Matthew Tkachuk & Johnny Gaudreau Signing Watch Thread

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by TapeToTape

I remember it looking like a bargain then too. 1/12th of the salary cap. He was on the rise.

His best year was his rookie year so it wasn’t like he was getting progressively better. He signed a deal similar to his peers who put up comparable numbers. He could have bet on himself and signed a bridge deal but he took the guaranteed money and Colorado has benefited for 5 of the 6 years so far and certainly will in the final year. MacKinnon will get a huge raise this summer when the Avs likely lock him up him a year before he is UFA.

Lindholm is a guy who took the long term security getting close the the $5M he was after without a 20 goal or 50pt season. The Flames gave up a lot to get him so they pushed for a long term deal. Lindholm fired his agent in year 2 of that deal because he left many millions on the table by going long term. Lindy was easily an $8M player last year.

Johnny is not about to take a discount to stay here when he arguably took one on his last deal (because he had little choice but to take the money or he would sit as there was no potential for an offer sheet). He is in his prime coming off his best year. He is going to cash in and set up his family for generations as he should.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

While I agree that Gaudreau and Tkachuk are unlikely to take much of a discount to stick around, I also think it’s pretty ineffective to use office jobs as a comparable as to whether someone would or would not take a discount to stay.

They’re playing professional hockey in the NHL. Unlike accounting or whatever, it is, in fact, a team sport with a salary cap. You having to consider taking less so your company can hire Jan instead of Phil just means your company probably sucks.

Ha ha ha. Brings back memories of a place I worked. Out of the blue one day my manager calls me into his office where another manager is sitting. They both had big grins so I thought something good was going to happen to me and they started off telling me that this great opportunity just opened up in the other department and they think I would be perfect for it given my previous experience in that field. I thanked them for thinking about me and politely declined as I liked where I was at. Then came the "Well if you don't take the position we are going to have to let someone go". I said to them "So if I don't take this position I'm getting laid off?". They say "Not you but we will have to let Joe Blow go." Joe was a nice guy that transferred within the company moving him and his wife all the way from Toronto and Calgary a few years prior. That company sucked.

[CalgaryFan1988]

At the end of the day, it has a lot to do with how Treliving wants to run the team and complete his roster. He probably didn't do himself any favors, for a discount, by stating "he will move heaven and earth to re-sign Gaudreau".

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

At the end of the day, it has a lot to do with how Treliving wants to run the team and complete his roster. He probably didn't do himself any favors, for a discount, by stating "he will move heaven and earth to re-sign Gaudreau".

Naive to think a discount was ever an option. It is all about convincing a guy from eastern US to stay in a Western Canadian market. Treliving is selling Johnny on the legacy and showing him the love a franchise player deserves by stating he will do what it takes to keep the player here.

[TapeToTape]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

You admit you did it to keep a good work/life balance.

Essentially trading dollars for less demanding work and perhaps less pressure.

Yes, trading money for other considerations. The pressure on them would also change. Players that wind up earning too much in the back halves of their contracts experience crappy feedback from fans and media.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Naive to think a discount was ever an option. It is all about convincing a guy from eastern US to stay in a Western Canadian market. Treliving is selling Johnny on the legacy and showing him the love a franchise player deserves by stating he will do what it takes to keep the player here.

Yep, Brad is a smart person, who chooses his public words carefully. There's zero chance he blurted moving heaven earth out loud and then went home and said to himself "Brad, you idiot!! You just lost leverage, what were you thinking!?!!".

He and Johnny's camp likely understand where they're at and both parties likely know approximately where this negotiation will end up, dollar wise (but they'll obviously still arm wrestle over the exact offer).

I would imagine the next few weeks they go back and forth on dollars, inching closer towards where they both know they'll end up, while the actual "negotiation" is Johnny and his family discussing Calgary vs being closer to home, while knowing that if they choose Calgary it will have to be before becoming UFA.

[gvitaly]

Personally, I’m not worried at all about signing Gaudreau. He let his agent negotiate up until the last moment with his last contract. However, when it came down to potentially missing games he told his agent to just take the deal.

That was his last message after signing:

"I have decided to resign with the Calgary Flames," Gaudreau said on Twitter. "As I have always said, I just want to play hockey. I want to be there for my teammates and for the fans of Calgary. I want to thank my family and my agent for all their support during this process. I couldn't have done it without them."

Here’s what Tre had to say

"Oh, he's excited. He's ecstatic," Treliving said. "You can hear it in his voice. He's a hockey player. Not being with his teammates and not getting ready … his first question was, 'What time's practice?' He's excited. He's eager to get back with the teammates, meet the coaches, and just be back with the group.

source

That’s why I fully expect him to sign with the Flames right before free agency starts.

