Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fonz
The NYI were 7th in their division and sellers at the trade deadline. Tavares strongly implied he were re-signing, otherwise he’d have been dealt to a contender and would have net a massive return. He lied to management about his UFA intentions - burnt them on his way out.
The Flames were 1st in their division and widely agreed to be a cup contender. Whether Gaudreau were re-signing in Calgary or not was irrelevant - he was absolutely not being dealt either way.
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It's just a massive bungle by NYI - if he won't put down ink you gotta move him.
NYI were basically one of 5 teams competing for the last wildcard spot; day before TDL:
NJD .580 (WC 1)
CBJ .540 (WC 2)
FLA .525
CAR .516
NYI .515
DET .500
CBJ had 2 more pts and 1 game in hand. NYI was 0-2-1 in their last 3 games before TDL; 4-7-2 since the all star break.
The end result:
CBJ .591 97 pts WC1
NJD .591 97 WC2
FLA .585 96
CAR .506 83
NYI .488 80
DET .445 73
NYI went 6-10-3 after the TDL. Wilting like that probably wasn't particularly inspiring for Tavares to stay, but it was moronic for Snow to cling to such false hope. Any anger towards Tavares was misdirected.
FWIW TOR finished with 105 pts (3rd in ATL, 5th in EC, 8th in league) before losing in hilarious fashion to higher seeded BOS.
I've advocated for trading Gaudreau since before TDL 2020, but I think it would have been silly to move him this year. I think everyone MMQBing right now would have lost their minds if he was traded.