Elliot Friedman also reported that the Flyers were never «in» on Gaudreau, but he refused to believe it. This new development is quite intriguing given how bizarre the entire Gaudreau free agency situation turned out to be. Gaudreau left $10 million on the table from Calgary and went to a worse team for less money.
There is no denying how talented of a player Gaudreau is. Johnny Hockey put up 115 points and skated in all 82 regular season games for Calgary this past season. In the playoffs, Gaudreau scored 14 points in 12 games, leading the Flames to an Eastern Conference Finals berth.
While his numbers were quite impressive, I don't think Philadelphia made a bad decision. The Flyers missed the playoffs by 39 points last season and I don't see Gaudreau turning the Flyers around by himself. The same could be said about the Blue Jackets, but Columbus has stockpiled a few really intriguing prospects who could be making an impact at the NHL level sooner than later. What do you think? Did the Flyers miss out?
POLL | ||
JUILLET 16 | 158 ANSWERS REPORT: Philly Was Gaudreau's First Choice Did Philly miss out? | ||
Yes, he would've been a great fit | 72 | 45.6 % |
No, they have too many holes to fill | 86 | 54.4 % |
List of polls |