Seravalli: Gaudreau has informed the Flames he will not return

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Really sounds like Tre doesn't have a plan B or C

[DiracSpike]

What would you guys have done differently? Traded him, and not really even him but just two weeks of his rights, at the draft for what, a 7th rounder? And that would make everything better, none of you would be mad at him today if he had done that? They made a push, this is what UFA is. They would have traded him at the deadline for something if the team had been bad but they weren't bad, we were stoked on the team all year long. Seriously

[Geeoff]

Hopefully, we nail the 15th overall draft pick

[Burning Beard]

Hope he never sniffs even 80 points again.

[Ashasx]

How is Treliving not sure about plan B?

How do you not have that ready to go?

wtf is wrong with this organization?

[dammage79]

First time I've said this in ten years. Fire tree

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Management's job is to hire the people who provide the product to the paying customers. Managing risk is worthless if there is no product worth paying for.

Yeah, well the product has been #%^* just as often as it hasn’t been, if not more so.

Without a market as loyal as Calgary, Brad Treliving’s Flames would be playing in front of 10,000 fans most seasons.

[VilleN]

#### happens. Most players re-sign… less so when you’re in a small market. It’s frustrating. It’s not the fault of management. It’s geography. It’s not like we’d all be sitting here satisfied with the team had Tre traded him for pennies on the dollar last year. We would not have got to the second round… that counts for something.

[Aarongavey]

Brad just confirmed that they were looking at what they would do if Gaudreau did not re-sign. Thank god the Flames can walk and chew gum at the same time. It would be disappointing if Gaudreau giving them the news last minute prevented them from looking at what they would do if he did not come back. He does not know what that Plan B is, but he said he thought about it.

[TBone290]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

What would you guys have done differently? Traded him, and not really even him but just two weeks of his rights, at the draft for what, a 7th rounder? And that would make everything better, none of you would be mad at him today if he had done that? They made a push, this is what UFA is. They would have traded him at the deadline for something if the team had been bad but they weren't bad, we were stoked on the team all year long. Seriously

Thank you!!

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Wtf is this? Brodie got us Tanev. Gio got us Kyilinton. Both were on their last legs.

I get the cap space it opened up, that’s fair but it would have been nice to get some actual assets for these players. Even looking at the Iginla core and what we ended up getting for that. It just seems like such an underwhelming return for our franchise players time and again. Ignore me regardless bro I’m totally just dejected right now and speaking out of my ass no doubt.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by AC

I would guess Johnny and Meredith's pregnancy changed things, because suddenly being close to both their parents is a lot more important.

This is what happens when you don’t sign enough protection for your star players.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by Matty81

I think the Flames have a legitimate grudge with Gaudreau here, he said for ages that he would return, the flames offer the best money allegedly and he still leaves.

He should have had the balls to be up front about this a year ago if this was his intent, he screwed the team by delivering this news 6 hours before free agency.

I think this likely stemmed from the original signing he got from Tre as he stuck it to Gaudreau saying that he couldn't give him more than $6M AAV. I was kind of surprised Tre actually gave Gaudreau the NTC on the final year. So, what did Gaudreau do? Almost like a playmaker on ice doing the trick on the GM off-ice. Seems like Johnny pulled a Tavares on the Flames. If his heart wasn't with the Flames after the playoffs, just get this out right away so that at least maybe the organization can get the NTC out of the way and maybe get something back at least by trading his rights. Still a few hours left...

[Since1984]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Wtf is this? Brodie got us Tanev. Gio got us Kyilinton. Both were on their last legs.

No they didn't.... All were lost for nothing in return. Filling in is not getting the Flames additional assets.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Brad seemed uncertain that he'll be able to sign Chucky

[Royle9]

Rebuild is the only solution here.

[Super-Rye]

I wonder if he wants the team to move forward.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Gazza

In all seriousness, what would be the benefit of BT remaining as GM?

Top player has left, arguably top defender last season. What he has tried to build is crumbling.

Perhaps fresh view on the team is what is needed.

Sent from my SM-S901W using Tapatalk

not really an argument....Gio was way overpaid last season and nowhere near as good as Tanev

took the expansion draft hit

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

Literally no one is saying there won't be a big drop off in the team's performance next year. There obviously will.

A few people in the other thread were suggesting it.

[littlereddevil]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

I’m not going to be gracious and wish him well. Johnny ####ed us. He has a contract offer and sat on it. He gave us a lot of sweet words at the end of the season but, if it wasn’t about money, he should have told Tre and let us get on with building our team. We could have made moves at the draft but we were frozen…waiting on him. He can GTFO.

I'm trying to find a silver lining in all this, like how the Islanders actually improved as a team after Tavares left them in free agency.

But not going to lie that this stings a lot. To be honest, Gaudreau was the only player who kept me watching Flames games and kept me excited as a fan, and for him to basically leave the Flames hanging until the last minute is going to leave a sour taste in many fans' mouths. I respect his own personal decision to likely go to a team closer to home, but it still would have been nice if he had made his intentions clearer with this team 1 year ago when contract extension talks began, and Flames management could have likely traded him then to his ideal team.

I'll probably go back to finding other hobbies or sports to watch next year. It's going to be difficult to watch them play, and living here in Edmonton will make it even tougher being a Flames fan when you constantly get the Oilers (and how McDavid is the best player ever) shoved in your face. The fact that the Flames also got knocked out of the playoffs by the Oilers, which seems to have been the camel that broke this team's back, stings even more.

We'll see what happens next year. Hey maybe, this team will end up being in a better place 5 years from now. And for God's sake, let's get a bunch of talented Canadian players who actually want to play here on this team.