More on the Calgary Flames and Johnny Gaudreau
Hailey Salvian of The Athletic: Johnny Gaudreau and trade rumors keep coming up. It boils down to term and AAV. What does Gaudreau actually want in the terms of a deal? How much money is he willing to leave on the table? Right now, his play is at a surplus but that will not last.
While the Calgary Flames are not as up against the cap as teams like Tampa Bay and Colorado are, there has to be some sort of balance. That balance has to come between value and term. The Ryan Nugent-Hopkins deal for Edmonton represents both sides giving a little to get something done.
Perhaps, some common ground can come from these Gaudreau negotiations. Maybe.
One other possible piece of Calgary business is Milan Lucic. However, since his contract was so front-loaded, his deal is almost buyout proof at this point.
Then, there are the Matthew Tkachuk trade rumors. Nothing may come to that until next season. For now, no one really believes the hype.
Also, the expansion draft is rapidly nearing. How will Calgary approach its protection lists? There is a chance that the Flames leave Mark Giordano exposed.
Edmonton Oilers free-agent targets and trade targets
Allan Mitchell of The Athletic: Edmonton has options it can look into via the free-agent and trade market. However, it does look like both goalies return unless Ken Holland buys out Mikko Koskinen.
A projected Edmonton roster that includes a Duncan Keith trade would still leave about $1.7 million in cap space. That is not too bad for a front-running team like Edmonton. They just need to put the pieces back in place.
For other pieces, Bryan Rust makes for an interesting signing on the wing. After that, the Edmonton Oilers can target a few more players as well.
It will be intriguing to see what Edmonton does in goal. Do they move on from Mikko Koskinen or do they hope for the best with the current combination of Koskinen and Mike Smith. It would be semi-cost effective at around a $7.5 million cap hit.