Mailbag: Giroux's chances of returning to Flyers, Oilers goaltending

Here is the March 23 edition of the mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on Twitter using #OvertheBoards. Tweet your questions to @drosennhl.

If Claude Giroux wins the Stanley Cup, do you see him signing back with the Philadelphia Flyers? If he doesn't, could he test the market? What is his relationship like with Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher now after some rumored discourse in his departure from Philadelphia? --- @theashcity
This all depends on the conversations Giroux had with the Flyers, and especially Fletcher, before being traded to the Florida Panthers on Monday. You ask if the forward would sign with Philadelphia as a free agent in the offseason. My question is, do the Flyers want to, or was trading him the end of an era for an obvious franchise icon? The Flyers were focused on trading Giroux to his desired destination because he had control of the situation with a no-move clause. Now they have to figure out where they go from here, and if Giroux should be a part of that. The puck is essentially back in the Flyers' end of the ice. If they determine Giroux fits and want him back, they'll reach out to him. At that point, Giroux will have to decide what he wants. My guess is he'll want to test the market. And the status quo for the Flyers clearly cannot stay. They must retool. They have to build out a defense and style of play that can help goalie Carter Hart, who is too often hung out to dry. They need to figure out who is going to be their coach, after Mike Yeo replaced Alain Vigneault during the season. There are more decisions beyond that before they can even get around to free agents and the possibility of bringing back Giroux.
Do you see John Gibson being traded this offseason to the Edmonton Oilers or Toronto Maple Leafs? I'm surprised Edmonton didn't try to acquire a goalie. -- @GLaSnoST9
Don't assume the Oilers didn't try to acquire a goalie. NHL salary cap space is tight, and the goalie market after Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't strong. Perhaps Edmonton did not feel it was worth it to pay a price for a goalie who may not be better than who they already have: Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith. The Oilers are going to have to figure out their goaltending situation in the offseason and, yes, Gibson, the Anaheim Ducks goalie, should be a top target.

I think Gibson's availability will partially depend on how he feels about the Ducks continuing with a plan to rebuild. If Gibson doesn't want to see it through, Anaheim will likely want to move him. The Ducks might want to trade Gibson anyway. He's 28 years old and will have five years remaining on an eight-year contract. The Ducks are clearly looking to get younger at forward and defenseman to build around Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Jamie Drysdale and eventually
Mason McTavish
. They traded forwards Rickard Rakell (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Nicolas Deslauriers (Minnesota Wild), and defensemen Josh Manson (Colorado Avalanche) and Hampus Lindholm (Boston Bruins). Each can become an unrestricted free agent. The Ducks are going in a different direction, and trading Gibson could help fast-track the rebuild, depending on the return. It would also make room for goalie Lukas Dostal, a 21-year-old playing for San Diego of the American Hockey League. Dostal might need another year of development, but he's tracking to be in the NHL.
The Oilers and Maple Leafs make a lot of sense because each is unsure of their long-term plans at goalie. Gibson is a top-end No. 1. The Devils, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks could be in the market for a change, so there should certainly be a strong market for Gibson in the offseason.
What do you make of the New Jersey Devils for the most part standing pat at the trade deadline? What do we need to see from them in the future to take that next step to start competing for a playoff spot? -- @keithcaporelli
I was slightly surprised P.K. Subban wasn't traded. I thought there would be a market for him as a veteran defenseman on an expiring contract who can play on the third pair for a contending team. But general manager Tom Fitzgerald said Subban's $9 million salary cap charge was an issue. It probably was even if the Devils were willing to retain 50 percent of it.
I was also a little surprised there wasn't a market for forward Jimmy Vesey, also on an expiring contract. It's not as if the Devils would have gotten a major haul for either player, so standing pat isn't a major blow. In fact, keeping Subban and Vesey for the rest of this season allows the Devils to stay the course in building toward next season. Their big moves will come in the offseason, when they will likely try again to address their goaltending and add in other places through free agency and trades. They're in a good situation capwise. They need to re-sign forward Jesper Bratt, a pending restricted free agent (RFA), and decisions on potential RFA forwards Pavel Zacha, Jesper Boqvist and Miles Wood also have to be made.

Attempt to make the Max Domi trade make sense for Columbus Blue Jackets fans? -- @Zanner10
The Blue Jackets wanted to find a taker for Domi, a forward in the last season of a two-year, $10.6 million contract. They did not view him as part of their future and they're unlikely to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It wasn't easy because of Domi's $5.3 million salary cap charge. The Carolina Hurricanes scouted Domi and wanted a forward to put into their top nine. Domi scored one goal in his last 31 games with Columbus and scored 32 points (nine goals, 23 assists) in 53 games. He can produce offensively, plays with an edge, and can play center or wing. There's value in Domi, especially for a Stanley Cup contender like Carolina. But to make it work, the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes had to find another team that could take on some of Domi's salary. The Panthers obliged because they get something out of it.
The Blue Jackets traded Domi and a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to the Panthers for defenseman Tyler Inamoto, a 22-year-old who ended his playing career at the University of Wisconsin. Columbus retained 50 percent of Domi's salary, leaving Florida with the other half. Florida got the sixth-round pick as the incentive to help broker Domi to Carolina. The Panthers then traded Domi to the Hurricanes for forward Egor Korshkov, an unsigned prospect playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. It's possible Korshkov never plays in the NHL, so in the end, the Panthers really end up with the sixth-round pick, at least for now. In doing so, they retained 25 percent of their share of Domi's salary. Carolina then traded defenseman prospect Aidan Hreschuk to Columbus for Inamoto. Hreschuk is 19 years old and playing for Boston College. It's possible the Blue Jackets just liked him better than Inamoto.
Which team on the outside of the playoff bubble should be most excited by what they did at the trade deadline? -- @TheMillsyMan
It was a seller's market, so let's give some credit to the two biggest sellers, the Ducks and Seattle Kraken. Each team was clear in its intention: Get as many high draft picks as possible for players who weren't viewed as part of the future to use as currency for a rebuild in the offseason. The Ducks traded Lindholm, Manson, Rakell and Deslauriers, and have 12 picks in the first two rounds of the next three NHL Drafts, starting with two in the first round and two in the second round of the 2022 draft. The Kraken traded forwards Marcus Johansson (Washington Capitals), Calle Jarnkrok (Calgary Flames), Colin Blackwell (Maple Leafs) and Mason Appleton (Winnipeg Jets), and defensemen Mark Giordano (Maple Leafs) and Jeremy Lauzon (Nashville Predators). Seattle has 34 picks in the next three drafts, starting with 12 this year, including one in the first round and four in the second. They have three first-round picks and eight second-round picks in the next three years.
It will be shocking if the Ducks and Kraken make all those picks. Seattle general manager Ron Francis said that is not his intention. Some of these picks should and likely will be used in trades to acquire NHL-ready players. But if you're going to rebuild, or in the Kraken's case simply build from their inaugural season, you have to go all-in on it. Anaheim and Seattle did.
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