Where Could Johnny Gaudreau Be Headed If He Gets Traded?

With recent reports coming out of Calgary about a potential Johnny Gaudreau trade, it looks more and more evident every day that the Flames could be headed for a complete rebuild. With that being said, insiders have hinted Johnny Gaudreau will be traded before the 2020-21 NHL season. Gaudreau is an elite winger who has the offensive toolset of very little in the world. Although he had a down year in 2019-20, he can still produce at a very high level. Here are our top 3 trade destinations for Johnny Gaudreau.

Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens have been searching for that elite goal scorer ever since they traded Galchenyuk away. Gaudreau would be a good fit in Montreal. Some trade pieces that the Habs could send back are Ryan Poehling, Jesse Ylonen, a 2020 first pick (16th overall), and a 2020 second-round pick. Poehling’s a 6’2 two-way center, who spent the majority of the year in the AHL. Poehling, the former 25th overall pick in 2017, possesses all the tools that needed to play a good offensive and defensive game. But the transition has been difficult for Poehling, only registering 13 points in 36 AHL games and 2 points in 27 games in the NHL this year. A different environment may be helpful to his development. Jesse Ylonen is a winger playing for the Pelicans in Liiga over the past few years. He’s an offensively gifted winger whose best attributes are skating and shooting. He’s performed well in the Liga, getting 22 points in 53 games this year. Ylonen is reminiscent of T.J Oshie and looks to make the transition over to North America this season. Finally, the 16th overall pick would also go to the Flames. At this spot, they have a dilemma as to who they could take. They could pick up a winger or maybe reach for defense, but only time will tell.

Columbus Blue Jackets 

John Tortorella has made it clear he wants to win. One way to do that is to bring in an elite game-changing winger to help the Blue Jackets struggling offense. The assets that could be returned to Calgary is a 2020 1st, Kirill Marchenko and Josh Anderson. Kirill Marchenko, a pure goal scorer, put up 9 goals and 3 assists in Russia's top men's league (KHL). He’ll spend one more year in Russia but looks to be a stud wherever he goes. Josh Anderson is a good middle-six winger who was hurt in 2020. His relationship has dwindled between the front office due to the botching of a shoulder surgery keeping him out for 8 months instead of 2. Also, a 1st round pick, 21st overall, wouldn’t hurt the Flames either in a deep draft.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avs are like a fat kid at a candy store. They just keep eating and can't think ahead to what might happen next. At the moment, they are eating well. The Avs could offer Calgary, their in-division rival, Alex Newhook, a 2020 1st, and Samuel Girard for Gaudreau. This could entice them enough to make a deal. Newhook’s a great prospect that had an amazing freshman year at Boston College. Newhook registered 42 points in 34 games. A potential top-line center that no team could turn down. Girard is a great young defenceman with a big contract that will pay him $5,000,000 until the end of the 2026-27 season. This could benefit both teams because one is a shedding cap and the other gets 2 young talents. Newhook could play as a great 2C behind Monahan and Girard could be a great player to replace Giordano on the top pair in a few years. A late 1st round pick is still good and at the very least, it could be trade bait for someone else.

These trades may look like longshots now, but maybe a Gaudreau trade is possibly in the works. 

By: Jackson Pitts (Instagram @Jackson_Pitts04)

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