cross16

I don't see any team giving up a 1 or 2 OA pick for a player a year away from UFA and I see no reason why Tkachuk would engage in an extension with either team in order to facilitate said trade.

Even if this were true, i'm not sure it is personally, I don't think the 2 OA would in play for the Flames nor am i convinced the Devils would offer it for Tkachuk.

Which would lead me to believe, like many others have noted, is that they made a very strong offer. I mean we've gotten news on Forsberg and the Preds exchanging counter offers does that make you any more confident he's going to stay in Nashville? This is almost certaintly going to be the only time in Gaudreau's life and career he can make a decision of this magnitude so i'm personally ok if he is a bit torn on it. Especially when you consider that one of the places he may hope to be isn't exactly in a position to be there but potentially could be. I guess at the end of the day there are so many moving parts to this i'm not really in a rush to draw conclusions off info that isn't there. We don't think Treliving knows the price on Debrincat already and knows he can't pay it? We don't think he's worked out deals that are contingent on Gaudreau coming back?

That's assuming this is the range of possibilities for their off season plan. I would suggest it is not.

None of this favors the Flames. Gaudreau is in the drivers seat as is any high profile UFA. I'm not suggesting that people cannot be negative that is up to them. I'm just stating that at this point in time i'm not there.

I know the Flames have the space but I was referring to the Flyers and the idea that them maybe pivoting to Debrincat is a sign NJ will outbid them for Gaudreau and I don't think that's a conclusion we can draw. This is speculation but I've always heard Philly is a very desirable place for Gaudreau so i'm not sure they should be discounted like that. I get what you are saying but it's also possible that he values what Philly can offer more than picking the best destination for winning. I would speculate NJ should be a contender but again I don't know what Gaudreau wants. Again what does he gain by signing now? He is in the driver's seat here and I think any good agent would be telling him to wait. You gain nothing by signing now but more by waiting the team out that needs you more than you need them. I honestly don't think this is very complex, it's pretty basic negotiating strategy. I also don't see what the Flames gain by having a deadline of the draft.

Tanked hard but yet their highest pick was due to the fact that their, at the time, star player demanded a trade and the acquiring team went into the toilet? And in the process also dealt another lottery pick who turned into a top 4 dman who just won the cup?

Or they know they won't be able to clear the cap sign necessary to sign him. Flyers have to clear a lot of cap space to even get their foot in the door. I don't read too much into the silence to be honest and if I had to guess i'm not sure it's a negative. I think if you are the Flames the only concern you have right now is he's already decide to move on and if that were the case the silence would make no sense and it would make even less sense for Treliving to give an interview saying they are only considering signing them. It would be a pretty busy league agent tactic to wait that late to counter too. The silence tells me Gaudreau is still very much in play for Calgary but wants to wait them out for a better offer or he's waiting for another desirable location to be able to make a pitch. I'm not sure what info could be hidden at this point.

I get it. Money will be there, they clearly like the player and the fit is there. Potentially pretty scary contract though but this doesn't surprise me.

I know he gets talked about as a potential should Gaudreau not sign but this backs up just how scary of a contract that would be. But I also don't get why Boston is mentioned here. Boston is already at the cap and that doesn't even include Bergeron who has rumored to agreed verbally.

But what changes for the Flames if that is the case? I think what gets lost a bit in the Tavares thing is the Leafs also probably had the better pitch. Islanders weren't have success and had turned over their management team. Leafs were stable, up and coming talent and gave him a top of the market offer. Yes I understand the Islanders had the beter success but Leafs are also one of the best team in the league and look to be that way for the next several season while Islanders have a rookie head coach and are pretty quickly aging out. It's not hard to see the Leafs having the better pitch.

His trade value is already gone so whether he decides to leave now or the day before FA is pretty irrelevant. There is minimal value in acquiring Gaudreau's rights for the team that wants him and I don't see how the price would change today vs closer to FA. I get the angst around "will he or won't he" but I don't get the angst around trading his rights. It's a big decision and he's got time to make it so what's his rush in signing?

That was a really off year for the draft and probably one of the worst draft classes we've seen in over 20 years. Flames still totally butchered it but I think it's fair to recognize it was a bad draft class. And in all honest Jankowski is not a horrible pick for where he was taken and for the class he was part of. The problem was trading down and how Feaster handled the press after the fact. I still can't believe the organization was comfortable moving forward with him after that (well technically they weren't).

