Flames Johnny Gaudreau Wants to Stay But Wants to Test Market, Too

Late in May, the reports were that the Calgary Flames Johnny Gaudreau wanted to stay with the team. Recently, however, he’s waffling a bit. He’s apparently been offered a contract by the Flames, but he’s undecided and hasn’t signed it yet.

It isn’t as if the Flames aren’t trying to convince him. In fact, Flames general manager Brad Treliving was clear “We want him to be a Calgary Flame.”

Treliving added that Gaudreau has been a Flame “his whole career. I think he’s got a chance to be one of the greatest ever to play in the history of the franchise, and there’s been some great ones.”

Early in the negotiating process, just over a month ago, it seemed that Gaudreau was moved by the response. He even noted that his neighbors were shoveling his driveway to encourage him to stay with the Flames.

Related: Johnny Gaudreau Likely to At Least Test NHL Free Agent Market

Gaudreau Could Establish a Legacy in Calgary

Last season Gaudreau had the best of his career. In 2021-22, he finished tied for second in the NHL scoring with 115 points. That also moved him up the franchise list of scorers. Gaudreau now has totalled 609 points by scoring 210 goals and adding 399 assists in 602 games with the Flames.

Ahead of him are only five Flames players. Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla has scored 1,095 points. Theo Fleury scored 830 points; Al MacInnis scored 822 points; and, Joe Nieuwendyk has scored 616 points.

The fact that he’s high on the franchise’s list of scorers isn’t lost on him. However, Gaudreau has his eyes on a bigger prize. He noted that “I’ve been here for 11 years and haven’t got to that ultimate goal.”

Gaudreau said. “It’s been a while since they’ve won here (1989). So I think that would be pretty special, to win a Cup here. It’s something that I kind of dreamed about my whole life, and Calgary is a great place to do it.”

All This Said, Gaudreau Remains Undecided

However, as July 13 nears, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Gaudreau is still undecided whether he should sign the contract he was offered from the Flames. 

LeBrun noted in an interview with Insider Trading on Thursday that Gaudreau’s “camp has not communicated to the Flames one way or another where this is headed at this point. We’re a week away from the draft. We’ve said before that the Calgary Flames would be nervous letting this drag out all the way to the opening a free agency in the sense that probably they have to start pivoting here soon if they don’t think they’re going to be able to re-sign Johnny Gaudreau.”

LeBrun Believes Gaudreau Wants To Keep the Flames in His Back Pocket, But to Explore the Market

At this point, LeBrun seems to think that Gaudreau wants it both ways (which is his right in a negotiation). As LeBrun noted, “Ultimately, I think what it sounds like to me is that Johnny Gaudreau wants to keep Calgary in the fold, that he’s still interested in that offer, but may want to take a peek and see what’s out there and that’s not ideal if you’re Calgary.”

As it stands, Gaudreau is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 13. The fact that he set career-highs in 2021-22 by scoring 40 goals and additng 75 assists (for his 115 points) in 82 games means that he’s likely going to get a big raise on his $6.75 million contract that’s expiring.

Now, it only bears watching if he wants to sign that contract in Calgary or with anoher NHL team. 

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