Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I don't blame Gaudreau for making a family decision. And, being a family decision of course his wife has a say, maybe a big one. It happens. It's why Mike Stone is here, not that he's a guy who had a lot of choices, but what he had was affected by that.
I do think that he probably gave Treliving some incorrect signals by indicating he'd be willing to stay in the right deal (something he's consistently said for three years at least), negotiating on contracts last summer and then essentially saying, "nah, let's wait until next year, but then we'll get to work on one" and by negotiating until the last minute here. It sounds to me like he (or maybe Gross) were either trying to raise the dollar amount being discussed just to take to other teams or get Treliving to make some absolutely crazy offer, like 8x$12+.
To the extent there was risk in not trading him last summer, it still seems like it was acceptable risk, even in hindsight. Based both on the mediocre return and the one season results. Like someone said, he became a one season rental.
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Just my take on things, but I think that the Flames were plan B for a while but he did not communicate that to the team. Instead, I think that he said all the right things and led the team to believe that he was willing to stay in Calgary long term. I suspect that Johnny was waiting for something to come along that would make his decision easy. The Flames completely make an outrageous offer - he stays. The Flames low-ball him - he leaves. The FA market low-balls him or he has no teams in the east - he stays. None of those happened.
In my view, he waited until the last minute to see if something would happen that would make his decision for him and he did not have to disappoint anyone. When that didn't happen (i.e., there is significant interest in the east at significant contracts and the Flames were making a significant offer) he was left with disappointing someone. I wish that he was honest with the Flames that they were plan B (the impression I got from Treliving's presser did not indicate that information was conveyed earlier as he seemed quite upset - just my impression before anyone argues). If Johnny did tell the Flames that they were plan B early, then I agree that it was an error not to trade him.