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

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Cappy

Jesus guys, can we just move on now. JG made his choice.

No need to go hang out outside his window with a ghetto blaster

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Should have traded him while we had the chance?

The time to move him was following the 1st round exit to the Avs in 2019. By keeping him beyond that point, management was basically admitting that they planned to keep him for the rest of his contract. Oh well. Time to turn the page.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Forget about his career, I'll boo him until the end of time. If I see him at the grocery store I'm going to walk up behind him and boo. Quietly at first but it will grow increasingly louder until he must leave the store and explain to his frightened child why complete strangers hate him. Then, I will smile knowing that I have done well.

I love it. If I saw you do this I would support you and encourage others to join in.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by AndyM

Like, like, ya know, like, umm, like, ya know, like.

Doesn't he have a communications degree?

There's always been a degree program for those who really really want a B.A. but are either not smart enough or not diligent enough to handle a university workload. Back when I was young (in the Upper Cretaceous) it was Educational Psychology. Nowadays, I hear, it's Communications.

Originally Posted by greyshep

However I still maintain the Flames have had years to pick up on this and have a lot of egg on their face for not moving him while we still had control rather than losing him for nothing. Terrible asset management.

That only works if you have asymmetrical information. A used-car salesman can pawn off a lemon because his customers haven't seen all the cars on his lot out on the road. I suspect every GM in the league has a pretty good idea what Gaudreau's limitations are, and priced their bids accordingly.

There's a reason he didn't get Panarin money last week.

[delayedreflex]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

That only works if you have asymmetrical information. A used-car salesman can pawn off a lemon because his customers haven't seen all the cars on his lot out on the road. I suspect every GM in the league has a pretty good idea what Gaudreau's limitations are, and priced their bids accordingly.

There's a reason he didn't get Panarin money last week.

Yeah, any trade involving Gaudreau last year would certainly have been underwhelming and leaving people pretty unsatisfied, similar to the Iginla trade. Trading his rights this summer likely wouldn't have net much, though I do wonder what they might have been able to get for a sign and trade (eg. sign Gaudreau to an 8-year contract and trade him to the team of his choosing). If Gaudreau's camp had been honest up front about not wanting to return, maybe that's something that they could have explored that would have turned out better for all parties.

I wonder if Gaudreau/Gross even asked for permission to talk to other teams before the UFA period opened (assuming that is allowed). While the Flames may have been hesitant to allow them to do that because it weakens their negotiating position, in this case it might have actually increased Gaudreau's chances of re-signing in Calgary if they saw the market for him in UFA was a lot softer than they anticipated.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

There's always been a degree program for those who really really want a B.A. but are either not smart enough or not diligent enough to handle a university workload. Back when I was young (in the Upper Cretaceous) it was Educational Psychology. Nowadays, I hear, it's Communications.

BA Communications degree here.

The thing about studying communications is that it may be the most diverse and multi-disciplinary degree to pursue. It all comes down to how you want to concentrate, such as media studies, technology, theory, research, PR, marketing, and on and on.

You can certainly walk your way through a 2 or 4 year program depending where you want to focus and what your career goals may be, but it can also be a TON of work if you take something technical or theory heavy. I would imagine Gaudreau probably went the certificate route with little critical theory work. Something practical.

Most athletes at any school I attended in the early 2010s were Business students.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

He just comes off as a very immature guy including with this stuff:

Did you let your Calgary teammates know you were going to move on?
No.

You didn't talk to one guy?
No. 2 hours before I didn't know. "Half our team is in Sweden and I didn't really have the opportunity to. I just called Brad and at that point it was already 11 at night. It was pretty hard for me, it was pretty emotional. As I said I was there for a long time and it was pretty hard so I kinda just hung out with my wife that night and just tried to figure out who we were going to play for the next day."


Yeah man this stuff is hard. But you do it the right way. You own it. Not telling your team mates is pretty surprising. Not one of them.
Because it was late and he was tired and “half of the team is in Sweden”

WDF

What a weird ending to his time here. Just strange

Yeah, he strikes me as quite immature, and someone who doesn't do well with confrontation/tough calls. Just not really a leader, I don't think you can win a Cup with someone like that as your #1 guy. 2nd liner, sure.

Really starting to see why (until the very end when he briefly had an A) he never wore a letter here despite being clearly our best player. He's just not "the guy", nor does he want to be. Good riddance.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Yeah, he strikes me as quite immature, and someone who doesn't do well with confrontation/tough calls. Just not really a leader, I don't think you can win a Cup with someone like that as your #1 guy. 2nd liner, sure.

Really starting to see why (until the very end when he briefly had an A) he never wore a letter here despite being clearly our best player. He's just not "the guy", nor does he want to be. Good riddance.

"Hey ref, that was a penalty"

"No, it wasn't"

"Oh, OK, then".

[JohnnyB]

I won't hate on Johnny for not being captain material, or for wanting to have a chilled lifestyle and caring more about that than winning. There's really nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong with not being the guy you build a winning team around. Those characteristics don't reflect that poorly on him, unlike his actions in how he handled his departure.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I won't hate on Johnny for not being captain material, or for wanting to have a chilled lifestyle and caring more about that than winning. There's really nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong with not being the guy you build a winning team around. Those characteristics don't reflect that poorly on him, unlike his actions in how he handled his departure.

Yeah...but if you're not going to be 'That Guy' then you cant expect to be paid like 'That Guy.'

If you want to earn the top dollars then you've got to be the top dog and its more than just points on the board.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah...but if you're not going to be 'That Guy' then you cant expect to be paid like 'That Guy.'