And how bad would Colorado look if they took that deal? There were some that thought Colorado was nuts to turn that down but they easily made the right call. I just saw a tweet on this but I think in the salary cap era Top 10 picks have been moved like 5 times. If you don't luck into that pick (ie make a deal with a team that moves it not thinking they are a lottery team) it's almost impossible to acquire them. There is too much value placed on the idea of getting elite talent that is young and cost controlled that teams just don't want to give up.

Really interesting. What jumps out is the 3 points in 4 games. Very small sample size but if he can start generating some offence that ceiling could move pretty high. I've generally been pretty impressed with how he plays in his own end but if he can add that transition element and offence to his game that could lead somewhere.

There is merit to the discussion around Tkachuk for 2 OA (assuming Wright is there) and another prospect. I highly doubt you get Holtz in that move but if you did it would be worth considering for sure. however, if the plan is do that and still remain competitive I would view that as hard to do. I really like Wright but I think he is 2-3 years away from making an impact so I do think you take a step back in that deal even if you can keep Gaudreau. I also think it would like be 2 OA and maybe a Nolan Foote or Ty Smith level prospect. I would be very surprised to see the Devils give up 2 top 10 picks for Tkachuk.

I was taking a look at that and seeing if there was some potential for the Flames but trading Fiala actually sovles a lot of issues for the Wild. Still have Body and Addison coming and i'm not sure Dumba is a good fit for the Flames at the cost and pending UFA. if they want to move Brodin i'm all ears but can't imagine why they would. They are actually in much better shape that I thought.

Pretty good move from the Kings. For a team that struggled to create offense they just picked up someone who is excellent at creating it. Pretty reasonable price too IMO. Kings are going to be good next year I think. They'll contend for the division if Byfield can take a step.

One of the many annoying parts of the rise of social media and expanding of publications is you get stuff like this. Look we all acknowledge what that writer is suggesting is possible but why write an article speculating it with no facts to back it up? There is nothing in that article that we don't already know. I don't really get the purpose of writing it and what point you are trying to get across.

Sakic did a good job and deserves credit. My point is not to take anything away from them just to point out that I don't really think the Avs followed a "blueprint". It wasn't they like intentionally bottomed out and stayed there, they kind of went though 2 different rebuilds because the first one didn't work. Just not sure there is something to be learned there. The one thing I take away from the Avs, and I think the Flames are following this to a certain extent, is you have to be very specific and intentional in the players you target. The Avs, and Sakic in particular, did a really nice job of targetting players that fit how they wanted to play and not necessarily the "best" players. Acquisitions like Devon Towes, Sam Girard, Nichuskin and Burakovsky were all players that didn't scream great pick up but once they were in the system they fit it like a glove. But they also got lucky and when they did they took advantage. Duchene asking for a trade, Roy quitting, Roy insisting they draft Mackinnon over Jones (as the story goes) and then losing the lottery to get Makar.

This is drumming up a story to me because it's a terrible analogy. A marriage proposal isn't a negotiation but this is and there is a prescribed deadline in place for the answer. Silence right now doesn't bother me. Silence a week-10 day from now then yes that's not a good sign.

FWIW, Steinberg wrote last week it's his understanding that Gaudreau and the Flames came very close to a deal before training camp. That likely doesn't happen is he is being low balled.

Why is that? I can for sure get behind the idea that Calgary is not a big free agent destination but they can offer him the money, they have a talented team he is joining (even if they lose Gaudreau) and they've got a huge Swedish contingent that could help sell him on it. I'm not convinced Forsberg, likely Gaudrau, goes to UFA but if he does i'm not sure i'd agree that Calgary would be that low on the list.

It's a fair question and honestly I'm still not thrilled about the idea of giving Gaudreau a big contract. I never really have been and he while he won me over in certain ways this year i'm still not convinced he's the type of player you go all in on. I still think he will be a top end offensive producer for some time though and I don't think the deal would hurts a few years in. Last couple season probably but i'm actually comfortable with the idea of him performing at a high level the next 5 year or so. So fair to question if it is worth it but at this point i'm not sure the Flames have a choice because the alternative is far less pretty IMO.

More career wins than Domink Hasek. He has a strong case.