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

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

The non-stop flight from Columbus to Philly is 90 mins. The connecting flight to Philly from Calgary is 7 hours + customs.

The connecting flight to Philly from Newark does not even involve an aeroplane. (The connecting flight to Philly from Philly can be done by standing still, but that offer fell off the table because Chuck Fletcher bungled.)

Incidentally, there are direct flights from Calgary to Newark, and they do not take anywhere near 7 hours. I am informed that they are scheduled to take about 4.6 hours, which leaves more than enough time for the extra driving distance.

If this were really about the family, Gaudreau would not have reduced his distance-from-home from 2,000 miles to 400; he would have reduced it from 2,000 miles to nearly zero. He had an offer on the table from the Devils that was nearly as good as the one from Columbus, and by one report, better. There was supposedly a similar offer from the Islanders.

So after turning down more money to be close to home, he turned down multiple offers close to home to get more money – but still less than the first offer he turned down.

He screwed up – massively.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by iggyntangs

Take this for what it's worth, but here's what I heard from a source (close to the Flames organization, I'm sure biased).

But earlier Tuesday, Gross came up with an ultimatum offer that said the Flames had to match, take it or leave it otherwise Gaudreau would test free agency.

The Flames by mid-day, met the offer to a tee and Gross and Gaudreau went radio silent for the rest of the day.

Came back hours before the FA deadline and were informed Gaudreau was testing FA (because of his family, wife specifically) to move out East.

Edwards was part of either that or one of these final calls (believe Treliving had a separate private call with Johnny directly after as well). But I'm the Edwards call, he flipped out and called out Johnny for playing games, wasting their time and handcuffing them, in a really unprofessional manner to do this after they met their exact ask.

The part I'm personally speculating about now is this is probably why Johnny hasn't really addressed The Flames, fans and etc. directly yet, likely very stung by the whole ordeal but I also think he knows he really botched this.

Last piece I'm personally speculating about is that I do not think Columbus was very high on his list but his wife was very open to it, especially after everything else fell thru on their top destination(s).

Take the above for what you will.

End of the day he didn't stand up for himself and he knows it. Its fine to throw in the towel on Calgary if AHS was that bad of an experience for her, but to then not land on a team around your home turf and have to give that up too for Columbus, just because it was approval worthy? At least find a compromise there. It's his life though, but that's undoubtedly going to suck later.

When CBJ inevitably sucks from a hockey perspective for most of the duration of it he's not going to be a very satisfied guy with his hockey decisions. Hopefully the family stuff works out for him well. Columbus seems like Calgary used to be. Probably a good environment. But.... he done goofed on the hockey side of things.

Man, just what a ####y way to conclude the relationship between player and team that was entirely preventable even if he didn't land here.

The Flames even gave him his alleged terms. It's just negotiating in bad faith. Pulled the rug out from under the team. Even if he didn't mean to, he did. Clarity with his wife and then subsequent clarity with the team would've saved all of the lingering bad taste and burnt bridges.

Without question, Johnny didn't step up here and communicate and he doesn't have any one else to blame. This is why communication is essential.

[combustiblefuel]

John gaudreau has not even once thank calgary fans once since his decision . That's it .. end of discussions. I can't name another player that hasn't done that . Pretty sure Gudbranson has even thanked the fans. .

John gaudreau can't even make a thank you for video for the fans that gave him a chance. .. let that set in ... jes made multiple videos twll8ng columbus he wants to be there but none for a market that let a guy his stature and accepted his family.no.questions asked to succeed.... John gaudreau is s wimp. Good riddance . What aloser . Can't even man upbas face his decision . Go Ufa fine.. but don't even thank the fans for a decade of support before acknowledging the new.fans what a coward.

[Roof-Daddy]

So after that rumor a few pages back and some time to think....

