Trying to second guess or justify Gaudreau's decision is really not our place. Everyone is different and he is doing what he thinks is best.
What is disappointing is the time it took to communicate this decision to the club. He is the most important asset the club had and knew it. Players, coches, management, fans are all impacted by the decision and he knew this. If nothing else, you had Treliving and team negotiating until the very last minute in what turned out to be nothing but a waste of their time.
On the Flames side, you'd like to think that going the last twelve months presumably without a formal counter offer from the Gaudreau camp was a rather clear sign how this would end. Maybe they feel duped, I don't know. But the organization has to take responsibility for pushing all their chips in to the Gaudreau negotiations, taking it to the very brink and failing.
It's the real world and you get evaluated on outcomes, not process. They clearly had their plan A and didn't get it done.
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