opposed to be playing on a team with him. But as Johnny pointed out in the end of year interviews, this is not something he has explicitly expressed interest in doing. When asked about the possibility of signing a contract extension this offseason, Gaudreau said:

"“I love the city and I don’t think I’ve ever once said I don’t want to be here. If that comes up this summer, I would be willing to do that and get it done.”"

Gaudreau has never been quoted to say he wants out of Calgary or he’s displeased with the team or city. He has always been a huge activist for the City of Calgary and frequently mentions how much he loves the place. What he says to the media and what he says behind closed doors is his business, but he has never said a bad word about this organization. If you take his words for exactly what they are, he wants to be here.

He also hasn’t done anything to urgently require some sort of deal to get him out of the door either. Gaudreau led the Flames in points during the 2020-21 regular season with 49, and tied Elias Lindholm for goals (19) despite the shortened schedule.

Unless the front office are made an offer they cannot refuse for a top-three or top-six forward, Gaudreau is likely to be a Flame next season. That can’t necessarily be said for his long time linemate Sean Monahan, however.

Monahan played the last half of the season with a hip injury that required surgery in the last week of the season. He sat the last four games against the Vancouver Canucks to recover from the procedure and has already started working out again this offseason.

He is expected to make a return on time for next season, with the NHL returning to a normal schedule for the 2021-22 season. Ottawa news sources reported over a month ago that the Flames were listening to offers for Monahan, making him an option for the Senators or other teams in the league looking for a new center.

Monahan is by no means playing to the level he was in the Johnny/Mony glory days. His best season was in 2018-19 where he recorded 34 goals and 48 assists for a total of 82 points in 78 games.

However, he only scored 10 goals and tallied 18 assists for 28 points in 50 games in 2020-21, which isn’t exactly the numbers you would expect out of your typical top-line center. Gaudreau is a playmaker and it’s hard to get points, goals and wins when your top-line is not connecting. Many missed passes, shanked scoring opportunities and awkward positioning finished with Monahan at the end of it.

In the last few games while Monahan recovered, Flames Head Coach Darryl Sutter gave Gaudreau some time on a line with Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk, and the results were electric. They earned goals in every game and a multi-point performance in the closing game of the season. It could very well be the time to move past the idea of the Gaudreau / Monahan duo and move on to the pairings of the future.

While the majority of the team faltered on their production this year, Gaudreau still stayed the course. In more advanced stats, his positioning, shooting percentage and high danger shots showed numbers that should silence all trade rumors. However, you are only as good as the company you keep and the positive underlying numbers are overshadowed by the losses and the team’s overall underperformance.

It’s got to be frustrating to be a Flame in any position after this season, but don’t go kicking out the guys that got you to where you are without some evidence to back it up. The Pandemic and travel restrictions made it harder to call up players and trades were not a huge part of the past season as the player would not be available for up to 14 days following their quarantine period. It was not a year to be buying and selling good players. It was a year to work with what you’ve got and see where it gets you.

Gaudreau has one more year left on his contract with a $6,750,000 cap hit. Why not let him play it out? Move pieces around him and see if the problem really lies in his linemates. If that doesn’t pan out, maybe he’s not as much of a bigger re-sign or allow the aftermath of the Pandemic to heal the normal dealings of the league and see who lands on the market. Or avoid the trade conversation altogether.

He’s willing to sign a contract extension so why not draw it up if there’s room in the salary cap? And the Flames are projected to have around $14 million in cap space this coming offseason, by the way. Gaudreau is by no means out of the woods, but he should not be considered the biggest trade piece going into this busy, busy offseason in the National Hockey League.