Originally Posted by devo22
terrible news to wake up today and I haven't fully digested it yet, even after a few hours. It's a dark day for the franchise for sure. I'm sure most of the things I'm about to write have been written many times in this thread already, but I don't have the time to go through 60 pages.
Johnny obviously has every right to go to free agency, but the way he and his camp have played this doesn't sit right with me. If his agent comes out and says "it's not about money, it's about family", then why string the Flames along until the very end and engage in these negotiations in the first place? If your heart is set on going home, by all means, knock yourself out. But it would have been fair to both the franchise and the fanbase, who have rolled out the carpet for him and his family from the very get go and who have shown them nothing but love over the years, to communicate this early so the Flames can plan ahead. The way his camp has played this, no matter the intentions, is a big F U to the organization and the worst case scenario, no matter how you spin it. Again, he's obviously entitled to do this, but I would have hoped for a different outcome after spending almost a decade in this organization.
as others have noted, the Flames need to learn from this. No more good faith negotiations, but protecting the franchise over everything else. If a star player is one year away from UFA, you offer a contract, set a deadline and trade the player for assets if the player doesn't sign. As a small-market Canadian team, you simply can't afford to be Columbus North and lose those players for nothing. Trading a star player for assets might sting, but it's nothing compared to losing them for nothing.
just a disappointing situation all around. Not sure Treliving could have played this any worse, but Johnny's camp was a willing dance partner in all of this. It is what it is ... I wish Johnny all the best on a personal level, but in terms of hockey, I'm childish enough to hope his new team will never anything. As for the Flames, I'm just really scared of what might happen later today ... there is no doubt in my mind that they will want to stay the course and win now, which probably means a terrible UFA contract or two. The right course of action would be trying to trade Tkachuk and hit the reset button, but I doubt this is the direction they will want to go. Next few years are going to be bleak.
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