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Originally Posted by Enoch Root
However, your second paragraph goes way too far, as your conclusions usually do. You suggest the Flames should have known and should have dealt with it. They can only 'know', and thus deal with it, if the player relates that it is an issue. But by all accounts, that was not the case. Gaudreau kept the Flames fully on the line right until the end, and left them feeling there was a real chance that he would stay - and who knows, maybe there was, as he seemed genuinely conflicted.
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Yes, the Flames should have known this. They should have known what made the guy tick and appeal to those aspects of his personality. If the Flames are not having a sports psychologist to work with these guys and get inside their heads to know how they tick and what motivates them, they aren't doing things right. But based on the mental weakness of the team as a whole, this is a distinct possibility, but I digress. There is more to convincing someone with extrinsic motivators. You want to sell someone on something, appeal to their intrinsic motivators and show how you align with those. We know the Flames backed up the Brinks truck, but the extrinsic motivator was not what drove the player.
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Gaudreau's side led the Flames on. I don't hold animosity towards them for that, as they were within their right to do so, and doing so improves their bargaining position. It is what it is, but suggesting the Flames are at fault for that is an over-reaction.
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Of course the Flames are at fault. Jesus, they are making an $80M+ investment, don't you think they should do due diligence and understand the people they are investing in? If you're trying to woo someone it is your responsibility to know them and appeal to what drives them. Obviously the Flames thought it was one thing when the reality was it was another. Gross did his job in escalating the money angle, but I wonder how many times the Flames actually sat down with Johnny and actively listened to what he had to say and what motivated him? I think this is where things failed. The two sides were never on the same page about what was driving Gaudreau and the Flames made it out to be all about money and legacy. Both were wrong, but the Flames shoulder most of the blame because they were the ones making the investment and not completing the due diligence to understand their investment.