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

[automaton 3]

@browna

Yep, agreed it would not surprise me in the least if a trade to Philly is eventually worked out.

I think he could be there right now if he handled this better.

[PuckDemon]

A lot of angry fans are forgetting about Hanlon's Razor:

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

I'd be angry if Johnny was actually a snake, but it doesn't sound that way. It sounds like he was confused, conflicted, didn't properly communicate, and tried to fulfill his Flyers dream in a sloppy gamble.

No one believes he actually left specifically to go to Columbus. It was just a decent backup option that ticks off the needed boxes for him and his family.

And yeah, Johnny's PR has been god awful on this. But so what? He could have slick PR and have bad intentions. It seems more like he had good intentions but just really ####ed up, and the bad PR is telling of how sloppy the whole mess was. It's almost like some fans need Johnny to be a villain to feel better about losing him.

[FlamesAddiction]

It could be a cautionary tale to other would-be free agents. Do you keep the boat or take the mystery box in free agency? The mystery box could be anything... even a boat!

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by PuckDemon

It's almost like some fans need Johnny to be a villain to feel better about losing him.

When you get dumped, you’re allowed to make your ex the villain.

[DoubleK]

After watching Tim and Friends.... She (Meredith)really, really, really didn't want to be in Calgary anymore.

Like mega really, he just didn't have the heart to tell the team.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Even describing it as getting dumped is lame hyperbole. The flames didn’t get dumped. There was no relationship. Johnny was single, a free agent, and he chose his partner. It just wasn’t us. Lots of other guys will choose another team and lots of other teams will get left out when there’s only one player and 32 teams.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

After watching Tim and Friends.... She (Meredith)really, really, really didn't want to be in Calgary anymore.

Like mega really, he just didn't have the heart to tell the team.

It really had nothing to do with not wanting to be in Calgary and everything to do with wanting to be out east.

Again, weird people feel the need to frame the signing this way. Johnny and his family chose Columbus. That doesn’t mean they dislike Calgary.

Maybe they wanted to be in Calgary but wanted to be in Columbus more. If in your world, that means really, really, really didn’t like Calgary, so be it. But it’s wrong.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

It really had nothing to do with not wanting to be in Calgary and everything to do with wanting to be out east.

Doesn't "wanting to be out east" necessarily mean "not be in Calgary" anymore?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Three days later after all the backlash...Yay lol

The guy totally strung the Flames along for leverage...he seems surprised people are asking him about Calgary at all.

Bottom like though winning is not at the top of his list so we are probably better off long term

Two things:

1) It’s not stringing somebody along for leverage when you leave $15M on the table by going, take a lower AAV with your new team, and announce before you leave for UFA that you left for family reasons and not money.

If anything doing what he did took away all of his leverage.

2) Somebody close to the family that I had a conversation with said it truly was a 50/50 decision to the end and that he was really torn making the decision and getting pulled a couple different ways. That was also the rumor the whole time in the lead up.

Now even with those two things being true that doesn’t mean that Johnny handled it well or made the right decision, but there truly was no malicious intent here.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Doesn't "wanting to be out east" necessarily mean "not be in Calgary" anymore?

Not in the way it seems most people are taking it.

If they were Canadian and their families lived in Saskatoon, he’d be a Flame.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Don't worry. It almost always works out.

Johnny & his agent

Spoiler!

*spoiler for possible size

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Not in the way it seems most people are taking it.

If they were Canadian and their families lived in Saskatoon, he’d be a Flame.

My family is in Thunder Bay and it's a mfkr. If I didn't like Calgary as much as I did and had the opportunity to move to the same time zone, I wouldn't think twice.

Seems like that's the situation Johnny found himself in, except his wife held the trump card.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Even describing it as getting dumped is lame hyperbole. The flames didn’t get dumped. There was no relationship. Johnny was single, a free agent, and he chose his partner. It just wasn’t us. Lots of other guys will choose another team and lots of other teams will get left out when there’s only one player and 32 teams.

Did JG and his rep negotiate in bad faith? It certainly appears so by most reports.

Did they, reportedly, agree with the Flames to 10.5 mil per annum over 8 years and then reneg, with no communication over 10 hours to the Flames management/owner that this was happening ?

Did JG not know Meredith’s feelings well prior to , reportedly, agreeing to the Flames offer? Had they not discussed her wishes to not remain in Calgary?


Something very rotten about that process, as it has been widely reported, and it appears to be completely on JG and his agent.

