Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The Calgary Flames have won just 10 of 23 games, sit 25th in points percentage, and 29th in 5v5 goals per game. They’re off to a really discouraging start, especially when you consider the goal is to contend for the Stanley Cup this season.
Naturally, these struggles have led to a lot of strong opinions with regards to what the Flames should do and how to approach things moving forward.
Everything from a shake-up trade to replacing Bill Peters, or an assistant, has been tossed around. That’s not entirely surprising.
What *is* surprising: how much discussion there is about trading Johnny Gaudreau, and that there appear to be quite a few people on board with the idea.
I get the frustration. Gaudreau hasn’t played up to his usual standards. He is on pace for just 18 goals the year after potting 36. That dip, coupled with the team struggling, is obviously going to lead to some fingers pointed in his direction.
While I do agree that Gaudreau could, and should, be better, I’m certain trading him is not the answer for an offensively starved Flames team. It will only make things worse.
Gaudreau is one of the best offensive players in the league. He put up 99 points a season ago and 84 (in 80 games) the year prior. He produced at a point per game clip three times in four years from 2015-19. He is 26 years old and making only $6.75 million through the 2021-22 season. There are very few, if any, better bargains for offensive stars.
Last season 27 forwards reached the 80 point plateau. Among them, only five on non-ELC contracts made less money than Gaudreau: Nikita Kucherov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Artemi Panarin, Blake Wheeler, and Tyler Seguin.
What's fun about those five is that only Huberdeau ($5.9M per) is making less than $8.25 million this year and beyond.
If you have any faith at all that Gaudreau didn’t lose several steps during *checks notes* the prime of his career, then it sure seems likely everyone will again be talking about him as underpaid sooner than later.
Why would you trade an elite player in the prime of his career on a value contract? It makes no sense. It’s not like he is on an island and by the time the Flames give him some legitimate supporting talent he’ll be washed up.
Matthew Tkachuk is a star. He is 21. Elias Lindholm has turned into a star. He is 24. Sean Monahan is one of the better bets the league has to score 30+ on an annual basis. He is 25.
Andrew Mangiapane (23) *could* develop into a top-6 winger while Rasmus Andersson (23) and Noah Hanifin (22) look like they have the juice to be solid top-4 defensemen for the foreseeable future.
With David Rittich (27), the Flames also finally look to have a long-term solution in goal.
And that’s not even mentioning the stable of solid veterans the team still has under contract for multiple seasons.
The Flames, like all teams, have their flaws but this is a group that should be tweaked; not blown up.
GM Brad Treliving would be smart to continue building around the stars they have in place. That starts with Johnny Gaudreau.
Cap info via CapFriendly.com
Recent posts:
From bad to worse
The Calgary Flames are getting impatient
On Mangiapane’s strong play, 5v5 offense, and Jankowski’s lack of luck
Predicting the Stanley Cup Finals 2019-20
Predicting the Western Conference Finals 2019-20
Predicting the Pacific Division standings in 2019-20
Flames sign Matthew Tkachuk to three-year bridge
Bold Pacific Division predictions for 2019-20
Pacific Division breakout picks for 2019-20
Three reasons to be optimistic about the Flames in 2019-20
Three Flames question marks heading into 2019-20
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»