[Signing] Gaudreau to Columbus (7 x $9.75 million)

[rhino]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

JG's wife is from the same area as him. It's been suggested she has family in Columbus which I took to mean extended family.

Philly publicly withdrew at a pretty early stage.

I'm still not sure Gaudreau had any issue with Calgary per se. It seems clear he wanted to be in the US and closER to home.

The main thing people are upset about is that he seemed to string Calgary along for reasons we can only guess at. And at worst, he actually set out a demand for a 10.5 contract and the Flames agreed, only to have him go silent and then at the last minute say he still wasn't signing.

I believe at the end of the day Johnny wanted to be in a place where once he leaves the rink its less intense for him. Playing in Canada or a major hockey city in the U.S. is not for everyone.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Question for everyone dissecting Johnny's press conference - was he ever particularly comfortable doing this kind of media? Post-game interviews are a bit of a different thing, and over time he would have developed some comfort with the local reporters and process...I can just see how this would be a bit of an overwhelming situation for someone with his personality...

It would be a complete nightmare imo.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Murph

I blame the 20-something women of Calgary for this entire schmozzle.

The real villains in this whole saga.

[GirlySports]

Not wanting to play in Canada is fine, either for the border restrictions, travel, taxes, fanbase, media, weather, lots of players don't play in a lot of places for a lot of reasons. And getting to free agency, players earn that right. But what has happened after Gaudreau officially said no to Calgary has been pretty goofy.

[Burning Beard]

Dude was fun to watch but if he cares so little about winning that he can't even bother to know who plays centre on the team he just signed with for 7 more years then I'm glad he isn't around. What a bizarre scenario. Can you imagine he was given the C here? Ooooff.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Azure

Edwards being involved at all creates a strange vibe for the entire organization. Why have a GM at all if the owner is going to deal with players directly?

As an owner of any business, you hire people to fill different roles. And you have to step back and let them do their jobs, or you never really escape being an owner/operator.

However, no matter how much trust you have in your employees, when the biggest decisions come along, the ones that have direct, significant impact on your organization, of course you are going to get involved.

[oldschoolcalgary]

I think Johnny was genuinely torn - I do believe that his wife had a big say in things however as well (and I don't begrudge her for that either)

I mean people say Europeans play away from home all the time, which is true, however, the pay differential between the swedish elite league and the NHL isn't even comparable... The KHL has higher salaries for sure, but there are Russians that do stay there or use it as a bargaining level.

I think when that offer of 10.5 was on the table, Johnny would have happily signed it, but his wife had misgivings, especially being someone that was about to have a child, undoubtedly wanted to be closer to family and not deal with an international border. And the negotiations took a long time because Johnny was hoping to convince her to stay....

Money, in this case, wasn't the motivation

Maybe its just a defense mechanism, but I think Johnny was genuine in saying that he enjoyed his time here... Calgary isn't some cosmopolitan mecca, but its a nice place to live and raise a family. Safe, clean, reasonable close to the mountains, great restaurant scene.

I think eventually we may find out the reasons why...

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The whole thing is a bit weird.

Columbus being the landing spot.

No bonus money or front loading of the contract.

Philly seemingly not even attempting to sign him.

I do think there was more potentially going on behind the scenes than we are privy too.

For a team that supposedly would love Gaudreau, Philly made some stupid moves to make sure it couldn't happen. First time in a long time I didn't think Edmonton has the worst GM in the league.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

What must Philly fans think ?

