The idea that Philadelphia would pay more than Travis Konecny and a first for Johnny Gaudreau seems laughable to me.

Gaudreau is so underrated its crazy.

Everyone realizes he is better than Marner for example and signed to a darling, admittedly somewhat short, contract?

I dont think hes under rated, hes properly rated. Gaudreau is a great offensive talent but you saw first hand what happens to him when the stage is the biggest and physicality has ramped up in the palyoffs, he shuts down and doesnt make an impact. 1 point in 5 games last years first round exist, 2 points in a 4 game sweep exit the time before that, no goals.

He hasnt proven hes a big time player that can drive a team deep into the playoffs. Talented in the regular season but easily contained in the playoffs, lacks mental toughness to fight through playoff hockey

Or you're just superoverrating a tiny sample size. You can find series where any player was terrible. Has happened to Crosby, Ovechkin, whomever. Your judging a guy based on 9 games. If rather judge the guy based on the fact that he's 9th in points in the last two years (2nd for LW, 4th for wingers in general).

I live in Calgary, thats what a large majority of his own fan base say about him as well. They dont think they can win with him as their best player on the team

I do agree it was too much, but K and two firsts would not be out of the question, especially considering Gaudreau would sign for equal or slightly higher than Marner in today’s market which would send a pile of firsts in return in an offer sheet. Philly would be in the clouds to have a hometown boy come into the fold and a marketing gem. I do agree Johnny needs to prove himself inolayoffs, and honestly as a Flames/Bruins fan, he needs to show better leadership. I always ask why no letter in the sweater. But NJ, Boston and Philly would all bend over backwards to bring this guy back out east, and I am extremely confident that in his second to last year the Flames are going to trade him there for a boatload. All IMO of course.

So they're dumb. Got it.

Fans always underrate offensive players if they're not gritty enough for them.

Kessel was hated by much if Leafs nation through his career in TO and was sold for pennies on the dollar because "you can't win with him". But it's nonsense. He is one of the best offensive players of his generation. It's just extremely hard to build around wingers. Kessel has always just been Kane without Toews

Its not grit, its not playing with an edge, its his compete level and leadership when the games mean the most. Avs completely shut him down and made him irrelevant bc he's easy to game plan against. Instead of fighting through It, changing things up, etc, He basically just quit.

Thats what fans in Calgary worry about, if hes your best player and most important, you can't have a guy with that sort of mentality