Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny01
Johnny had 99 pts in 2018/2019. From the start of the season until the end of January he scored 73pts in 51 games which had him pacing for 117pts over the full season. He gets 26pts in his final 31 games and follows that up with 58pts in 70 games and 49pts in 56 games which works out to 133pts in 157 games or an average of 69pts per 82 games. That production was for nearly two and a half seasons so when those conversations are happening are the Flames even considering going $9.5M for 8 years? Johnny was always dynamic offensively but had a reputation of being pushed around in the playoffs and being a liability defensively.
Is it really a huge failure after watching him for 7 years to not think he was going to put it together for a full 82 games and score 115pts while flashing a 2 way game we had never seen before under any coach before Darryl? Johnny earned what the Flames offered him but had he got $9.5x8 or more after scoring at a 69 point pace for 2.5 years I think a lot of people would have ripped that contract apart at the time.
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Again, I don’t know where these numbers are coming from. It’s like everyone is randomly generating some arbitrary cap hit they don’t like to make him too expensive to justify re-signing.
In terms of his scoring woes, I thought he struggled for a portion of 18-19 and most of 19-20. I actually thought he was great in the 2021 shortened season minus that stretch when Darryl was hired. That team had serious challenges scoring and I thought Gaudreau was one of the lone bright spots in what was a disastrous season.
But ultimately, stats are just stats. They can fluctuate in many ways depending on your team, your linemates, your situation and etc. You have to know your player and you need your pro scouting staff to look beyond what’s just on the surface. That’s what these guys get paid to do what they do, they’re supposed to be able to evaluate talent at a level far better than you or I and for myself, I always thought Gaudreau was one of the best line drivers in the entire league. His ability to create something out of nothing was rare and I would’ve easily paid for this.