I am assuming the Flames will offer JG a very fair contract and match any reasonable offer.
So if he signs somewhere else will I thank him and wish him well?
No goddam way. It would mean he chose another organization over ours, that he thinks he can do better somewhere else. And that’s his choice. That’s free agency. Play closer to home, fine but the Flames are in no small part responsible for his success. And yes he gave it his all in return. I get that.
NYI fans had every right to be angry with Tavares and you can bet many of them are quietly pleased he has achieved nothing since joining the Leafs. That would be my thinking with Gaudreau. Petty? Nah. I’m a die hard Flames fan and anyone who doesn’t want to wear (or continue to wear) the Flaming C can waste away some place else as far as I’m concerned.
If Johnny does leave it gives the Flames some good options as they’ll have that salary space and still two really good players on the top line in Tkachuk and Lindholm.
Treliving actually did the right thing in not trading Gaudreau. We don’t know the talks or if there was any type of agreement between two parties but it was still a good move to keep Johnny and let him come to free agency. Maybe they did shop around and the returns didn’t make sense.
Johnny and the Flames got to 2022 and now we can look at the best players and scenarios if Johnny does leave and the Flames are still in a good position just because Gaudreau was on the team.
My take is that the Flames will match financially (or exceed) any other offer Johnny receives. Therefore, it's all in Gaudreau's hands.
Fully agree.
And I think Johnny knows that and has for a while.
Last year, and the Peters year, he saw what a stern coach that demands buy in, can do for him as a player.
As a team, I also don’t think JG thinks anywhere else will give him a better opportunity to win in the next few years, and by the middle to end of his next deal, all bets are off as to where the Flames or any suitors he has now, will be as far as contenders or not.
So, Johnny’s choice will come down significantly to his and his extended families situation and desires for the years ahead off the ice…along with his desire for a legacy here and to win it all here, and, who he likes playing with and being buddies with, as a smaller factor. IMO.
I suspect that last offseason JG said (as he hinted in public) “yeah, if we get the right deal I would be willing to stay”. And then they agreed not to talk during the season, as they said. No way did he tell Treliving he had no intention of staying. If I hear that, knowing that the Flames likely can’t be beat financially, I can understand Treliving being pretty confident.
I could understand that…..but there has to be a lot of game playing/negotiating in between and if Johnny walks, he lost the poker game.
The people saying Brad blew it by not signing him last summer are also the ones who last summer were saying he would never hit 99 points again and was on the decline. Flames are a bottom five team, worse than Seattle ect.
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I don’t think Treliving should be fired for just Johnny leaving. I think he earned the chance to see if he can pivot. He should be judged on results. It’s hard to imagine that if Johnny walks this year and then Tkachuk the next, that the team won’t suffer greatly on the ice, but stranger things have happened.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Lol, that was kind of weird to respond in that manner. Manhattanboy's post was obvious sarcasm. Way overboard on the response calling it stalker-ish creepy.
Just watched this Flyer's Podcast, with Chris Therien. He strongly believes the Flyers need to rebuild, as over the last ~8 years they've retooled, and just been spinning their tires. He then replies, to whether he'd sign Gaudreau, and he says no. Follows that up with the Mike Yao quote, that "Scott Bowman, & Toe Blake, couldn't win with this team". Does Johnny see that too?
