[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

Why is it stupid for someone to suggest he might want to go home? Just cause it doesn't fit into some of your fanboy rhetoric does not mean you have to #### all over the OP and his suggestion.

The problem here is that the scenario is just not very feasible. There is a massive difference between a hockey player who "misses home" and one who is determined to play there. The OP used Hamonic's trade request from early in the 2015–16 season as an analog, but this situation is not really applicable since 1) Hamonic's request was prompted by an illness in his family, and 2) he ultimately rescinded that trade request when things at home improved. The OP is so broadly construed that we may as well insert the name of every other player on the Flames roster:

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

Hypotheticaly lets say Sean Monahan requests a move closer to home similar to Hamonic in the recent past...

Hypotheticaly lets say TJ Brodie requests a move closer to home similar to Hamonic in the recent past...

Hypotheticaly lets say Sam Bennett requests a move closer to home similar to Hamonic in the recent past...

Hypotheticaly lets say Dougie Hamilton requests a move closer to home similar to Hamonic in the recent past...

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

Johnny wanting to go home is very plausible. I would not be surprised to see him traded at some point in his career. Maintaining Monahan,Bennett And Gaudreau along with our latest potential star draft pick is not really feasible if all pan out the way some see on here. The topic is a fair one to discuss just as much as any other.

Again, there is a world of difference between a player "wanting to go home," and a player who actually takes steps to play closer to home. I am fairly certain that virtually every player would prefer to play close to their home, especially in their late-teens and early-twenties. But how many of these players with RFA
status actually take the initiative to get there? Has there ever been a single player to do so? This is something that occasionally happens with UFA players, but that itself is an entirely different situation.

Whether or not the Flames are able to retain all their young stars is another matter entirely, and not really worth speculating about at this stage. In the scenario you propose it is not something that will need to be addressed until near the end of Tkachuk's ELC, which is at least three years away. So much can and will happen in the space of three years that it makes the point entirely futile.

Edit- and no where in his post did he mention a timeline. It's simply a what if at anytime. People reading it as if it's a hold out hypothetical that Johnny won't sign unless he's traded are the ones creating that storyline not the OP.

Well, it may not have been explicitly stated, but the implication is sure there in the OP that this is a discussion about a trade in the event of a contract impasse or a holdout:

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

...Whats his value? Does he have more value with a bridge deal or a long term deal? Do you let a trade partner talk to him about a potential deal and trade him unsigned if he holds out?...

Of course, it is possible that Gaudreau is eventually traded, but how can anyone even speculate about his trade value in a potential deal that might be two or three years away? No. The OP clearly had in mind a discussion about Gaudreau's current trade value in the potential event that he and the Flames are unable to come to terms on a new contract this autumn.