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Old 01-29-2022, 08:15 AM   #1087
TOfan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald View Post
Few things:



The point being that good teams manage their assets well and don't let their top talent walk without a contingency plan in place. Losing a top player for nothing is crippling blow to the team, especially one as asset poor as the Flames. With the conditions under which the Canadian teams are forced to play, they can't afford to let their best players walk away for nothing.




A little window dressing. The fact is that Treliving allowed Brodie and Hamonic to walk for zero return. What were considered two of the top four/five defensemen were removed from the team with no assets to show for it. That is a mistake.



Considering the time frame of the signings, and the small gap between the two, it is unlikely that the Flames made a snap offer to Tanev. They obviously saw him as a priority player and were focused on he and Markstrom first and foremost. This is also kind of the point. If you aren't sold on a player on your roster, and making him a priority to sign, then you should be making a move to recoup assets.



Does he though? Because there doesn't seem to be any indication that he does. Zero urgency allowed a very important date to slide by. This isn't just some bull#### self-imposed date, this is a date where the team loses all control over the player and where he can possibly be traded to. Instead of a 31 team trade pool, the number s trimmed to five. All control is now in the player's hands. The teams return is now dictated to them. Again, a big mistake.



I would say just the opposite. He had Markstrom and Tanev as the priorities, and Brodie as the backup plan. He had months to make a move on Brodie, but kept him on hold. That means his priorities were focused elsewhere. That was more of his plan. If he knew that Brodie was a second or third tier concern, then deal the soon to be UFA and get something out of the mix.



And I stand by that deal (there was retention suggested as well). At the time we saw Gaudreau headed in a flat to negative direction. There were strong rumblings of him being interested in getting back east. His value was based solely on his potential performance, which we were concerned about.
There was no way we could have predicted this season and it was trying to look down the line and see what the future would look like without Gaudreau. That deal would have accrued a top line RW playmaker with size, and then two quality youngsters to supplement our think prospect pool. Was t perfect? No. But it beats the hell out of what we're likely looking at if we're forced to trade him now. As it currently sits, Gaudreau controls if he will sign, and if he won't, who we get to trade him to. Because of the limited pool of teams, three assets in return is likely a pipe dream. The team's hands are now tied.



I disagree. What we have learned about Treliving is he tends to over-value his players and what they should likely return. We've heard about lots of players being dangled, but no deals being made. I think that is indicative of a guy who thinks his guys are worth more than the market will bear.



Desperation? Incompetence? Both? Because he is on the brink of losing, arguably, the organizations most prized on ice asset. I don't care who else he's discussed this with, the bottom line is he is responsible and accountable for managing the team's assets. No one else. Brad Treliving. Letting it get to this point does not instill confidence this is going to play out well for the team. Gaudreau is now on the radar of every team in the league and will only drive up the cost of the contract come July 1st (or whenever free agency is this summer).
Certainly don’t disagree in principle that teams should never let their top talent leave for nothing. All I know is if I were in Treliving’s shoes and it was my ass/reputation on the line, I would have a plan one way or the other or at the very least ownerships backing to have let the situation get to the point they find themselves in now. Based on the vast majority of comments so would most people. So why do would someone assume Treliving doesn’t? Doesn’t make sense. I doubt very much it has to do with desperation or incompetence. I’m a bit surprised you would suggest as such, really. Labelling people as incompetent when you are making these judgments from 35,000 feet is a pretty uninformed take. None of us know what conversations have been had between Gaudreau’s camp and the Flames. Seems to me Treliving has a lot more skin in the game than we do as fans, yet the fans seem to be the ones on the verge of panic attacks. What we do know is the Gaudreau family has been supportive/appreciative of the Flames and Gaudreau himself has come out publicly saying he would like to resign. Personally, I’m more concerned about Tkachuk and his motivations than Gaudreaau.

On Gaudreau’s season; ‘there was no way we could have predicted this season’ seems to be laying it on a little thick. Gaudreau is three seasons removed from finishing 4th in Hart voting and 99 points. He had a strong finish to last year, was headed into his UFA season, and, without question, playing with better line mates. Surprised it has been as good as it has? Yes. But shocked? No. I’m not suggesting I predicted this but we always knew Gaudreau was one of the leagues premier point producing/play driving LW’s. And he is still at an age where production is not expected to drop. Put in the right situation, he is elite.

I like you’re posts, Lanny, but I will say I think you’re way off on laying this solely at the feet of Treliving. You don’t think Edwards, or any of the owners for that matter, have ever picked up the phone to say ‘what’s going on with Gsudreau?’ Does Treliving just tell them ‘F off, I got this’? I find that extremely unlikely. Is Treliving running the Flames like Logan Roy runs Norstar??

After all, more than a few here believe it was the owners who hired Sutter because Treliving couldn’t have possibly done that. If that stands to reason, I’m sure they are negotiating with Gaudreau’s agent now. Then again, these guys just walked away from $290M of tax payers dollars, do maybe they are prepared to let Gaudreau leave for nothing.

Last edited by TOfan; 01-29-2022 at 08:20 AM.
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