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

[Muta]

Paging LAFlamesFan...

[Hockey_Ninja]

Originally Posted by johnnyhockey13

So I just ran into Johnny’s moms best friend at a all inclusive in punta cana. ( I know this is my first post but I am a avid reader of the forum on a daily basis). There group asked my group where I was from and I said Calgary. They all responded you must be heart broken with ur hockey team. Then it clicked they are from New Jersey. I was told that his first choice was Philly but they didn’t move the players in order to sign him which we all know. Second was the devils but apparently they were not offering a no movement clause. The reason why he settled on Columbus was his wife has a lot of family there and the whole cbj having a good children hospital. They also told me that she is not planing to work anymore which makes sense lol. It makes worse knowing that. Basically him having a kid and his family being close to him was the decision. I still agree with the vast majority of everyone that has responded, the situation should of been handled better. They also agreed with me as I said that. I did share a typical flames fans opinion. This was gods plan haha.

I knew Philly was his first choice. Fletcher is such a bad GM. With how much we get on Brad let’s thank heavens we don’t have Fletcher in our front office

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Anyone else famous on this forum? I'm pretty sure CalgARI is Ari Gold from entourage

Wait what?

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by flamesrule_kipper34

Welp, I agree with Francis: https://twitter.com/Sportsnet650/sta...4x0bATGPQ&s=19

No way he says that without checking in with the organization first. Wow...this is savage

[Flamesfan74]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

I wonder how this is going to sit with some of the other players. Especially those that are signed for longer term (Coleman, Markstrom, Tanev, even Hanifin and Ras). I'd feel pretty slighted if I were them

I follow a few of the players social media accounts and so far I haven’t seen a thank you, good luck Johnny or anything from them. I’m sure some have a bad taste in their mouths.

[BigJim]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

I wonder how this is going to sit with some of the other players. Especially those that are signed for longer term (Coleman, Markstrom, Tanev, even Hanifin and Ras). I'd feel pretty slighted if I were them

I'm curious as to what exactly his former teammates think of this situation. Supportive or thinking he's crazy to leave that amount of money on the table and leaving a team on the cusp of winning.

[AC]

Originally Posted by johnnyhockey13

I was told that his first choice was Philly but they didn’t move the players in order to sign him which we all know. Second was the devils but apparently they were not offering a no movement clause.

I saw that Johnny's contract with CBJ doesn't have any signing bonuses or NTC or NMC included, which is definitely odd for a big name free agent.

Bjorkstrand, Kuraly, Merzlikins, and Jenner all have NTCs.

[PuckDemon]

Originally Posted by johnnyhockey13

So I just ran into Johnny’s moms best friend at a all inclusive in punta cana. ( I know this is my first post but I am a avid reader of the forum on a daily basis). There group asked my group where I was from and I said Calgary. They all responded you must be heart broken with ur hockey team. Then it clicked they are from New Jersey. I was told that his first choice was Philly but they didn’t move the players in order to sign him which we all know. Second was the devils but apparently they were not offering a no movement clause. The reason why he settled on Columbus was his wife has a lot of family there and the whole cbj having a good children hospital. They also told me that she is not planing to work anymore which makes sense lol. It makes worse knowing that. Basically him having a kid and his family being close to him was the decision. I still agree with the vast majority of everyone that has responded, the situation should of been handled better. They also agreed with me as I said that. I did share a typical flames fans opinion. This was gods plan haha.

I kinda believe you, but the bit about the childrens hospital doesn't make any sense. You said she wasn't planning to work anymore.

[Nammer403]

Originally Posted by AC

I saw that Johnny's contract with CBJ doesn't have any signing bonuses or NTC or NMC included, which is definitely odd for a big name free agent.

Bjorkstrand, Kuraly, Merzlikins, and Jenner all have NTCs.

i think he does have a NMC/NTC

https://twitter.com/user/status/1547418705965076480

[Insufficient Funds]

It's been a sad couple of days for me as it has been for others. Lots of disappointment on how the Gaudreau camp handled everything. It seems apparent to me that as soon as he got married and Merrideth got pregnant, everything changed. Which is a pretty normal thing in most peoples lives.

I hope after a few months and maybe some positive things to happen for the Flames, that we as fans can move on and be better than the Isle's fans or other recent jiltted fan bases.

When that game happen in January and John is presumably back in town, I don't want people to boo him nor do I want them to cheer him. Maybe just a very light respectful golf clap. Or everyone standing like they're going to give an ovation but then just turn their collective backs to the ice in silence. IDK, I'm still hurt.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan74

I follow a few of the players social media accounts and so far I haven’t seen a thank you, good luck Johnny or anything from them. I’m sure some have a bad taste in their mouths.

