The Flames have had a remarkable season this year, bouncing back from last year’s disappointment and clinching a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They sit sixth in the NHL with a 46-20-9 record and are in the conversation for the best team in the Western Conference. But despite these good times for the franchise, there is one looming uncertainty that could pose a serious threat to the team’s ability to compete after this season: Johnny Gaudreau’s pending unrestricted free agency. Gaudreau, 28, has been the most skilled player to don a Flames sweater in years, and he has reached a new dimension of production this season, with 105 points in 75 games. He has played himself into the Hart Trophy conversation and cemented his status as the team’s most important player. But after this season, Gaudreau’s $6.75MM AAV contract expires, and he is set to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Naturally, that situation has been a consistent storyline all season for Calgary. The Flames reportedly began extension talks with Gaudreau last July, but those talks obviously have not borne fruit. After this season began both parties decided they would not negotiate a contract mid-season in order to remove all distractions for the team and player. As a result, Gaudreau’s contract situation still looms large over the franchise, so much so that in an interview with Sportsnet after his team clinched the playoffs, Flames GM Brad Treliving was asked about Gaudreau’s situation directly. Treliving stated that the two parties’ choice to “keep things quiet” on the extension front during the season “should by no means be taken as any indication” that the team does not want Gaudreau back. Treliving even goes further on that sentiment, saying that the Flames will “move heaven and earth” and “do everything [they] possibly can to get Johnny back.” Treliving communicated a general sentiment in his comments that the Flames’ overall philosophy is to try to retain and support the team’s most talented players rather than to trade them away or let them leave. These comments cannot be seen as anything but a strong indication that Treliving intends to apply that philosophy to the contract situation of Gaudreau.
But despite Treliving’s intention to “move heaven and earth” for Gaudreau, like with any unrestricted free agent, the decision is not his alone to make. Gaudreau has had a fantastic platform season as he enters the open market, and he looks in line to command a massive contract. The Flames have a Matthew Tkachuk extension to consider after this season and are heading into the final two years of Elias Lindholm’s team-friendly $4.85MM AAV deal. There is definitely room for the Flames to give Gaudreau that extension, especially if the team can find a way to move Sean Monahan and his $6.375MM cap hit, but it won’t be easy.
Additionally, one external factor complicates things as well. Gaudreau is from southern New Jersey and has in the past flirted with the idea of playing for the Flyers. The Flyers will be under significant pressure this offseason to build a team that can win in 2022-23, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on a 32 Thoughts podcast that the Flyers’ strategy for dealing with the financial pressures of losing is typically to “go out and get something shiny” that “the fans find attractive.” What would be more attractive to the Flyers fanbase and sponsorship base than a Hart Trophy candidate who grew up rooting for the Flyers? With all those factors in play, one has to wonder if the Flames are in the position to win a potential bidding war against a highly motivated Flyers club that has that hometown advantage over their player. But if Treliving’s comments from yesterday are any indication, the Flames look set to make a major push this offseason to retain their homegrown star.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
I’m sure the Devils will park a truck load of $$$ in front of Gaudreau’s house too.
Just like Dougie Hamilton last offseason (Devils) the Devils & Flyers can pay the man $9mil per x 7 years.
They won’t be the only ones for sure
Devils will be good soon. Should he sign there it would be like the rangers when they got Panarin…a huge jump back into contention conversations with a young core
Flyers need to replace G with G2.0.
This is where, if I’m Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings, I call Treliving and offer to take on Sean Monahan and his full salary. But it will come at a price…Andrew Mangiapane and their 2024 first round pick. In return, I would send the Flames Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno, and a 2023 2nd Round (via STL) Pick. Calgary would then have the cap space to resign not only Gaudreau, but the rest of its core, including the looming Matthew Tkachuk contract.
Flames acquire:
Filip Zadina
Joe Veleno
$6.375 Million in Cap Space
2023 2nd Round Pick (via STL)
Red Wings acquire:
Sean Monahan (and his full salary)
Andrew Mangiapane
2024 First Round Pick
Or Calgary could package Monahan and Tkachuk to Detroit in return for Zadina, Veleno, and the second round pick while keeping Mangiapane and their first round pick.