If you want to earn the top dollars then you've got to be the top dog and its more than just points on the board.

Johnny doesn't set the price by himself.

[streetglide]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

The time to move him was following the 1st round exit to the Avs in 2019. By keeping him beyond that point, management was basically admitting that they planned to keep him for the rest of his contract. Oh well. Time to turn the page.

Exactly!!
Dodged a bullet here either way. Guys not a winner. Great player fun to watch but he’s not gonna lead anybody to a championship.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I wanted him traded last summer before his NTC kicked in.

But I didn't think the team was capable of putting up 111 points, dominating possession metrics and winning the division.

I was wrong. Tre made the right move.

It's easy to say now "we should have traded him" when we know that we lost in round 2 and Gaudreau left, but if someone with a crystal ball said last summer:

"The Flames will dominate possession stats, collect 111 points, win the division, Gaudreau will score 115 points in the process, Tkachuk will score 104 points.....but I'm not going to tell you how things go in the playoffs"

Are you really going to erase all that by trading Gaudreau before it happens, or are you going to want to see that team play 82 games and find out what happens in the playoffs?

They still should have traded him long ago. I was saying years ago there is no reason to keep him because he either is going to leave for nothing or you overpay for him, and he isn't the type of player that is going to carry you to a Cup anyway. One strong regular season doesn't change all their mediocre playoff performances and all their craping the bed regular seasons.

[Hackey]

In the Spittin Chiclets interview he said he was expecting more calls during free agency and on the last day he was only talking to two teams. Which basically confirms what I always thought in that he expected to have way more choices on free agency day, but the offers weren't there. He basically had to settle on Columbus.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Hackey

In the Spittin Chiclets interview he said he was expecting more calls during free agency and on the last day he was only talking to two teams. Which basically confirms what I always thought in that he expected to have way more choices on free agency day, but the offers weren't there. He basically had to settle on Columbus.

Then he's an idiot, or, more accurately, his Agent is an idiot.

Of course he wasnt going to get more offers. There is a salary cap. A quick perusal of the Cap Conditions of his preferred destinations would have given him a clear and obvious assessment regarding the ability of teams in the League's ability to accommodate him and the salary he was looking to demand.

Yes, we know he cant negotiate with other teams until his Free Agency period kicks in, but he didnt have to 'Knee Jerk' or burn bridges or anything. He and his agent chose to do that.

The problem is that if he goes crawling to Philly on his hands and knees he doesnt get $9M+ but he could have given teams time to clear space if he showed an interest.

This is a Premium Free Agent, all he costs you is cash and Cap.

This was a panic move.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by Locke

Then he's an idiot, or, more accurately, his Agent is an idiot.

Of course he wasnt going to get more offers. There is a salary cap. A quick perusal of the Cap Conditions of his preferred destinations would have given him a clear and obvious assessment regarding the ability of teams in the League's ability to accommodate him and the salary he was looking to demand.

Yes, we know he cant negotiate with other teams until his Free Agency period kicks in, but he didnt have to 'Knee Jerk' or burn bridges or anything. He and his agent chose to do that.

The problem is that if he goes crawling to Philly on his hands and knees he doesnt get $9M+ but he could have given teams time to clear space if he showed an interest.

This is a Premium Free Agent, all he costs you is cash and Cap.

This was a panic move.

100%

I am sure this was posted already but this line from his interview in The Athletic says it all to me:

It was tough. It was a hard day. I think with the flat cap, it’s hard to sign guys to big contracts sometimes when you’re so tight to the cap. So I didn’t talk to many teams. And of the teams that I was talking to, Columbus was right up there on the top of my list. So when they called, I was just like, “Let’s get this done. I don’t even care anymore. I just want to start my next chapter of my career here with Columbus.”

https://theathletic.com/3434694/2022...lumbus-cannon/

I don't even care anymore? Not exactly the shrewd, calculating tactician. He keeps saying he "did his research", well clearly not. He obviously had zero idea of what the process was going to look like, what the expected numbers were going to be, what the potential suitors were going to be, and how stressful the situation was going to be, as he clearly just delayed and delayed making the hard choice because he quite frankly just didn't want to actually make the hard choice. You really really blew it Johnny, to a jaw dropping degree..

[Enoch Root]

Yup.

"I don't even care anymore". On the FIRST day of free agency.

That's how you end up in Columbus. With $15M fewer dollars.

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yup.

"I don't even care anymore". On the FIRST day of free agency.

That's how you end up in Columbus. With $15M fewer dollars.

And not a chance to win the Cup, or that is also his "I don't even care anymore"

[Macman]

I’m pretty sure Tkachuk won’t leave that kind of money on the table for anyone and neither should he. It shows how challenging these negotiations can be even though the Flames acted in good faith and still gave him the max amount.

I’d be curious to know if Darryl called Gaudreau, so far we’ve only heard from Treliving but it sounds like they may all be just as stunned as fans are.

[Petert]

“Let’s get this done. I don’t even care anymore."

Something about this line gave me a strange vibe that reaffirmed my belief.
JG actually wanted to stay in Calgary and tried to care, and whoever (I still strongly lean towards Meradith) found a way to force him out, hence, "I don't care anymore."
I still seriously doubt we are getting the true story, that story will probably forever stay within the Gaudreaus.
Would also explained why he didn't inform his teammates, because he was going to stay all along, until being forced/talked out of Calgary.

In the end, he's gone, and I strongly dislike him, not necessarily because he left, but for how much he botched the whole thing.
And what a waste of his own talents.

Of course, on the other hand, imagine what this former core could have accomplish with a real NHL coach like Darryl earlier, instead of the failures of Gulutzan and Ward.