I would definitely be happy if Johnny came back but one of the long term deals has to be going the other way. Huberdeau would be my preference but I would be fine with Kadri as well. I think Kadri makes more sense since they need a center, and allegedly targeted him first before realizing they had a shot at Gaudreau. Biggest snag is that Kadri would say no to that trade. I don’t think he wants out and enjoys playing in a Canadian market. He had a chance to go there for more money. I know he turned down Calgary once in a trade before saying yes to a co tract but he had $49M reasons to say yes the second time.
I could maybe see Huberdeau saying yes because of how terrible it has gone here and going back east and getting to play with Fantilli could be enough for him to sign off. 2 more years of term and $750k higher cap hit leads me to think the Flames add something if it were possible.
As for Johnny I did hear something along the lines of he and his family regret their decision but it was also not long after Sutter was fired and aconroy was hired here and Babcock was hired there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt the same way.
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