Flames acquire
Filip Zadina
Joe Veleno
$6.375 Million in Cap Space
2023 2nd Round Pick (via STL)
Red Wings acquire
Sean Monahan
Matthew Tkachuk
I would accept either package, but one thing is for sure…Calgary will be trading away high end talent in the offseason.
Lol flames aren’t giving you tkachuk to take Monahan last year at 6.35 mill. Also your not getting a 30 goal scorer on mangipagne so your on glue
First, can we use the proper form of words? It’s Y-O-U-‘-R-E. You also mis-typed Mangiapane. Reread what you write before clicking send. Secondly, pay attention to the greater point I was making…that being the Flames can’t keep everyone. They don’t have the cap space. They also don’t have leverage to dictate to other teams the package they’re offered.
The Flames will do one of two things:
1) Trade at least one of their high-end talented and/or high-end salary players to retain the rest of their core.
2) Place Monahan on IR for the entire 2022-23 season, similarly to how Tampa Bay did with Nikita Kucherov. Then the playoffs begin and he’s “magically” ready to play Game 1.
This is where Gary Bettman will show how clueless he is in the aspect of his stance when it comes to the salary cap-IR loophole. This should have been shut down last offseason, but other teams will have to abuse it before the League takes action.
Maybe this loophole will be covered this offseason, which will force the Flames into Choice 1, at which point they will accept what they feel is the best package offered.
I’m not here to hand in an essay or homework man so chill on punctuation and spelling. I wrote that while walking down the street on my phone in 2 seconds. Lucic and Monahan both come of the books after next season aswell as 8 or 9 million this season. We’re not trading core players when we don’t need to. Players on elc will come up and replace some players. Contract can also be front and back loaded depending on the plan of attack. Mangi, tkachuk and johnny will all be signed. Worst case scenario they let oliver walk.
It’s irrelevant that contracts can be front loaded or back loaded. The cap is based on the average of the contract. If a player signs an 8×8 contract, the cap hit is going to be eight across the term, regardless of whether the actual salary is eight over eight.
Calgary currently has 12 players signed next season for $55,362,500. The salary cap will be $82.5 million, leaving $27,137,500 for the rest of their roster. I’ll be very conservative. Let’s assume Tkachuk and Gaudreau sign matching eight year, $72 million contracts, that will cost $18 million against the cap. Now they’re at 14 players signed with just over $9 million left to fill out the roster. Let’s also assume they sign Mangiapane for a steal at $4 million per season, now they’re at 15 players and $5 million remaining. You said “Worst case scenario they let oliver walk.” Okay. The team would be so top heavy that the depth of the roster doesn’t exist. If you want to be in the business of winning championships, you must have depth. Zadina and Veleno would provide cheap talent and secondary scoring the Flames need to contend for years.
You can look as far as Colorado, Toronto, and Vegas…it’s very plain to see why they haven’t won a Cup, and why they won’t. All three teams are extremely top heavy. They look sexy on paper, but I promise you that come playoffs, neither the Avalanche nor the Maple Leafs will hoist the Cup, and the Knights are in serious danger of missing the playoffs. Chicago made that mistake when they signed Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to matching eight-year, $84 million contracts. The difference between them and the rest of the teams was that they won multiple Cups prior to those signings. After the signings, the Blackhawks faded away.
If the Flames attempt to resign JG, Matty T, and AM, they will make the same mistake those teams made. I’m trying to make a trade that will help both the Red Wings and the Flames now, and in the future.
If you want the team to handcuff themselves, by all means, resign all three players. It will never result in the team winning a Cup.
So basically unless your best players are on elc you have no chance to win a cup because most teams have to pay their top players big money now, or let them go and try all over. I get what your saying about teams paying big money and not winning a cup but show me a team in the league that can pay top players way less then they’re worth. That’s the nhl we’re in now. You need good players on the farm to come up and help those high payed players to win. As far zadina and veleno no offense their nothing special. So if you want tkachuk in a trade you’re gonna need a better package then that. A late 2nd and 2 very average players. Monys money comes off in one year not multiple years
Flyers will give him 77 million and that will be that.