With pretty good reason to believe an elite talent in Gaudreau may actually want to come there, and only one year of JVR left at 7 M, they commit over 10 million long term, 5.1 to Rasmus Rostolainen and then trade for locker room poison Tony deAngelo

If Gaudreau we can speculate may have taken a bit less, say just over 9 million to join Philly, that would be only a couple million north of the over 7 million that they are paying Kevin Hayes

Yikes

I and many of you on CP would be a better GM than Chuck Fletcher

I would bet that if he had just come out at the end of the season and said that for family reasons he was going to test free agency and was hoping to be closer to home somewhere back in the NE, he would be signed by Philly now and he would have left Calgary with good will and thanks for the many good years.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Burning Beard

Dude was fun to watch but if he cares so little about winning that he can't even bother to know who plays centre on the team he just signed with for 7 more years then I'm glad he isn't around. What a bizarre scenario. Can you imagine he was given the C here? Ooooff.

In the end a bullet dodged. But this whole thing is one of the weirder Flames stories, even having known that he was probably leaving for the NE USA.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

For a team that supposedly would love Gaudreau, Philly made some stupid moves to make sure it couldn't happen. First time in a long time I didn't think Edmonton has the worst GM in the league.

Supposedly is the key here. Maybe it was a one-sided romance.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

The whole 'inside the room' Murray did this or that stuff - I take it all with a grain of salt. I doubt there was 20 guys in the room and whatever information we are getting here is coming 3rd or 4th hand.

People are just believing whatever story they want to fit their narrative:
- Murray sucks and ruined it
- Gaudreau's an idiot and doesn't know what he's doing
- Gaudreau's an evil guy and wanted to screw over the Flames
- Gaudeau's an mindless buffoon and his wife/family dictate what he does
- Gross is a terrible agent and ruined the negotations and screwed over Gaudreau
- Treliving sucks and low balled him and got Gaudreau pissed at him

There are all out there for you to believe whatever you want because no one really knows what happened and we are all unlikely to know.

Yes, and discussing these possibilities is literally how people hope to gain more understanding.

But you're right - why bother discussing anything? Let's all put our hands, shout "I don't know!" and call it a day.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I would bet that if he had just come out at the end of the season and said that for family reasons he was going to test free agency and was hoping to be closer to home somewhere back in the NE, he would be signed by Philly now and he would have left Calgary with good will and thanks for the many good years.

100%

Our management team was left sitting on their hands during one of the busiest drafts ever and the week leading into free agency. For leverage. This is what I’m upset about.

[2macinnis2]

Originally Posted by Burning Beard

Dude was fun to watch but if he cares so little about winning that he can't even bother to know who plays centre on the team he just signed with for 7 more years then I'm glad he isn't around. What a bizarre scenario. Can you imagine he was given the C here? Ooooff.

You’re seeing the reason he wasn’t given the C.

He was a fan favorite and very fun to watch. From PR end probably hard to trade. Otherwise hard to see how selling on this guy a while ago wouldn’t have been the smart move, by those who knew him best.

[CliffFletcher]

Gaudreau really didn’t have many options. As far as we know only five teams expressed an interest in signing him: CGY, NYI, NJD, PHI, and CLB. CGY was the only one outside the Northeast U.S. - clearly the rest of the league knew he didn’t want to play anywhere else.

CGY had already pitched an offer that Gaudreau refused. CBJ reached out to him right away. NJD as well. But once they got a sense of the market for clearing cap space, NYI and PHI dropped out.

That left CBJ and NJD. CBJ offered 9.75. NJD offered ‘something in the nines.’ So probably lower than CBJ’s offer. There may have been personal reasons for not choosing NJD, but it also could have simply been that CBJ offered more money. Since Gaudreau was rumoured to be open to signing with PHI - where scrutiny would have been intense, it’s hard to credit the speculation that he chose CBJ to be out the limelight. They probably just offered the better deal than the one offered by the only other team in the running.

That also explains why he signed quickly. With only two teams in the running because of regional restrictions and a bad market for clearing cap, there was nothing to be gained from waiting it out.

[dissentowner]

I will be glad when this thread runs it's course and I don't have to see it anymore. Sick of seeing anything about Johnny Turncoat.

