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

[Firebot]

His wife likely does not like Newark and see it as a dump to raise a child and veto'd it.

It's painfully obvious that Columbus was not part of one of Johnny's choice.

NJ makes every bit of sense, nearly as much as Philadelphia for the same home & family reasons, and they had the salary room.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

If any fan is blindsided over this then that's their problem really as this was always a high possibility.

Multiple things can be true at the same time. Sure we knew this was a high possibility, but many of us are nevertheless unimpressed with his decision to leave and the way he handled this whole situation. We're also worried about what this means for the Flames moving forward.

I don't blame anyone for being mad at the Gaudreaus for the way this whole thing went down. But I've accepted it and moved on and hopefully everyone will soon too.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

I usually take anecdotes with a grain of salt. But here’s one from a guy I know who’s in a private hockey group I’ve been in for years on Facebook:

Well then, they have 1 year to get shovels in the ground.

Don't #### it up.



It still doesn't completely add up because the Oilers haven't really had an edge on Calgary with free agents despite the arena. In fact they've been spurned in favour of the Flames.

But then again that's Edmonton, and the nicest facility can't make up for that.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Friedman confirms that Philly was Johnny’s first choice:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1548046124786757634

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Maybe. But if they announced they were walking after the Flames met their ask, then whatever Edwards said was probably justified in the end, even if it wasn't a necessary send-off memo.

It's just not how you do business, in any field or profession, and he would be right for pointing that out.

But nevertheless, it is still JG's right.

I guess I have more respect for him as a person, but yeah I'm not elated with his asset management here. And yet I can't judge him because Johnny made the situation very muddled and unclear and we all thought there was a good shot too.

The news from Steinberg that the Flames circled back on Wednesday makes me think that the "Ultimatum" rumor posted here couldn't be true though. No chance Treliving and Edwards would go back to Gaudreau's camp if that was the case.

Two separate posters here though have posted about Murray Edwards making a call to Gaudreau on Tuesday afternoon though, so I think what happened on that call, and the reason for that call, is actually where the question lies:

- Did Edwards reach out because Gaudreau reneged on the offer and decided to go to UFA after the Flames met his offer, and then ripped a strip off him. (Bravo to Edwards in this case)

OR

- Did Edwards reach out on Tuesday because he thought Gaudreau was taking too long to make the decision, ripped a strip off Gaudreau, and that's actually what caused Gaudreau to say "Screw it I'm going to UFA" (Edwards would be the one that blew it in this case)

OR

-There was no ultimatum, Gaudreau just decided he still wanted to test UFA to be closer to home (and hope that Philly would actually come to the table if he was UFA) after considering the Flames offer, but Edwards was still pissed because he felt like they met all Gaudreau's asks and Gaudreau was just stringing them along and never intended on signing here. (Edwards wouldn't have blown it in this case, but would have been stupid to burn that bridge)

Any one of those scenarios could have played out based on what we have heard, to me the last scenario probably makes the most sense. Flames would have still been pissed, but would have been more open to circling back the next day (I don't think they circle back if Gaudreau's camp issued an ultimatum and then reneged).

Gaudreau would be sour because he would feel like Flames had no reason to be mad because in the end he would just feel like it was his right to test UFA. (And we'd have no idea what Edwards actually said and if was justified or not).

In the end I'm not sure it matters much because either way Gaudreau is no longer a Flame no matter how it played out, and it appears that there is sour grapes on both sides of the negotiation.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by BigJim

If Edwards went off on him the way it's rumoured to have happened, I suspect that left Johnny a little shaken. Probably never had someone do that.

29 years old and never had someone get mad at him? I'd hope not. He has played for some tough coaches.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

Friedman confirms that Philly was Johnny’s first choice:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1548046124786757634

See to me that still makes no sense on the Flyers side.

It's not like they are selling and signaling a re-build. Couturier, Ellis, Hayes, Konecny, Laughton, Provorov, Ristolainen, Sanheim, are all still Flyers today and they moved out no assets.

They still moved picks to add Tony Deangelo and gave him $5M.

Edit: I guess there was more in the podcast but it still doesn't make sense.

Ellis situation complicated things, if they don't have him they need to find d-men. They decided they were better off filling other holes in their roster than spending all their cap on Gaudreau. Flyers feel Torts can make a difference, players will have fresh start under him.

Yeah they are for sure better off by giving Rasmus Ristolainen and Tony DeAngelo a combined $10.1M instead of giving Johnny less than $10M.

Ladies and gentleman Chuck Fletcher!

[robertsfanatic]

Johnny was just on Overdrive and nothing really new but I don't think there was any malice and I wish him the best. He'll be on Tim and Friends later too if anyone cares.