I think Johnny wanted to come back
I think Johnny also wanted to go to Philly (or at least that area)
I think Johnny was torn and indecisive, but his intentions were good
I think Johnny got everything he wanted/asked for from the Flames and was ready to accept
I think Johnny was torn though, and being pulled away from accepting the offer he'd asked for (wife mostly, not a dig on her...to be expected really)
I think this is where it went bad and the door closed on him ever returning and also why it feels like there is suddenly and inexplicably bad blood between the Flames and Johnny
I think he got to free agency and didn't get what he'd hoped for from his first choices out east and had to pivot to Columbus who was never really on his radar

That last part is so unfortunate, because if the door hadn't "been closed" causing the bad blood, maybe there would have been a chance for them to pivot back to each other after none of his other preferred destinations out east came through

An absolute debacle and I bet that there is a ton of regret for all the parties involved.

A legacy tarnished
Player loses money
Flames lose a star and a key piece of what they were building for a decade
Player ends up in a place that likely wasn't even considered earlier
Flames, agent, and Johnny all look bad

Only party truly happy in the aftermath....the Jackets

Total disaster

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

We got a 1st, Hanowski and Agostino for Iginla.

We got a 1st, Berra and Cundari for Bouw.

The lacklustre returns (plus ROR, and the Jankowski pick) were enough to get Feaster canned.

Feaster got the only 1st round picks traded that deadline, and Berra was flipped for a 2nd round pick later on.

Iggy was a expiring contract at the time, and a first + was the going rate, especially when he would only waive for one team

Bouwmeester was playing poorly for Calgary. At the time, fans were happy with the return.

[Stampede2TheCup]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

It's the wife.

Gosh dang it, why couldn’t some cowgirl scoop him up and marry him instead of an American?!?!

[blankall]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Are there any direct flights from Philly to Calgary? She's the one looking after the newborn baby. Calgary is a city where she's probably close to nobody except johnny. No friends or family close by. And the connecting flight to get home to Philly with a newborn, all alone is probably daunting. And with Johnny on the road for much of the year, flying home alone with the baby is probably something she envisions doing quite a bit. That and her family coming to visit.

This is less about Johnny. And more about the wife and newborn child.

The non-stop flight from Columbus to Philly is 90 mins. The connecting flight to Philly from Calgary is 7 hours + customs.

Once you start to view Columbus as a family decision rather than a Johnny decision, it probably makes more a lot sense. Johnny staying in Calgary was great for Johnny. It was bad for the wife and baby. The $15m was great for both of them. It probably was an agonizing decision.

But when youre a dad, your kids and wife probably take precedence over $15m? Unlike Harmonic sitting out the playoffs, this actually makes sense on some level if you think about it. Depression among new moms is a big risk. Mental health is huge.

This is correct and people are making too big of a deal out of the 1.5 hour flight distance between Philly and Columbus.

We've seen multiple players choose a western Canadian team to be close to family, even though the distances are equal or greater than the Philly/Columbus distance, and no one thinks anything of it. For example, Lucic and Hamonic.

There's a massive distance between a 1.5 hour flight and a 6+ hour flight plus customs, especially with a baby. We also just got through two years of very interrupted border travel, which is still ongoing somewhat.

Gaudreau likely came up with a short list of teams with the wife. For whatever reason they chose Columbus. Apparently the wife has family there. My guess is also the wife wanted to create distance between Johnny and his childhood party friends. That last bit is clearly speculation, but there were rumors about Gaudreau liking the nightlife.

People are reading far too much into Gaudreau's post trade interviews. He's likely pretty happy with the decision. If he's still playing, he'll sign another contract for about $5-6 million in year eight. Taxes are lower in Columbus, so even the financial loss is exaggerated.

But yeah, the whole thing sucks. Especially the timing of the contract and when the Flames were playing well.. And then the horrible round two playoff loss. As fans as about as bad as it could have worked out. We held onto Gaudreau as we thought we were contenders. The year before he was coming off two crappy years, and the cap was flat, so his value was tanked. Top it all off with an awful playoff loss and Gaudreau walking....

[kyuss275]

Was pretty pissed how this went down. After a couple of days to really absorb it, I’m over it. He made his decision for family reasons . I would do just about anything for my family so I can’t fault him for it. Glad he was a flame for the 8 seasons we got. I will not boo him or anything like that when he returns to Calgary. Good luck Johnny on your future playing career .

