Speculation: Gaudreau seeking $8M annually on new deal with Flames

[Straight Fire]

I hate how Calgary has handled the contract negotiations of our star players for, oh, nearly 30 years.

8 million per would be a bargain but we want the player to accept chump change.

 

[King In The North]

Love the wedge being driven between him and Flames. Hell be out if Calgary in 3 years. Exhibit A for how NOT to deal with a good player

Sean Monahan, Giordano, TJ Brodie, Dougie Hamilton....

 

[Backlund]

Love the wedge being driven between him and Flames. Hell be out if Calgary in 3 years. Exhibit A for how NOT to deal with a good player

Classic HFboards overreaction.


Remember when Yzerman had to trade Drouin for whatever he could.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Classic HFboards overreaction.


Remember when Yzerman had to trade Drouin for whatever he could.

Refresh my memory, when did Drouin finish 6th in scoring.

 

[tempest2i]

I hate how Calgary has handled the contract negotiations of our star players for, oh, nearly 30 years.

8 million per would be a bargain but we want the player to accept chump change.

Well, to be fair the Calgary Flames have managed to get their players to re-sign with the club on team friendly deals for as long as I can remember. Maybe they're just not used to having a player stand up to them.

 

[Backlund]

Refresh my memory, when did Drouin finish 6th in scoring.

What does that have to do with the point I'm making?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Well, to be fair the Calgary Flames have managed to get their players to re-sign with the club on team friendly deals for as long as I can remember. Maybe they're just not used to having a player stand up to them.

I'm pretty sure Iginla held out a couple times and didn't take a "hometown discount"

 

[DJJones]

I'm pretty sure Iginla held out a couple times and didn't take a "hometown discount"

That's why Calgary won't give out contracts like that anymore. We were in cap hell for like 8 years with a ****** team. I'm 100% on Calgary's side with squeezing out every penny

 

[UnrefinedCrude]

That's why Calgary won't give out contracts like that anymore. We were in cap hell for like 8 years with a ****** team. I'm 100% on Calgary's side with squeezing out every penny

Gotta find the balance though. You can't squeeze too hard.

I think they'll find the balance. Sitting out some preseason isn't a huge deal.
I'd only really worry if he's not signed going into the season.

 

[Ashasx]

Love the wedge being driven between him and Flames. Hell be out if Calgary in 3 years. Exhibit A for how NOT to deal with a good player

Negotiate with the player, attempting to get the best deal so you can ice as competitive a team as possible?

ok

 

[Kilted Yaksmen]

just like when the Flames destroyed their relationship with a 23 year old Iginla, or when the Kings destroyed their relationship with Doughty.

These situations aren't really comparable. For one, Iginla was in a different era when the Flames were fighting to survive and they ended up giving him 20-25% of the team's payroll. The risk of the team leaving was high and they legitimately couldn't afford him. They buckled because they had to, losing Iginla would've been the last nail in the coffin. It was also a different CBA that afforded players more leverage, making it MORE likely that they get what they wanted. Not sure why you'd bring him up but Iginla sure didn't seem all that sad to leave at the end. He was probably exhausted after carrying the franchise on his back while management was constantly a decade behind the times, making poor decision after poor decision.

With Doughty, he actually ended up winning, so it's not surprising no bad blood was fostered. Doughty also wasn't an American kid playing in a Canadian city. Like it or not, it's more likely to be a factor than a Canadian kid playing in California.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Don't get it? If he's that good, why are flame fans complaining? Why isn't he worth $8M?

5 years of RFA remaining.

I would value no winger's RFA years above 6.75M especially not when high scoring centers like Barkov and Scheifele are signing deals with 2-4 UFA years with under the 6.25 million mark. In terms of market value even with his great season his salary for those five RFA years should be around 6.25 to 6.5 million.

Then the question is what are his three UFA years worth.

Well Voracek put up similar numbers and signed a 8.25M UFA deal.

3 UFA years at 8.25M
5 RFA years at 6.3M

That is 56.25 million over 8 years, an AAV of 7.0 million which is considerably less than 8 million.

That is a more than fair deal for both sides. 8 Million makes sense for only one side.

Gaudreau as a UFA is worth over 8 million.
But he is not a UFA.
He an RFA.
For five more years.
Who has no arbitration rights.
And no offer sheet rights.
So why should he be paid as a UFA for 8 years when he is a UFA for only 3 potential years?

 

[Ashasx]

These situations aren't really comparable. For one, Iginla was in a different era when the Flames were fighting to survive and they ended up giving him 20-25% of the team's payroll. The risk of the team leaving was high and they legitimately couldn't afford him. They buckled because they had to, losing Iginla would've been the last nail in the coffin. It was also a different CBA that afforded players more leverage, making it MORE likely that they get what they wanted. Not sure why you'd bring him up but Iginla sure didn't seem all that sad to leave at the end. He was probably exhausted after carrying the franchise on his back while management was constantly a decade behind the times, making poor decision after poor decision.

With Doughty, he actually ended up winning, so it's not surprising no bad blood was fostered. Doughty also wasn't an American kid playing in a Canadian city. Like it or not, it's more likely to be a factor than a Canadian kid playing in California.

just an absolutely terrible post

 

[Ishad]

5 years of RFA remaining.

I would value no winger's RFA years above 6.75M especially not when high scoring centers like Barkov and Scheifele are signing deals with 2-4 UFA years with under the 6.25 million mark. In terms of market value even with his great season his salary for those five RFA years should be around 6.25 to 6.5 million.

Patrick Kane's RFA years were worth 6.3 million back when the salary cap was $59 million.

 

[Doug Gilmour]

Patrick Kane's RFA years were worth 6.3 million back when the salary cap was $59 million.

