Good news, Calgary Flames fans: Johnny Gaudreau isn’t interested in a trade to solve his contract impasse.
The star forward’s agent, Lewis Gross told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that they are not interested in taking the Jacob Trouba route. When asked if there’s a point where that could change, Gross reiterated that Gaudreau has “no intention of asking for a trade at this time.”
Friedman appeared on Sportsnet 960 in Calgary on Monday morning, and said while “at this time” may feel like a red flag, he “really felt” that Gaudreau has no desire to leave Calgary.
It’s not clear what both sides are looking for on a long-term deal, with the Flames likely wanting the contract to start with a six and Gaudreau wanting it to start with a seven or eight. However, Friedman believes “both sides move and this gets done.”
Friedman pointed to another high-profile RFA winger, Nikita Kucherov, as having no interest in being traded from Tampa Bay. However, the Lightning will likely have to make a trade to accommodate Kucherov’s demands.
Meanwhile, Friedman believes Arizona Coyotes winger Tobias Rieder is close to publicly requesting a trade, like Trouba did late last month. We reported last week that Rieder’s agent thinks a trade would be best for both sides.
In other news from around the hockey world:
- The Oilers thin blue-line may be a little thinner for the near future, with Brandon Davidson being classified as day-to-day after being hit in the head by Los Angeles Kings’ winger Tanner Pearson. Pearson received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for targeting Davidson’s head. The NHL will likely be taking a look at this one.
- Edmonton will also be without the services of winger Iiro Pakarinen for at least a month after an ugly leg injury in Sunday night’s game. Pakarinen was battling in the corner with Kings defenseman Matt Greene when it appeared his skate caught a rut in the ice as he fell. The Finnish winger was expected to be a fourth line or extra forward in the NHL. He played 63 games with the Oilers last season, scoring 5 goals and 13 points.
- With the news of Barret Jackman’s retirement coming on Monday, TSN’s Darren Dreger expects another veteran defenseman in Dan Boyle to announce his retirement sometime this week with the help of the San Jose Sharks.