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Was pretty pissed how this went down. After a couple of days to really absorb it, I’m over it. He made his decision for family reasons . I would do just about anything for my family so I can’t fault him for it. Glad he was a flame for the 8 seasons we got. I will not boo him or anything like that when he returns to Calgary. Good luck Johnny on your future playing career .

I don’t think there’s been any serious criticism of his motivation for leaving. There’s very legit criticism of how he did it, especially making a demand on the last day, getting that demand accepted and then saying “nah, just kidding”.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Was pretty pissed how this went down. After a couple of days to really absorb it, I’m over it. He made his decision for family reasons . I would do just about anything for my family so I can’t fault him for it. Glad he was a flame for the 8 seasons we got. I will not boo him or anything like that when he returns to Calgary. Good luck Johnny on your future playing career .

It was a bit of a shock. But I figured it was 50/50 he’d be staying. I think the shock was it was Columbus.

Who really cares why he left. It doesn’t matter in the long run. The way I look at it I doubt we were going to win the cup with him. Phenomenal player. But not built for playoffs.

It will definitely screw the Flames short term. But they should be able to build a better playoff team without him. Or not. Guess we’ll see.

[Murph]

Originally Posted by Stampede2TheCup

Gosh dang it, why couldn’t some cowgirl scoop him up and marry him instead of an American?!?!

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

[GS Skier]

The Johnny sycophant's are out in force.

I have always made the statement "don't fall in love with players". I don't care he's gone and I do care how he did it.

He said over and over and said nthing else "It's whats best for me...".

It's all about him. He owes the fans and the team nothing. His needs outweigh the entire team and managements needs to work hard to improve at the Draft and on free agency.

He owes the team nothing?

The fans owe him nothing. Booo away he deserves it as much and MORE than Tavares who at least could claim he went home.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I don’t think there’s been any serious criticism of his motivation for leaving. There’s very legit criticism of how he did it, especially making a demand on the last day, getting that demand accepted and then saying “nah, just kidding”.

Yeah, maybe you're being a bit facetious here, but I don't think that's the tone he took. Granted, it probably felt that way to the Flames which led to the rumored reaction from Murray Edwards.

I just think the was literally being pulled in two directions both internally AND externally.

I was initially very angry with Johnny and I'm still miffed. But I highly doubt he took a villainous approach here to screw the Flames.

Really sucks it ended this way.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by AC

Calgary is probably the least critical Canadian market I would wager.

Why would you say this when Edmonton exists?

[EldrickOnIce]

I think John would have been happy to stay, happy to go to Philly. Neither worked out because the Flyers didn't want him and Momma-to-be didn't want Calgary. I think he bargained in good faith, but ultimately momma said no. So he made the best decision for 'we' and 'us'.
Dude looks heartbroken, actually.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by SebC

Why would you say this when Edmonton exists?

Least critical fan/media base, is how I read that

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yeah, maybe you're being a bit facetious here, but I don't think that's the tone he took. Granted, it probably felt that way to the Flames which led to the rumored reaction from Murray Edwards.

I just think the was literally being pulled in two directions both internally AND externally.

I was initially very angry with Johnny and I'm still miffed. But I highly doubt he took a villainous approach here to screw the Flames.

Really sucks it ended this way.

Yes I’m being facetious. But it was still unprofessional and bad faith bargaining. Pulled in two directions? Put on your big boy pants and tell the Flames what’s going on. Don’t ask for 10.5, get 10.5 and then take it back.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Yes I’m being facetious. But it was still unprofessional and bad faith bargaining. Pulled in two directions? Put on your big boy pants and tell the Flames what’s going on. Don’t ask for 10.5, get 10.5 and then take it back.

I agree 100%

He made a huge mistake and it cost him $15 million and his legacy with the Flames and plus he looks like a villain to many here.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Least critical fan/media base, is how I read that

Again, Edmonton exists. They're building something special!

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by SebC

Again, Edmonton exists. They're building something special!

Not following. Edmonton fans and media have run numerous players out of town over the years.
Yoo are either golden or you are garbage. Sometimes that changes quickly.
I do not recall this happening in Calgary