Quote:
Originally Posted by Bonded
Easy to say in hindsight where we know he didn't perform up to his contract but can you imagine if he put up another 90-100 point season and then walked?
It was pretty much commit to him in that offseason or trade him.
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Yup there were likely three options on the table:
Sign him to that $10.5M x 8 contract (no way Walsh was taking less than what was already mentioned as the offer to Gaudreau)
or
Go into the season with the risk that you're either moving him at the deadline or he can potentially walk as a UFA.
or
Flip him right after that trade
Would have really been interesting to gauge what a team like Carolina or St.Louis that reportedly missed out on Tkachuk might have been willing to offer for Huberdeau.
But that wasn't what Edwards, Treliving, and the org wanted to do. They wanted to signal they could still compete and that they were an attractive place for players. They read the cards wrong though for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus
If you're a GM and you are copy and pasting a contract for an entirely different player from outside the organization that you clearly have very little read on simply to save face, you aren't worth your weight in the least.
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Huberdeau and Walsh held all the cards there, and no way they were taking less than what was publicly rumored to have been offered for Gaudreau.
Huberdeau could have forced a trade if he really wanted or just said "I'm going UFA no matter what". Remember the narrative around the time was that the Flames had to convince "Superstar Huberdeau" to come and want to stay in Calgary.
Stating otherwise is all hindsight.