Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
Everything you say is likely spot on.
But here's the rub,
Unless they have a handshake agreement in hand and are just waiting to announce it for some unknown reason, he has now lost all leverage in the situation.
JG can simply decide he no longer wants to sign for what was agreed upon, or heard through the back channels what another club is willing to do next off season, or just use the new powers he has as leverage of his own for a new deal. Doesn't mean it will happen, but it certainly could. This is simply the ugly side of the pro sports business.
This needed to be settled one way or the other prior to the entry draft. It was as clear as day that the team would lose their negotiating power on the 28th...period. This is just a fact.
If there really is not a deal in place, IMO that has to be the last straw and BT needs to be jettisoned ASAP before he makes panic deals that would hurt the club even further in an attempt to save his job.
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Yes, I guess it is possible Gaudreau and his agent could pull the carpet from out from under the Flames feet, but I doubt it. Here’s why:
The NHL community of executives and agents is relatively small. Reputations matter, a lot. So if Lewis Gross, Gaudreau and the Flames have a deal in principle, which I think is likely, and the Gaudreau camp decides now to change the conditions in a way that screws the Flames over, GM’s and front offices around the league will take note of that. The relationships agents have with GM’s is important and trust is an important aspect to their reputation. If Gross wants a reputation of being untrustworthy, that will only complicate his own future negotiations, as well as his clients. It’s a self-canabalizing move.
I also find it hard to believe that after public statements made by Gaudreau that he wants to stay, he would now change his perspective or the circumstances at this point. Trust is also important between the player and the team/organization.
To me, all this fretting over Gaudreau’s status is blown out of proportion. Just my two cents, but I bet there are probably two deals on the table for Gaudreau that both sides have agreed to in principle. One is probably a 7 year deal and the other 8. Should the Flames land Eichel, perhaps they go the 8 year route to help keep the cap hit slightly lower. If not, they go 7. Pure speculation on my part.
At the end of the day, I’m betting that there is good will and trust between the two parties and the July 28th date doesn’t mean much be cause both sides are on the same page. The other reason why I don’t think that date is hugely important is because there is next to no rumours, or even speculation, outside of this forum that I can find that says Gaudreau intends to test the market. You would have thought Eric Francis would be going bananas by now (maybe I’ve missed it. I tend to ignore most of his stuff). I haven’t seen anything from Friedman, CJ, Seravelli, MacKenzie, Dreger, or anyone. It has been quiet and that is fine from a Flames perspective.
Tkachuk, on the other hand, is a much bigger question mark in my mind. The Flames need to know where his head is at.