[flames_fan_down_under]

I have a hard time believing Edwards would react so strongly if he didn't feel like he had been treated unfairly. There is no advantage in a negotiation to angrily pressure someone into a deal, especially when things are so delicate.

[Saqe]

Fletcher is a complete moron. Handing out long term contracts to mediocre guys but signing Gaudreau doesn't make sense? I checked their HFboard and their absolutely fed up with him and are crowd funding a "fire Fletcher" billboard at the moment.

[djsFlames]

Its sad that he pinned all his hopes on the Flyers even though it wasn't anywhere near a sure thing.

I'm a fan, but as a player I don't get being that invested in belonging to one specific club, to where you screw yourself out of not even just the first best but also second best contract put your way.

Talk about placing emotion over logic beyond the point of all reason.

Like another poster said, you could extend with the Flames and given the relationship there you might actually be able to get dealt to the Flyers in a few years time.

The Jackets won't operate that way. They want to make their club better for the next 7 years.

Just dumb.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

I have a hard time believing Edwards would react so strongly if he didn't feel like he had been treated unfairly. There is no advantage in a negotiation to angrily pressure someone into a deal, especially when things are so delicate.

Rich people like to get their way.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by blankall

Rich people like to get their way.

Yeah, poor people hate it.

[bluejays]

I’m not sure about the Murray rumour because don’t all conversations go through the Agent generally?

Anyway, Johnny will be on Tim and Friends in a few minutes. Undoubtedly it will be a softball fluff piece but something to hopefully read into after his interview.

[iggy_oi]

I think at the end of the day Johnny is probably a little bit of a head case and things went the way they did because he was either being vindictive over his last contract negotiations or he might just not be the brightest. Either way the team made their own bed by hoping for the best, I don’t fault them for that though because I think in most cases the player would have re-signed. A player can’t trade themselves so the team were in the driver seat the entire time, Johnny’s antics aside if this was an outcome they weren’t prepared to live with they should have shipped him off when they had the chance.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by blankall

Rich people like to get their way.

For sure. In the world of professional sports there has to be an expectation that both parties are operating faithfully though.

[djsFlames]

From what i can ascertain, I think John is gifted but dull, and leads with emotion. Probably is easily perturbed given his on ice demeanor.

[Reggie Dunlop]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1548059919999373312

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Not sure if anyone is listening to Steinberg, just happened to catch it now.

Seems to confirm the "insider source" report, does not specifically talk about Edwards though but said the Flames met the Gaudreau camp's offer earlier in the day and then Gaudreau's camp did a 180 and reneged on it completely.

Friedman clip came on after, corroborated that too and went as far as to say that his inner circle was mixed in some telling him to stay and Gross framing this up as the best offer he would get. All either Steinberg and Friedman could say about the reversal was that he suddenly wasn't "feeling it".

Just stunning to hear this.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by fleury

I’m not sure about the Murray rumour because don’t all conversations go through the Agent generally?

Anyway, Johnny will be on Tim and Friends in a few minutes. Undoubtedly it will be a softball fluff piece but something to hopefully read into after his interview.

I think both posters that mentioned it made mention that Edwards called Johnny directly.

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Its sad that he pinned all his hopes on the Flyers even though it wasn't anywhere near a sure thing.

I'm a fan, but as a player I don't get being that invested in belonging to one specific club, to where you screw yourself out of not even just the first best but also second best contract put your way.

Talk about placing emotion over logic beyond the point of all reason.

It's emotion over logic for sure...but I can see where Gaudreau's coming from.

He's 29 years old. He's already made ~$45M in his career.

Signing with the Flyers right now might be only chance you have to live out your childhood dream of being a Flyers player while being a star, while also fulfilling your wife's preference (speculated by us) of being closer to home.

Sure you could maybe go there after your next contract, or maybe you get traded there in 3-4 seasons, but at that point you're probably on the downswing in of your career, no longer in your prime. I doubt it's the same as doing it as a "star".

You yourself talked yesterday about how succeeding in your career and achieving your goals and dreams is key to feeling fulfilled.

I think this was Johnny's ultimate dream. Maybe for him it wasn't about winning a cup, maybe it wasn't about being MVP, maybe it was about being a Philadelphia Flyer and potentially doing those things as a Philadelphia Flyer.

Maybe he needed to know for sure, with 100% certainty, that even once he was a UFA the Flyers wouldn't come to the table to make it work. And maybe that's where the disconnect with Gross was. Gross was probably telling him "Johnny this Flames offer is the best offer, the Flyers aren't going to make you a deal" and maybe Johnny just couldn't believe it.