[WesternCanadaKing]

If any other team in the Western Conference had drafted Johnny, they'd be going through this right now instead of Calgary. If it was just about getting out of Calgary, he could have found himself a better situation than what he has in Columbus.

He is probably really torn up about how his final decision is affecting people here. He is also probably not sure that he made the right choice and also has a bunch of cameras in his face with reporters hoping to get a "Johnny hated Calgary" kind of soundbite from him. No wonder he didn't want to talk about Calgary, he probably hasn't fully processed what happened yet.

Remember that prank video that was posted a while back with a mom telling their kid that Johnny was leaving the team, and the kid burst into tears? He saw that video and replied to it. That's of course just a well known example of the kind of experiences he had with fans in the city - there were many countless others. He knows how important he was to fans here and how they're feeling right now - he's not dealing with it well most likely. It seems hard for him to even talk about.

So its hard to see people reacting like they are. He's a person at the end of the day, and in no way did he screw anybody. He played out his contract, and ultimately decided to leave. We aren't owed anything more.

[Mathgod]

--removing this as it was a lousy comment--

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by WesternCanadaKing

If any other team in the Western Conference had drafted Johnny, they'd be going through this right now instead of Calgary.

I don't believe for a moment it's about the Western Conference. I'm pretty sure the U.S.–Canadian border has a lot more to do with it.

If I were in his shoes, I would not like having myself, my wife, and a newborn child on one side of a border that could be re-closed at any time, and both of our families on the other side. If that was a dealbreaker, that's understandable. But I would not tell my agent to spend days or weeks negotiating a deal that contained a guaranteed dealbreaker.

Seems like Gaudreau pulled the rug out from under everyone, including, in the end, himself.

[browna]

Originally Posted by automaton 3

@browna

Yep, agreed it would not surprise me in the least if a trade to Philly is eventually worked out.

I think he could be there right now if he handled this better.

Nah, thought it's where he's had his eye on for years, I don't think the new coach really wanted him.

His agent, knowing how bad Johnny really wanted to go there, likely told him, and strung him along, maybe even to the last day, that the Flyers were interested and in the mix, when thst may or may not have been true.

I think Torts was tepid on him. He would've gone to the Flyers for $2m more than Dangelo got.

Johnny instead is forced to do plan c to placate the family and wife, goes somewhere safe and quiet, and to somewhere that will have zero issue in giving in to his demand of trading him to the Flyers in a couple years.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by browna

Johnny instead is forced to do plan c to placate the family and wife, goes somewhere safe and quiet, and to somewhere that will have zero issue in giving in to his demand of trading him to the Flyers in a couple years.

The thing I'm left wondering is this: The Flyers are a really bad and rudderless team. During the next two or three years, they are likely to be torn down to the studs for a complete rebuild. Why are they going to want to give up assets to acquire a 31-year-old winger with an enormous contract, instead of saving the money and the assets for players who will fit their window?

At this point, I think it's an unrequited love on Gaudreau's paart.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

It really had nothing to do with not wanting to be in Calgary and everything to do with wanting to be out east.

Again, weird people feel the need to frame the signing this way. Johnny and his family chose Columbus. That doesn’t mean they dislike Calgary.

Maybe they wanted to be in Calgary but wanted to be in Columbus more. If in your world, that means really, really, really didn’t like Calgary, so be it. But it’s wrong.

On the whole I like Calgary, it's probably the best or at least top 3 places in Canada to raise a family in the middle class. But if suddenly my salary jumped into the 7 digit figures I would be out of here so goddamn fast. I wouldn't pick Columbus mind you, but anywhere where winter didn't stretch into 8 months of the year would be an upgrade. Calgary is a fantastic city when you're in the middle of the salary bell curve, but once you start going down to the wealthier side of things there's a lot of better options

[WesternCanadaKing]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I don't believe for a moment it's about the Western Conference. I'm pretty sure the U.S.–Canadian border has a lot more to do with it.

If I were in his shoes, I would not like having myself, my wife, and a newborn child on one side of a border that could be re-closed at any time, and both of our families on the other side. If that was a dealbreaker, that's understandable. But I would not tell my agent to spend days or weeks negotiating a deal that contained a guaranteed dealbreaker.

Seems like Gaudreau pulled the rug out from under everyone, including, in the end, himself.

Then why limit himself to the northeast US? If it was just about leaving Canada, then why not entertain offers from a wider set of teams?