[DinnerDog]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Gaudreau really didn’t have many options. As far as we know only five teams expressed an interest in signing him: CGY, NYI, NJD, PHI, and CLB. CGY was the only one outside the Northeast U.S. - clearly the rest of the league knew he didn’t want to play anywhere else.

CGY had already pitched an offer that Gaudreau refused. CBJ reached out to him right away. NJD as well. But once they got a sense of the market for clearing cap space, NYI and PHI dropped out.

That left CBJ and NJD. CBJ offered 9.75. NJD offered ‘something in the nines.’ So probably lower than CBJ’s offer. There may have been personal reasons for not choosing NJD, but it also could have simply been that CBJ offered more money. Since Gaudreau was rumoured to be open to signing with PHI - where scrutiny would have been intense, it’s hard to credit the speculation that he chose CBJ to be out the limelight. They probably just offered the better deal than the one offered by the only other team in the running.

Isn't it reported that Gross called Jarmo and he was kind of shocked? Don't think the bolded is true.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by 2macinnis2

You’re seeing the reason he wasn’t given the C.

He was a fan favorite and very fun to watch. From PR end probably hard to trade. Otherwise hard to see how selling on this guy a while ago wouldn’t have been the smart move, by those who knew him best.

I only post about hockey on here and never tried to slag the guy on here but all over the internet you would see people defending how competitive he was and how much he wanted to win and I think those are the people who are the most pissed about this. To me I always saw him as fun to watch (when he was "on") but also pretty easy to take out of the game. I honestly feel the Flames will become an even tighter checking team and a bigger pain in the ass to play against with him leaving.

[direwolf]

Can we just close this thread already? Whatever happened behind the sccenes, who gives a crap. It's over. Time to move on.

[bc-chris]

quote is not working...


both from Heavy Jack:

It’s the way that it happened though EE, can’t blame the fans who invested a near decade in the guy. I mean it’s not every off-season a team loses a 100+ point player to UFA, in fact it’s the first time that’s ever happened so I can understand why some posters are upset. With him waiting until the 11th hour and potentially reneging in a demand that was met by the Flames and its even easier to understand the sourness around here. If Johnny owed the Flames and it’s fans nothing which he demonstrated not with his decision alone but how he went about making it then the Flames and it’s fans certainly don’t owe Gaudreau good luck wishes and roses on his way out the door. The guy hasn’t even said thank you the proper way yet, I mean how many upset 5 to 10 year old Johnny fans are there in Calgary? It’s like he hasn’t even considered them.

Just because you’ve ‘moved on’ doesn’t mean that’s an as easy thing to do for the next fan. Your showing a lot of compassion towards Gaudreau and his family and their decision which is fine, show some too though for the thousands and thousands of crushed flames fans who clearly feel blind sided by this. Again for us adults it’s a on to the next era of heartbreak with this team but I really do feel for the young Flames fans out there who were treated to a season that I never had the pleasure of seeing at a young age only to see their hero bounce a month or so later. Big hugs to those younger flames fans who are undoubtedly crushed by this.

to say my 9 year old daughter is crushed is an understatement. becuz of johnny her favourite number is 13. she loves sitting with her brother and i watching flames games while intently watching for 13 to be on the ice. as it got closer to her birthday this past march, matthew (who is 6) told me he wanted to get his sister a johnny shirt - so we made her one and it was his present to her on her birthday. he was so proud of his present and she was sooo excited...



IMG_2813 by bc-chris, on Flickr


when she found out he left she asked if he still wore #13... becuz that's her favourite number and she needed to find out if she now needed a new favourite number (ha!). then she asked it if was alright for her to still cheer for johnny and the blue jackets. obviously this was on her mind so much she even asked my wife last night, "mommy, are you sure daddy is ok if i still cheer for johnny? will he still love me if i cheer for both the flames and the blue jackets??"
we've done everything we can to reassure her that it's totally fine for her to keep cheering for johnny - but it's amazing to see how much one hockey player can affect a kid.