New York Rangers: Trade Rumors with the Calgary Flames

With the Calgary Flames talking shake-up, the New York Rangers could be interested

A lot has transpired since bubble-hockey began. After being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Rangers were compensated with the first overall pick in the Alexis Lafrenière sweepstakes. The Calgary Flames eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in the qualifying round, but then fell to the Dallas Stars in a heartbreaking six game series.

This was the third of three First Round exits in the past four years for the Flames. Their core underperformed (minus Matthew Tkachuk who was injured for the last four games of the Stars series) and this most recent playoff collapse has fans and management crying “Shake It Up!” from the Alberta rooftops.

Prior to the pandemic, the New York Rangers had been rumored to be in trade talks with the Calgary Flames and with the Flames recent playoff elimination the rumor mill is in full swing once again.

Now, the most obvious hole on the Flames roster is in net. Former Ranger Cam Talbot did not play well down the stretch and at 34 years of age, the pending Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) may not be brought back. The Flames have David Rittich signed for one more year, but he’s not someone you want to stick with for the long term. It’s no secret that Alexander Georgiev has been linked to the Flames, but Calgary may be less interested in the netminder than many had initially thought.

Dustin Wolf, a 19-year-old Calgary Flames prospect drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 draft, was named the CHL’s 2020 Goaltender of the Year. The award goes to the top goaltender among the 60 teams in the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Wolf was awarded this honor just five days after USA Hockey awarded him the Dave Peterson Goaltender of the Year award. This award is annually given to the top American-born junior level goaltender. So, if there’s a sure thing for the Flames,  it’s Dustin Wolf.

The Calgary Flames may want to find a serviceable goaltender to bridge the gap between now and Wolf, which could be in only a season or two. That could be Georgiev or it could be Rittich, but there’s no reason to overpay now. Georgiev is an arbitration eligible Restricted Free Agent (RFA) and may not be worth his weight via trade and contract.

However, there is an additional issue. The Flames are in a difficult cap situation. They have only nine forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender signed for next season and they have just under $17 million in cap space. The Flames may have to clear a bigger contract or two if they want to field a deeper/complete roster. The problem is that they may have to sacrifice top talent.

NBCSports.com published an article on August 24th saying the Calgary Flames shouldn’t trade away key players, but there’s speculation that the Flames may not listen to reason and cut ties with one or two of their best players in order to meet salary and to shake up the ship.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins recent trade involving Kasperi Kapanen, this might just be the tip of the trade iceberg. This has already been an unconventional season, so we shouldn’t be surprised to see an unconventional off-season.

Let’s take a look at a few Calgary players rumored to be available.

Johnny Gaudreau

The man known as “Johnny Hockey” seems to have hinted at a divide between him and the Calgary Flames. Pre-pandemic, Johnny Gaudreau removed the Calgary Flames name from his Twitter page and the hockey world took note. Being from Salem, New Jersey, rumors have speculated about a tri-state reunion. However, for a number of reasons, although the Gaudreau rumors remain hot, the odds of him ending up in a Ranger uniform are slim.  More on that later.

At only 27 years of age, Gaudreau has plenty of quality hockey ahead of him and is only a year removed from tallying 36 goals and 99 points in 82 games played. The talented left-winger currently carries a cap-hit of $6.75 million through the 2021-22 season. With 445 points in 464 career games played, that’s more than a discount. For comparison, Kevin Hayes is making $7.14 million for the next seven years and he’s only produced 270 points in 450 career games… Yikes.

The main issue that Flames fans seem to have with Johnny Gaudreau is his “disappearance” during post-season play. In 30 playoff games, Gaudreau has only tallied 19 points and is a minus-8. His size and lack of physical presence don’t translate particularly well to playoff hockey, which ultimately makes Gaudreau the scapegoat.

What it would take:

• Vitali Kravtsov
• 2020 first round pick (from Carolina)
• Alexander Georgiev

Why the Rangers should do it:

They get better now. There may not be room for Kravtsov all said and done and the Rangers could package him in a deal that brings in a bonafide elite scorer. The fact of the matter is that the New York Rangers currently have a shorter window of success than the Flames. Artemi Panarin is New York’s window. Matthew Tkachuk is Calgary’s. Kravtsov would be given more leeway in Calgary and Gaudreau wouldn’t have to shoulder the brunt of the offensive responsibilities in New York.

Why the Rangers should not do it:

Prior to phase two of the NHL draft lottery, this trade made a lot more sense. Gaudreau is a skilled winger who wouldn’t have to be the number one scoring option in New York. However, with the expected drafting of Alexis Lafrenière, this trade seems dead in the water.

For starters, the Rangers depth at wing is already cumbersome. Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider already occupy the left wings on the first and second lines. You could switch someone from the left to the right wing, but Pavel Buchnevich and Kaapo Kakko are expected hold those slots (unless you trade Buchnevich…)

Jesper Fast might be an unrestricted free agent, but he’s a five time consecutive winner of the Players’ Player Award and will likely be brought back (if the price is right). As stated, Vitali Kravtsov is waiting in the wings. Brendan Lemieux provides sandpaper to the roster and Julien Gauthier may be young, but he brings fresh legs and a serviceable 6’4″ and 227 pound frame.

