This is about as grey an employment/contract issue as there could be.
The question really is, is it reasonable to prevent an individual with an impending expiring contract from interviewing for other positions? Does signing a term contract mean the individual is guaranteed to have an employment gap at the conclusion of the contract barring a renewal?
In nearly any other walk of life, it would certainly seem unreasonable, which goes back to the unenforceability of most NCCs.
Does having a meeting with representatives from another club breach the contract? I would imagine senior hockey people have networking dinners all the time (just like most other industries)...of course near-term employment would not be a focus of those meetings, but I think you could tiptoe during a preliminary meeting in the current situation to keep things technically above board.
Ultimately each party has incentive to manage their own reputation of professionalism. I think it is quite petty, and I'm not really sure what it says about the Flames if they think they can't trust Brad to act in good-faith, despite their desire to continue trusting him with the reins of the org?
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