cross16

i would agree which is also part of the reason i wasn't convinced he was going to get the offers some thought. It was pretty clear that the teams in on this were going to be limited. Philly didn't have the cap, Islanders didn't have the cap to go all in either. But the fact he isn't going to the Devils is what I don't get. Would have loved to know what their offer was.

Some reports out there said NYI was only going as high as 9. Nothing on what NJ was offering. i never really saw the Islanders as a fit personally.

Whoa so not even signing bonus structure? There is something at play here we don't know about. This is a place he clearly wants to be. That or he has the world's worst agent.

According to rumors Philly has been trying to make space for a while. Came close to dealing JVR but decided the price was too rich.

Yup but logistically a lot closer for family to come watch him play and he likely wants to raise his family closer than Calgary. I will say though, and i've hinted at this before, I do think Gaudreau and his agent overplayed their hand. I was not of the belief Gaudreau was going to get 10-11 mill plus on the open market and honestly that's why I was so convinced he was staying. Columbus may have been the only team willing to pay him anywhere close to what Calgary was offering. Plenty of other things than money, but the Flames don't look as bad today as they did yesterday.

Should be pointed out Columbus is very close to where he lives so it appears true that family truly was the biggest motivator here. But I too am shocked, I thought this was Jersey for sure. I'm not really sure what he sees in Columbus and their roster. Center depth doesn't look great to me so passing up a chance to play with Hughes and Heischer is certainly a play. What a massive get for Columbus though who also have Sillinger and Kent Johnson to put into their lineup. Big skill upgrade there. Wonder how they make this work with Laine. They had 12 mill cap space left and got Gaudreau. That's a lot of clearing to do to try and get Laine back.

Such as? This isn't very factual.

There is already a deadline though and it's league imposed. So sure you can make up your own deadline but the risk there is you piss off the player and force him to make a decision. I know I wouldn't appreciate that as a player because again the deadline is already there. A hard line approach is a tactic but it doesn't come with risk especially in today's market of players IMO. I'm also not really sure that had the Flames found out at the draft for example, that much woudl change.

No one is going to change their mind but all I will say is this is a two way street and players have a say too. Can't force someone to sign. it made sense to go all in Gaudreau to me (giving the state of the franchise) as it does for Tkachuk to wait and see how that plays out before committing.

And that is my question. I could be wrong here as i'm basing this mostly on what I hear and how it appears the club operates but the key question for me is that. Would a new GM do anything differently? If they wouldn't then it's hard for me to blame this all on the GM.

He's part of it for sure but I don't agree it's his job to do everything i'm mentioning here. It's his job to execute it but it's not his job to create the mandate. I also don't believe for a second that the plan with Gaudreau wasn't done with ownership being involved the whole time.

You are not going to replace Gaudreau in FA. I think what is getting missed here is Plan B isn't rushing out to replace Gaudreau. Plan B is making sure Tkachuk is on board for the long haul because if he isn't then your offseason changes dramatically and you probably live to forget any deal you would sign today.

is it really though? Again a down year (and should be pointed out that the Rangers were a bad 5 on 5 team last year so most players took a dip there) but over his career he's been a solid 4th line center. Market for that is usually 1-1.5

Things we have to remember about Sutter. He doesn't like using rookies on his 4th line, you better play fast and you better be better not be a liability in your own zone. That is Rooney. He had a down year last year but prior to that he was a solid defensive center. While I by no means suggest anyone get excited about this, the fit makes a lot of sense.

Yesterday: "Treliving better not make a panic signing" Today after not making a panic signing so far: " WTF Tree do something" Sounds like typical fan reaction I suppose.

Man are there some bad takes being thrown around here, yikes. We honestly think Gaudreau waited 6 years to 'stick" it back to the Flames. I've also been told it wasn't the Flames insisting on the Gio cap but rather Gaudreau didn't want a 7 or 8 year deal last go around so what do we believe? a lot of these hot takes are based on info we'll never know so i'm not sure I understand the rush to make them or to assign blame. I personally don't really care who is at fault here and we will likely never know the information required to properly Hash Rate it. for me this isn't one person it's an organization failure. There is famous quote from the Founder that turned McDonalds around "you don't know what business your in" and i think this applies to the Flames. What the Flames can't seem to wrap their heads around is they are a small market professional sports team and the name of the game if you are a small market is asset management. You can't all into this pattern of winning every year at the expense of leting assets go, and not just letting assets go but spending more. You can't deal 4th round picks for depth dman at the deadline when your not a contender and you can't let guys like Brodie and Gaudreau walk for nothing. I don't care if it means you will miss the playoffs here and there its what you need to do if you want to be a successful small market club and this organization doesn't understand that. I said this 2 summers ago the Flames needed to have a plan for Gaudreau before his NTC kicked in, that's what small market clubs need to do. you need some level of commitment from your best player or you need to turn that player into assets that can form your next core, or that can help you out in the future. Playing the game of we need to try and win every year so we can't entertain any steps back is not how this organization should function IMO. Is that on all on Treliving, not very likely IMO but I get the desire to fire him but i will say the same 2 things I have the last few years. Who are you replacing him with and what are they going to do differently? I'm not convinced we are in a different spot today with a different GM.

Interesting the agent is already saying this.

I’m pretty shocked. Was definitely in the camp he’d stay but good luck to him. He’s earned this and I can’t imagine it was an easy call because I do think even be recognized flames were offering everything they could/he wanted except the area code. Organizationally though it’s time to take a long deep look. Letting a player like this walk for nothing is the biggest organizational failure since they hired Feaster.

Yup i meant this sorry i think clearly the Flames are planting this stuff.

I think if we learn anything from this can it be that 75% of what we hear today is crap and that today's media is more interested in engagement and clicks than the truth? You wouldn't get this far in the process if the other side never said anything.

Looks like the Flames are chatting with the media today.

A lot of ties being made to Keumper and Washington and then Campbell winding up in Edm. I'm a bit surprised Washington gave up on Samsonov. I get his results didn't match his qualifying offer and he's been up and down in the NHL but there is talent there and only 25. I think someone could maybe get a bargain there.

This is either going to be nothing or the first step in many rumors that Gaudreau is going to Philly. This only clears 3.3 and as it stood this AM the Flyers had less than 200K cap space and RFA's left to sign. So I don't think this necessarily indicates they are positioning for Gaudreau as they need to do this regardless. But if they make another move today I think it will be pretty clear what they are up to.

Sony Milano is a very intriguing name. Would give the flames some much lacking play making ability

I don’t think thats what has occurred here. Kawahi also never went public to say he would consider playing in Toronto. He made efforts to squash any idea he wanted to be in Toronto as did his family