Friedman "wonders" if there are GMs out there upset at Briere for trying to trade them Carter Hart

[Connor McConnor]

Friedman just spewing his mouth like usual for clicks. This guy is one of the worst in the business, it's too bad he actually still has a few connections I'm surprised he hasn't been blackballed himself for the conspiracy theories he regularly spouts as supposed "news"

 

[ACC1224]

I thought some other NHL names were involved last summer and they were not among the 5 that were arrested. I think the implication is Briere knew more than what the whisper network reported, and I could see NHL GMs being peeved at the attempt to move Hart.

Not sure. IMO, any player from that roster would raise a red flag for any GM.
For all we know Briere was honest with the other GM's and Freidman is just guessing for attention.

Maybe they weren't allowed to speculate.

Don't follow. How can you prevent someone from speculating?

 

[Pink Mist]

"I wonder" if Elliot Friedman has rocks for brains because it was a pretty open secret that Hart was likely involved

 

[FlyguyOX]

Brier after taking over: "We're in a rebuild and any player is available".

Ersson flashes to end the season, signed to a multi-year deal.

Hart gets dangled.

Smooth brains: "OMG DANNY BRIERE PURPOSELY TRYING TO TRADE HART BEFORE CRAP HITS THE WALL."

 

[K1984]

If other GM's weren't aware of Hart being potentially involved they're idiots.

Pretty much this.

Anyone paying attention and that can add 2+2 together could see that Hart at least potentially could have some legal problems. If teams were too dumb to ask, then that's their problem. However, if they asked the Flyers about it and the Flyers represented something different, then that is a different story and their grievance would be justified.

 

[God]

Whenever Friedman says "I wonder", it's tough to parse whether that's him saying his own opinion or something he's actually heard. He is really just a mouthpiece. It's entirely possible that one GM isn't happy about this.

 

[JohnBlutarski]

If he was somehow savvy enough to trade him, then it would be 100% on the other gm that acquired him. Do your due diligence.
Briere would've been a complete moron to not at least try to get something for him.
Theres winners and losers in almost every trade.

 

[Mr Positive]

It might really have been that Briere wanted to trade Hart just to move the contract. The police statement requesting them to turn themselves in made it so much more real. If he's denying it the whole and it doesn't look like there will be new developments, at some point you move on. There were a lot of good players on that team.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Brier after taking over: "We're in a rebuild and any player is available".

Ersson flashes to end the season, signed to a multi-year deal.

Hart gets dangled.

Smooth brains: "OMG DANNY BRIERE PURPOSELY TRYING TO TRADE HART BEFORE CRAP HITS THE WALL."

Huh? Everyone in this thread is saying of course that was part of the rationale for moving / not committing long term to Hart and you seem to be saying it was totally irrelevant and you're stupid for thinking otherwise?

 

[Coffey]

Don't follow. How can you prevent someone from speculating?

Threaten them with an infraction.

 

[iCanada]

Everyone knew

Yeah, Twitter knew. Reddit knew. HFboards knew.

You can't tell me actual hockey executives didn't know, when they were able to just call up HC and get the inside scoop from their buddy's there.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

HugeInTheShire wonders why anyone takes Friedman seriously anymore?

 

[Breakers]

Ohhh they knew
Last sentence…… take note
This was a bit ago.

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

It is bad business
Extremely scummy

 

[PaulD]

I mean if we’re gonna give the Flames the benefit of a doubt for “not knowing” what Dube’s absence was about literally a week ago, I’m not sure how you can criticize the Flyers for something 6 months ago.

Frankly I think everyone has known for quite a while.

yup

 

[Draiskull]

Let’s be real, everyone in the NHL knew who was involved in this

Unless the league/hockey Canada sent them a "don't speculate" memo

 

[shello]

Friedman is just spewing crap. There's no legit hockey insiders anymore

 

[PaulD]

It is bad business
Extremely scummy

nah. Everybody in the small hockey world knew who the guys might be. Nobody took a chance on Hart so this is a nothing burger with a side of Friedmans

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Whenever Friedman says "I wonder", it's tough to parse whether that's him saying his own opinion or something he's actually heard. He is really just a mouthpiece. It's entirely possible that one GM isn't happy about this.

It's also possible none of the GMs care at all but someone wants Friedman to put this out there and make Briere look bad publicly.

 

[God]

It's also possible none of the GMs care at all but someone wants Friedman to put this out there and make Briere look bad publicly.

Yeah. Friedman will literally say anything. He went to bat for the Bruins when they signed Mitchell Miller. It's so, so easy to get him to say something.

And frankly, given how stupid some GMs have been historically, I also wouldn't be surprised if they actually did not know what the extent of Carter Hart's involvement was. I certainly haven't kept up with it outside of the 8 players that made no comment when the story first broke (and it appears only two of them - Formenton and McLeod - ended up being charged).

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

nah. Everybody in the small hockey world knew who the guys might be. Nobody took a chance on Hart so this is a nothing burger with a side of Friedmans

If a dirtbag tries to sell you a car with a failing transmission without tellint you, he's still a dirt bag even if you discover the issue

 

[thefutures]

I mean it's a fair question is it not? Especially considering they wanted full value from what I remember.

 

[TruGr1t]

Whenever Friedman says "I wonder", it's tough to parse whether that's him saying his own opinion or something he's actually heard. He is really just a mouthpiece. It's entirely possible that one GM isn't happy about this.

Yes, this stinks more of someone in a front office somewhere sniping at Briere through Friedman than anything else. Most of the media are either mouthpieces for agents or executives.

 

[PaulD]

p

If a dirtbag tries to sell you a car with a failing transmission without tellint you, he's still a dirt bag even if you discover the issue

unless I already knew about the tranny and the price dropped significantly.....and I still passed

 

[HBK27]

I mean it's a fair question is it not? Especially considering they wanted full value from what I remember.

The question itself is fair and I don't really get the criticism of Friedman when he clearly speculates on something (thus the "I wonder..." part of the comment). Now, I don't think that necessarily means that Friedman came up with that thought on his own - probably likely that one of many people he talks to (maybe involved with the league or a team, maybe not) might've brought it up, but not there's any inside information here. Friedman is usually very good at differentiating between more random thoughts versus something grounded in insider information.

Now, I highly, highly doubt that Briere himself knew more than any other GM. At best, maybe he got to hear Hart's version of the story and wasn't quite convinced by it - who knows. But it wouldn't have been unreasonable for a new GM to trade a player he didn't draft or even sign as part of an organizational rebuild.

I think most GM's had a decent sense of the guys that may have been involved, though it seems "only" 5 players are being charged while we've heard that 8-10 players were in the room at some point that night, so I doubt GM's knew for sure exactly which players were going to face charges or that charges were most certainly going to come - given that was not the result following the original investigation.

Can't fault Briere for seeing if there was any interest in Hart or other GM's for steering clear.