Quote:
Originally Posted by Icon
The note about not forcing him to have a decision before the draft doesn't necessarily mean they don't make the decision for him by trading him before/during the draft. The other GMs are going to be aware there's some uncertainty here, if they put up an attractive offer it may trump whether Lindholm wants to stay or not; he doesn't have a no-trade to block it.
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Totally agree here. Unless Lindholm is absolutely set on re-signing in Calgary, and doesn't care about winning there is little chance he would sign before the draft. Too many moving pieces to anticipate where the club will be next year, let alone 3-4 years down the road. If CConroy adopted such a deadline, that would basically amount to a concession that Lindholm was moving by the draft, and he'd be tying his own hands.
The issue is how much control is management willing to cede to Lindholm in driving the direction of the team. If he only re-signs in the event that he approves of moves that he sees as win-now deals, then management will likely have to cash in the future to get his signature on paper. If that is the scenario the Flames probably will have 3 years, tops, to win, after that there will be some major pain with their seasoned roster and lengthy deals. If they don't win a cup during that period and have pursued this path that fate will lie clearly on the shoulders of CConroy and Elias Lindholm.
I would have to believe management sees it this way, and is leaving themselves room to maneuver. It may be that Elias Lindholm is moved by Sunday, and he may sign an extension in a month, but putting a gun to his head at this point would likely only weaken the team's hand. If they enter the season with him unsigned, that would be a problem, and I would imagine that CConroy's actual deadline is a date between the draft and the opening of the season.