Prior the the NHL trade deadline, there was a lot of NHL trade rumors chatter about what the Calgary Flames would do with Johnny Gaudreau?
Trade rumors had the Philadelphia Flyers interested in signing Gaudreau. The Flyers could still be in the mix, but that looks to be a long shot.
The Flames still seem to be the front-runners to re-sign Gaudreau to a long-term contract but a few other teams have now entered the mix.
Pierre LeBrun was on TSN’s Insider Trading segment and reports IF Gaudreau hits the free agent market, he says lookout for the New Jersey Devils to pursue him and the Seattle Kraken as a wild card team, they are expected to be aggressive in the UFA market this offseason.
LeBrun went on to say, the Devils have a lot of salary cap space with P.K. Subban is coming off the books this offseason.
The Kraken have almost $23 million in salary cap space, that will allow them to offer Gaudreau a big contract offer.
You would have to think, if Gaudreau leaves the Flames, the Devils or Kraken are offering Gaudreau a long-term contract with a value of $11 million per year.
Gaudreau will end up leaving Calgary and signing a $11 mil/yr contract with another team.
If they want to pay Gaudreau 11 mil/yr then it’s time for him to go.
Gaudreau will get $11 mil on the open market. I can’t see him in a Flames jersey next season.