Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
Ha.
Gaudreauvertime is active in the thread right now.
Tell us who you really are you coward.
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I would like to welcome
Gaudreauvertime Lewis Gross back to CP, haven't seen you since the last time you and Treliving were in hard negotiations. This time, Johnny has earned his free agency, and I will have no ill will toward him if he chooses to move closer to family.
I think Johnny needs to think big picture here. He can move closer to home now. But there is no team close to home that can offer him a competitive salary and at the same time be a Stanley Cup contender. So he must ask himself whether he is willing to give up the chance at a Stanley Cup in order to be closer to home now. Also, no team can offer him a spot on a line with linemates comparable to Lindholm and Tkachuk, so his stats will suffer if he moves on from the Flames. Finally, he needs to ask himself whether he wants to have that legacy of a franchise player who spent his entire career with the team that believed in him and gave him an opportunity to succeed when no other team would. His number would go to the rafters and he would be remembered as one of the all-time great Flames. And he would have 8 years to win the Stanley Cup with those Flames, who while they bowed out to the Oilers and the refs, are much closer to winning it all than most other teams in the league.
One other thing. If Gaudreau does want to cap off his career with a Stanley Cup victory, he should keep this in mind with his salary demands. He can ask for whatever he wants, but if the ask is lower, then the chance of continuing to surround him with champion-calibre teammates is better.
So, Lewis, what is it that Johnny really wants for the next 8 years? Money? More time with family? A chance to win the Cup? A place in franchise history? The Flames have a lot to offer Johnny, above just their ability to pay him a rich salary, and I hope you remind him of that as he is making his decision.