Going to take some solace in him potentially playing on a bad team.
PHI/NJ will both be mediocre and below the PO line. The east has quite a separation between the top 8 and bottom 8 except for the islanders who may rebound.
Best scenario to win/compete was extending with his current team.
Flames would've had to retool or rebuild in 3 years when he would begin to be overpaid. That timeline is accelerated now, but at least they get that inevitable pain over with sooner and don't have to pay Gaudreau that sum well into his thirties.
Hard to take a lot of positives right now, but this gives the organization a nudge into making meaningful changes to a core that wasn't really getting the job done when it mattered.
Hopefully the bones of the next iteration of the team at better/stronger and built around the C position and not around a LW.
|