And now it's sitting at $72 million. That's a 22% increase? So add 22% to Kane's $6.3M and there you go, $7.6M....reasonable but like previous posters have said with Schiefele (true 1C) signing for less than $7M/year, it doesn't look right paying Gaudreau $7.5M+ right now.

I say 1-2 years at 6.5 and then go to arbitration.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

And now it's sitting at $72 million. That's a 22% increase? So add 22% to Kane's $6.3M and there you go, $7.6M....reasonable but like previous posters have said with Schiefele (true 1C) signing for less than $7M/year, it doesn't look right paying Gaudreau $7.5M+ right now.

I say 1-2 years at 6.5 and then go to arbitration.

I don't think Gaudreau agrees to a 2 year deal. Like most players, he is going to want 10s of millions of guaranteed money. Because of offer sheets and arbitration, signing a deal that takes a player 1-2 years before UFA status isn't as big of an advantage over just signing them to a longer term contract and attempting to negotiate an extension a year early because if the player wants to go directly to free agency, they'll get that opportunity anyway via arbitration.

It was very interesting to find out last night on the TSN Trade Breakers that Gaudreau is not eligible to receive offer sheets. That changes things because it turns this into a true standoff. Unless I am mistaken, Gaudreau has 4 UFA years left. I think the resolution we'll eventually see is something in CGY's proposed salary structure but with a term that takes Gaudreau right to UFA status. Gaudreau gets a 25M contract to set him up for life, he also has the opportunity to either commit to Calgary in 3 years or get traded, and he doesn't have to sell low on his UFA years when guys like Tarasenko were commanding a 7.5M cap hit on a long term deal.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

And now it's sitting at $72 million. That's a 22% increase? So add 22% to Kane's $6.3M and there you go, $7.6M....reasonable but like previous posters have said with Schiefele (true 1C) signing for less than $7M/year, it doesn't look right paying Gaudreau $7.5M+ right now.

I say 1-2 years at 6.5 and then go to arbitration.

I suppose you could argue position importance, but 49 and 61 points vs. 64 and 78 points doesn't really compare.

 

[Remember2004]

That's why Calgary won't give out contracts like that anymore. We were in cap hell for like 8 years with a ****** team. I'm 100% on Calgary's side with squeezing out every penny

Until it backfires like now... If we signed him for whatever the 8mil he supposedly asked for before the World Cup than we wouldn't have these silly trade threads and a "rumoured" increase in contract demands.

 

[umwoz]

How is he worth any less than Tarasenko?

$8M with a 73M cap is pretty much the same % of cap that 'senko got and they are very similar value-wise.

 

[L13]

That's why Calgary won't give out contracts like that anymore. We were in cap hell for like 8 years with a ****** team. I'm 100% on Calgary's side with squeezing out every penny

If they find themselves in ~cap hell~ it will be their own fault for repeatedly giving out terrible contracts to expendable players. It's not Gaudreau's fault Stajan and Wideman are on the deals they are on... nor is it his fault Brouwer was just signed for 4.5mil per year for the next 4 years, or that Elliott may get an inflated deal despite goalies being easy to find and the Flames having one of the best goalie farms in the league, or that Gio's contract will look ugly toward the end.

The Flames making the difference between paying their best player 6.3mil and 7.5mil through his prime years the hill they want to die on is a great example of the stupid things NHL GMs do. Give out contracts destined to become dead cap space without a care in the world, but God forbid you don't come out of contract negotiations with your best player feeling like you screwed him over.

 

[Guido Sarducci]

That's why Calgary won't give out contracts like that anymore. We were in cap hell for like 8 years with a ****** team. I'm 100% on Calgary's side with squeezing out every penny

If the Iginla era team was a ****** team what does that make the current version of the Flames?

I don't remember the Flames coming 26th, 28th, 26th when Iggy was around.

 

[umwoz]

Paying 15 Million for Engelland, Stajan, Smid and Wideman combined..... Bought out none of them, won't pay Gaudreau slightly over half of that.

 

[DJJones]

If the Iginla era team was a ****** team what does that make the current version of the Flames?

I don't remember the Flames coming 26th, 28th, 26th when Iggy was around.

Ya because it was filled with mediocre veterans that had no hope to improve.

And Calgary hasn't screwed themselves in anyway. They have all the power. Every game he sits out I'd lower the AAV.

 

[Guido Sarducci]

If they find themselves in ~cap hell~ it will be their own fault for repeatedly giving out terrible contracts to expendable players. It's not Gaudreau's fault Stajan and Wideman are on the deals they are on... nor is it his fault Brouwer was just signed for 4.5mil per year for the next 4 years, or that Elliott may get an inflated deal despite goalies being easy to find and the Flames having one of the best goalie farms in the league, or that Gio's contract will look ugly toward the end.

The Flames making the difference between paying their best player 6.3mil and 7.5mil through his prime years the hill they want to die on is a great example of the stupid things NHL GMs do. Give out contracts destined to become dead cap space without a care in the world, but God forbid you don't come out of contract negotiations with your best player feeling like you screwed him over.

Great post.

And about the Gio contract. If the "Gio cap" is a real thing that makes the Giordano contract terrible right now, not just at the end.

Teams should take care of their own first. Pay your own players who have earned raises, then go get UFAs with what is left. Joe Colborne will likely out produce Troy Brouwer for about half the price because Treliving was to scared to go to an arbitration. But at the same time was willing to back up the Brinks truck for a player who hasn't ever played for the Flames.

I wish Gaudreau had arbitration/offer sheet rights because it would expediate the process. Flames management/owners have really dropped the ball here.

 

[Guido Sarducci]

Every game he sits out I'd lower the AAV.

That's a brilliant play. Why didn't I think of that?

If Johnnys' camp won't take the current offer, maybe he will accept a lower one?