Interesting. If Gauthier thought he was going to be on the team a year earlier that could cause bitterness. Such a decision to delay would cost him a year on his ELC and quite a lot of money.Friedman on today's episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
"I think he believed he was gonna join the team at the end of the season. And, I think, look, can I say 100% there was a promise made? No, I can't say that. But what I can say is that at least the player believed there was... I dunno, I don't want to speak for Gauthier, whether he felt it was a promise or an indication, whatever the case.
And that year was so bad in Philadelphia that Jones and Briere made a decision that they weren't going to bring him in to the locker room. They said their locker room was a really tough place, and they offered him to go to the American Hockey League and finish that year and then join the Flyers the next year, and it was just never the same after that point."
This was what I was posting when this went down. I obviously have ZERO knowledge of what actually happened, but the only thing that made sense to me was that Fletcher told CG's team they would burn a year when his collegiate season ended and right before that happens, he gets fire and Briere doesn't feel the need to honor that statement. Given that a guy like Bernier in SEA had burned a year, and was able to sign a $7M per year contract a year early that was a HUGE, HUGE potential financial hit to CG. That's the "most likely" course of events to explain why the relationship melted down.Interesting. If Gauthier thought he was going to be on the team a year earlier that could cause bitterness. Such a decision to delay would cost him a year on his ELC and quite a lot of money.
If Briere / Jones promised, bad on them. If not, Gauthier should have taken the hit and buckled up for the coming year.
I bet that it was Fletcher who promised, but he got fired the month before CG's collegiate season ends and Briere/Jones don't feel the need to honor Fletcher's promise. That was obviously their "right" to do so, but it's also CG's "right" to feel betrayed and not want to sign there long term if the organization does not fulfill their promises.Interesting. If Gauthier thought he was going to be on the team a year earlier that could cause bitterness. Such a decision to delay would cost him a year on his ELC and quite a lot of money.
If Briere / Jones promised, bad on them. If not, Gauthier should have taken the hit and buckled up for the coming year.
When Cutter plays in Montreal, will the RDS broadcast crew pronounce his name as Coupeur?