[TapeToTape]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

His best year was his rookie year so it wasn’t like he was getting progressively better. He signed a deal similar to his peers who put up comparable numbers. He could have bet on himself and signed a bridge deal but he took the guaranteed money and Colorado has benefited for 5 of the 6 years so far and certainly will in the final year. MacKinnon will get a huge raise this summer when the Avs likely lock him up him a year before he is UFA.

The Avs forum looked pretty ecstatic about the signing, and that they expected a higher amount. Not that much higher, I agree, but it was also before the hyper inflation from the guys in Toronto.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

That’s why I fully expect him to sign with the Flames right before free agency starts.

This is my thought as well, for very much the same reasons. His agent will advise him the benefits of waiting but ultimately Johnny will decide once it's down to crunch time. At that point, both sides will have a good idea what the money and terms will look like, and Johnny will know that any "extra" time he takes will start interfering with (re-)signing other guys on the team. I don't think he'll take that lightly just to try and go from an $80M deal to $82M.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Yep, Brad is a smart person, who chooses his public words carefully. There's zero chance he blurted moving heaven earth out loud and then went home and said to himself "Brad, you idiot!! You just lost leverage, what were you thinking!?!!".

He and Johnny's camp likely understand where they're at and both parties likely know approximately where this negotiation will end up, dollar wise (but they'll obviously still arm wrestle over the exact offer).

I would imagine the next few weeks they go back and forth on dollars, inching closer towards where they both know they'll end up, while the actual "negotiation" is Johnny and his family discussing Calgary vs being closer to home, while knowing that if they choose Calgary it will have to be before becoming UFA.

I have little doubt that the financial parameters of a deal that Johnny would take if he decides to stay in Calgary are pretty close.

I still think that Johnny is conflicted a to where he wants to spend the next decade of his life at. I think he's been surprised with how much he's enjoyed Calgary over the years, and while he may have, early in his career, expected he'd head back east when the time came, it has become a much harder choice for him.

[dustygoon]

If Gaudreau doesn't get signed and walks for free, does Treliving get canned?

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by TapeToTape

Yes, I've probably left 30% or more on the table by not pushing for raises and moving from company to company. I've done that to keep a good work / life balance.

Sound like lazy more than anything. Or you are at retirement age.
Professional athletes have short careers. Most would not do that

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

If Gaudreau doesn't get signed and walks for free, does Treliving get canned?

Probably not, as it's likely that ownership signed off on, or at least were made very much aware of the risk of, keeping an unsigned Johnny for the year.

Teams lose UFA's all the time. They save lots of cap, so the fallout is usually not nearly as bad as expected. The Islanders are the best example of this.

[Press Level]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

If Gaudreau doesn't get signed and walks for free, does Treliving get canned?

No, but if Gaudreau walks and the Flames miss the play-offs, he will be gone at the end of the season, imo.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

If Gaudreau doesn't get signed and walks for free, does Treliving get canned?

He doesn’t! Tre has 1 year left on his deal. He won’t be replaced mid-season or in the midst of free agency. I’m sure his whole body of work will get re-evaluated when it’s time for an extension.

[Vinny01]

Treliving won’t be fired if he can’t get Johnny and Chucky signed but he may get extended if he is able to get them locked up

[Flamesfan05]

Treliving gets fired/not extended if the Flames missed the playoffs or 1st round exit

Regardless if he can sign Johnny/Tkachuk or not

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Press Level

No, but if Gaudreau walks and the Flames miss the play-offs, he will be gone at the end of the season, imo.

He's got one year left.

The Flames need to either extend Treliving this off-season, or fire him this off-season.

Letting a GM go into the final year of their contract without an extension is just silly. That job should never be about focusing in on one season, so if they aren't going to extend him? Time to move on.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by TapeToTape

The Avs forum looked pretty ecstatic about the signing, and that they expected a higher amount. Not that much higher, I agree, but it was also before the hyper inflation from the guys in Toronto.

This is not a strong point in my opinion. Flames fans were pretty ecstatic when Monahan signed his deal as well. I don’t think it can be legitimately argued that MacKinnon took a discount at the time the deal was signed. Absolute steal in hindsight

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

He's got one year left.

The Flames need to either extend Treliving this off-season, or fire him this off-season.

Letting a GM go into the final year of their contract without an extension is just silly. That job should never be about focusing in on one season, so if they aren't going to extend him? Time to move on.

I think they need to wait for end of next year to make the decision

The jury is still out on him, if this last year was for real or a fluke