Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Not how I see it.
A guy that is very process driven is well aware of pressure points and timing when managing assets.
Every team has players walk. Every team locks up players.
So he passed the 5 team deadline, are you saying he was unaware of it? Wasn't sure what it meant? Didn't know that going by it meant less leverage?
I find all of those tough to see.
They let it go by for a reason, I think we can agree on that.
He either thinks a contract is coming, or decided himself or was told that it's worth the risk vs the team being poor this year.
So you think Coleman called Gaudreau, Gaudreau said "I don't know buddy" or "none of your business" or "I'm testing the market" and he signed anyway?
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I think that as long as the Flames offered the best term/money for Coleman, Gaudreau's answer didn't matter. He could've said something like we are still working on it but are far apart. It's a business and players know it. Just about any player without a full NTC can be moved at any point. Also, Coleman already has two cups, maybe playing with Gaudreau wasn't a factor. We simply don't know.
I still think it is more likely than not, that the Flames sign Gaudreau. That said, we can always trade him at the deadline. If he really wants out I'm sure he wouldn't mind going to a contender for a couple of months.
As for the 5 team deadline, I'm not sure how much time there was between when the Flames could sign Gaudreau to an extension, and the deadline itself. It was probably days or weeks. Which is a very short time to finalize a deal, even if you were having discussions in the year prior. I'm not too worried about it.