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NHL Trade Talk

Flyers could trade for Blue Jackets’ Johnny Gaudreau

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Philadelphia Flyers
Johnny Gaudreau in action against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2022-23. (Photo: AP)

Based on the first third of the season, it would seem that the Philadelphia Flyers are one cutting-edge offensive player away from being a complete team.



According to a league executive via the Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch, “[The Columbus Blue Jackets] are willing to discuss just about anybody.” By the sounds of it, “just about anybody” excludes names like Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, David Jiricek, Zach Werenski, and some of their other young players. By extension, this means that superstar Johnny Gaudreau is up for grabs.

From a Flyers perspective, though, there’s a few things to consider. The Blue Jackets are not going to give Gaudreau away for free just because he’s 30 years old and has a big contract. In addition, Gaudreau has a no-movement clause until 2026, meaning he would have to approve any and all trades or otherwise that involve him. Lastly, the former Calgary Flames star has a cap hit of $9.75 million, whilst the Flyers have only ~$2.27 million in cap space. This is without Ryan Ellis on LTIR; that would push the Flyers close to $9 million in total space this season.

NHL trade comparisons

In all likelihood, any potential deal is going to be modeled after the Timo Meier or Matthew Tkachuk trades. That means a first-round pick, and either two really good roster players, or two top prospects. The one issue with that, is that the Flyers would be buying low. It goes without saying that Cutter Gauthier and Matvei Michkov are not on the table.

Gaudreau is also much older than Meier and Tkachuk, and is comfortably producing at the worst rate of his career this season. On the other hand, when Gaudreau isn’t playing on one of the NHL’s worst teams, he’s highly productive. He’s just one full season removed from a 115-point campaign.

The Flyers don’t need to do a whole lot to make the money work, but again, it’s about how the Blue Jackets value Gaudreau. There’s an 11-year difference between Gaudreau and Fantilli, and the Blue Jackets are nowhere near being a competitive team. The older Gaudreau gets and the worse he plays, the further his value will drop.

Coming home, for real this time

In the past, Johnny Gaudreau had often expressed his desire to return ‘home’ and nearly signed with the Philadelphia Flyers before ex-GM Chuck Fletcher’s negligence forced Gaudreau’s hand.

“I have a ton of family here, all my friends,” the 30-year-old previously said. “I actually have a wedding this weekend in South Jersey, and all my friends come back here. All my good friends and kids who I have played with all my life are from South Jersey, so it would be sweet to play here someday.”

“You never know in sports. It’s a lot of support back here in South Jersey and the Philly area, they follow me pretty well.”

There’s little doubt that Gaudreau would approve a move to his Flyers if one came to fruition, and especially so considering it would benefit his career. It comes down to an agreement between the teams on a return, and mutual interest in a trade. The line of communication between Danny Briere and Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen is already open; the two sides talked about Kevin Hayes, and former Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov ended up heading to the Blue Jackets in the summer.

Now, it’s a matter of breaking the ice.

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Not Offsides

I don’t want “Johnny Hockey”, especially considering his huge contract, age, and how costly he would be. No way I would trade a first round pick and/or a prospect(s) for him. He’s a good player, but I think he’s somewhat overrated. That 115-point season a couple years ago was an outlier. Other than that and one 99-point season, he’s scored between 50 and 80 points in all his other years. Now he’s 30 years old and his point production will likely trend downward going forward. These are the kind of trades the Flyers used to make; they need to stick to the rebuild plan.

One Blue Jackets player I would like is David Jiricek. Big defenseman taken sixth overall in 2022. I actually wanted the Flyers to draft him 5th over Cutter Gauthier. Jiricek may be off the table for Columbus, however.

Last edited 11 months ago by Not Offsides
Robert O'Brien

Ditto!

Sav1970

Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm had a lot to do with that 100+ season.

Sav1970

ABSOLUTELY NOT. I really like the success the Flyers are having this season but they are not anywhere near being a legit Stanley Cup contender and still need to figure out what they already have with the players they have still. I am so glad that we didn’t sign Gaudreau when they had the chance. That contract looks like an albatross right now for Columbus.

Last edited 11 months ago by Sav1970
Dan

A trade like that would be foolish. Although they are not a full blown Cup contender yet, the Flyers have some young players who are beginning to play to form. Trading for a guy who is past his prime and never really a major superstar anyway would cause damage that might take years to repair. It’s time to just be patient and let the team continue to improve little by little without major shake-ups.

John H

Sounds like a high priced depreciating asset.

“The older Gaudreau gets and the worse he plays, the further his value will drop.”

Why would the Flyers trade players with expiring contracts and trade for JG?
Makes no sense based on the new management’s approach.