Flames shrug off deadline gossip: ‘Everything’s just a rumour until it happens’ – The Athletic

It’s often as simple as connecting dots. Noticing that Team A, in a playoff position, needs a depth centre. Seeing that Team B, the conference’s boot-scraper, has a spare pivot.

Voila. A trade could happen. Probably won’t. But could.

Scuttlebutt sometimes carries a little more heft. A whisper from a person in the know — or, at least, a person who knows a person who knows a person in the know. Yeah, I’m hearing Team C is shopping So-and-So. Find another dot. Connect. Boom.

Then there is the mud-at-the-wall gang. Keep flinging patties until one sticks. Occasionally, it does.

Rumours.

They’re impossible to avoid. And, at this time of year, with the NHL trade deadline nearing, every crumb qualifies as a clue. Like the other day’s mysterious modifications to Johnny Gaudreau’s verified account on Twitter. Apparently, “Calgary Flames” had been removed from his @johngaudreau03 bio — folks…