I'm not going to deny this situation sucks, but a lot of the things people are labelling as "typical Flames" are also typical of most, if not all other franchises.
This one just stings more because it's a big fish. The Flames could've sold low on Gaudreau last summer or signed him to long-term deal everyone would've hated at the time, or sold low after his career year this year as all it would've been for is early negotiating rights (and, clearly, no team needed them).
The UFA list is full of guys teams should've sold high on. Tampa, Florida, New York, Carolina... every contender is guilty of it. And so is every other team. We can excuse Colorado because they won the cup.
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