When you throw Alexis Lafrenière, yet another natural left-winger, into the fray, there seems to be very little room left for Johnny Gaudreau or his $6.75 million contract. Is it financially worth bringing Johnny Gaudreau to the New York Rangers? Just because there is an avenue for a potential trade, does it seem worth it? After two seasons at a manageable contract, Gaudreau will demand more money and another contract similar to that of Artemi Panarin could handcuff the franchise.

Listed at 5’9″ and 165 pounds (on a good day), Gaudreau serves a very specific slot. Had the Rangers not resigned Chris Kreider, this might make more sense, but the fact of the matter is that the New York Rangers aren’t in need of an additional top six winger; especially a winger not on a rookie contract.

They are however in desperate need of a center.

Sean Monahan

The most surprising Flame in the rumor mill is Sean Monahan. When was the last time you saw a team trade their first-line center? Tyler Seguin was traded prior to being the Tyler Seguin of today. Matt Duchene or Ryan O’Reilly, maybe? However, Duchene was behind MacKinnon at that point and Ryan O’Reilly hated playing in Buffalo (and Colorado). Jack Eichel seems to want out of Buffalo as well, but regardless, the point is that it rarely happens. In every example (minus Seguin) the player wanted out of the franchise, not the other way. The rumor is that the Calgary Flames are actively shopping their assistant captain. One of the reasons that may be is that after this season, Monahan’s contract has a modified-NTC.

In the NBC Sports article that I mentioned earlier, the author, Adam Gretz, highlights a very interesting statistic.

Gretz writes, “Since the start of the 2014-15 season both players (Monahan and Gaudreau) are among the top-50 point-per-game forwards in the league (minimum 100 games played). Players that produce like that don’t typically get traded unless there is a contractual issue, or their team overreacts and does something dumb. If you look at that list of top-50 scorers (forwards) you will find that only eight of them have been traded at any point in their careers. Those players: Artemi Panarin, Blake Wheeler, Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall, Mark Stone, Jakub Voracek, Phil Kessel, and Ryan O’Reilly.”

So, if Calgary is willing to do something “dumb”, the Rangers should at least pick up the phone if/when they call.

What it would take:

• Adam Fox
• Brett Howden
• 2022 First-Round Pick

Why the Rangers should do it:

Despite a down year, Sean Monahan is an elite-center who already has three 30-plus goal seasons under his belt at only 25 years of age. The Rangers need a player who can create opportunities other than Panarin and Zibanejad. Sean Monahan has proven he can do that at a top tier level.

Monahan and Mika Zibanejad are fairly equal in ability and could co-exist nicely. Monahan could lineup between Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich, while Zibanejad could center a line featuring Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko.  Sean Monahan’s 52.6% faceoff win percentage from this season would be far and away the best percentage on the Rangers roster. With a cap hit of only $6.375 for the next three seasons, the Rangers could easily move on from Ryan Strome, which they would have to do.

Why the Rangers should not do it:

You have to give talent to get talent. If the price is too high, which it probably will be, then this would simply be poor asset management. The New York Rangers would be giving up far too much talent for the young center. Outside of goaltending the biggest need for the Flames is on the blueline. Flames captain, Mark Giordano, is 36, his numbers are finally on a decline and he carries a NTC for the final two years of his contract. The Flames have four veteran defensemen (TJ Brodie, Travis Hamonic, Derek Forbort and Erik Gustafsson) with expiring contracts and need to make some decisions about them and quickly. I don’t see the Flames relinquishing Monahan for anything less than a young, NHL-proven defensemen. Tony DeAngelo will be too costly once resigned, Jacob Trouba isn’t going anywhere and Ryan Lindgren doesn’t have enough value to get the deal done. That leaves the Rangers most valuable young player, Adam Fox.

I’d like to be clear, there is no way in hell the Rangers trade Fox. Adam Fox might be the only untouchable defenseman on the Ranger’s roster. I think Calgary would ask for Fox, as they should. The Flames initially drafted Fox and upset the young skater enough for him to say that he would not play for them – hence the trade to Carolina. SO, what could the Rangers counter offer with?

Counter Offer A:

• Tony DeAngelo
• Brett Howden
• 2022 First-Round Pick

Though the Flames are tight on cap, signing DeAngelo for $6.5 million is cheaper than resigning both TJ Brodie and Travis Hamonic. The Flames could opt to resign only one of those players and then bring back Forbort and Gustafsson on agreeable contracts.

Counter Offer B:

• Brett Howden
• Nils Lundkvist
• 2022 First Round Pick
• Alexander Georgiev

If the Flames decide to go through a minor rebuild and shed some cap, this is the deal. As stated, their window is Matthew Tkachuk. This would be a no-brainer for the Rangers. They could turn around and recoup assets by trading away Ryan Strome. They could then attempt to offer DeAngelo a bridge deal until they can get the Marc Staal and Brandon Smith contracts off the books.

But, would Calgary be interested in either deal?

Though the need for a top six center is real, if the asking price for Monahan is in fact Fox, the New York Rangers front office should hang up the phone. Especially if a few other centers around the league wind up in the 2021 and 2022 free agency like they’re projected to.

Let us know what you think. Would you try and trade for any of these players?

Comment below.