Trade One
The New Jersey Devils would need to give a decent amount to Calgary for them to hand over Johnny Hockey, but it might not be as much as you think. The Flames have two things working against them in their efforts to trade Gaudreau. One is they got smoked by the Dallas Stars and Gaudreau wasn’t his normal self, then there’s the fact that he has only two years left on his current deal. That is why a trade like this might get it done.
Pavel Zacha would be a good third or fourth-line center in Calgary. He would be able to kill some penalties for them as he is one of the best pure penalty killers in the league. He would also be able to just take the pressure off of being a former sixth-overall pick if he went to a new team with new expectations. He would be going to a pretty good team and he might be able to play much better there than he has in New Jersey.
If the Devils gave them their first-round pick that originally belonged to Vancouver, Calgary would have the chance to select a really good player in a very deep draft. That is a pretty good return for a guy coming off a down year with two years left on his deal. Some of the trades that the Devils have made lately have seen them not give up that much and this would be one of those for a guy who is so gifted.