On the Flames instagram post saying Thank You Johnny, Coleman, Kylington and Chucky liked the post

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by PuckDemon

I kinda believe you, but the bit about the childrens hospital doesn't make any sense. You said she wasn't planning to work anymore.

It makes sense to me because I think the evidence suggests they're not the smartest people.

[Flamescuprun2018]

After reading through all this as a form of therapy. We all need a bit of therapy after this debacle.

I am left feeling a bit sorry for Johnny. I know that is silly because he is a multi-millionaire. But athletes generally want to be adored and honored by their beloved fan base.

Instead he completely and irreversibly soiled his legacy in Calgary by how this all went down. Many fans like me will eventually forget and move on. But he will never be treated with the respect and tribute that he had deserved prior to yesterday.

It seems quite plausible that he genuinely wanted to stay in Calgary but perhaps had major pressures by wife and/or family to go elsewhere. I do think that is where BT and ownership were misled and misread things in this negotiation.

Time to move on past this most painful week to be a Flames fan.

BT I want to hear from you now. What is the plan? We are not winning a Cup with the core left here with or without Tkachuk. The farm is okay but no gamechangers in the system (other than Wolf perhaps).

I want a retool. You have been gifted cap space now and a license to retool.
Avs/TB and others are in a whole other tier. We best prepare ourselves to reach such a tier over the next few years.

[kobasew19]

Originally Posted by AC

I saw that Johnny's contract with CBJ doesn't have any signing bonuses or NTC or NMC included, which is definitely odd for a big name free agent.

Bjorkstrand, Kuraly, Merzlikins, and Jenner all have NTCs.

So if that’s the case and all things are equal, why didn’t he sign in Jersey then?

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

There is almost certainly a puzzle piece missing that has yet to come out, but am sure will trickle out eventually.

Until that happens, it looks really bad on Gaudreau.

Absolutely no need (seemingly) to lead the Flames on and stiff them like this.

This all makes very little sense from the outside looking in.

I honestly don’t think it’s as complicated as people want to believe.

1) For personal and family reasons, he only wanted to play in the Eastern U.S.

2) He knew from back channels that several teams in the region were interested. So he went to market.

3) Two of those teams (including his likely preferred destination) couldn’t clear the cap space.

4) Of the remaining two teams, he went with the one that offered the biggest contract.

That’s it.

As for the competitiveness of the Blue Jackets, that’s rarely a consideration in free agency. Were the Wings the best team to offer Copp a contract? Doubt it. Was Seattle the most competitive roster that offered Burokovsky a contract? Will Klingberg wind up on a contender? Mason Marchment was very close to a deal with Carolina. Then the Stars offered him a little more money, so he signed there, even though the Hurricanes clearly have a better shot at a championship.

Look at last year. Grubauer signed with the Kraken. Hamilton with the Devils. Danault chose LA’s offer. Three of the biggest free agents all went to non-playoff teams. That’s the norm.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by johnnyhockey13

So I just ran into Johnny’s moms best friend at a all inclusive in punta cana. ( I know this is my first post but I am a avid reader of the forum on a daily basis). There group asked my group where I was from and I said Calgary. They all responded you must be heart broken with ur hockey team. Then it clicked they are from New Jersey. I was told that his first choice was Philly but they didn’t move the players in order to sign him which we all know. Second was the devils but apparently they were not offering a no movement clause. The reason why he settled on Columbus was his wife has a lot of family there and the whole cbj having a good children hospital. They also told me that she is not planing to work anymore which makes sense lol. It makes worse knowing that. Basically him having a kid and his family being close to him was the decision. I still agree with the vast majority of everyone that has responded, the situation should of been handled better. They also agreed with me as I said that. I did share a typical flames fans opinion. This was gods plan haha.

What would we do without this forum and random people coming in with unverifiable stories with the unlikeliest coincidences but making the most sense of all. This makes perfect sense. Thank you for the closure!

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I don’t think there’s anything nefarious in Johnny’s ackwardness at the presser either. I think he’s just nervous and struggling to find the right words. It’s not a sign he’s afraid to blame his wife or that the negotiations went awry or that he hates Calgary or any other conspiracy.

It’s a big day, he’s probably a bit nervous and just didn’t articulate himself very well. Should he have had a better statement prepared? Sure. But nothing in his interview makes me think any differently about the situation. CBJ is closer to home and is a city that made sense for his family. End of story.

Saying end of story doesn’t end the story.

[Enoch Root]

How choked must Flyer fans be?

The best free agent in, I don't know how long, basically just wants to walk over to your organization, and everyone knows this, but your GM signs a couple plugs and does absolutely nothing to facilitate the acceptance of this gift.

If anyone should be mad, it's Philly fans.

[AC]

Originally Posted by Nammer403

i think he does have a NMC/NTC

https://twitter.com/user/status/1547418705965076480

There we go, that makes more sense then at least.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Savage.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1547696831798292486