Quoting: Ryminister_27
Play with McDavid and Draisaitl in Edmonton and live in a miserable amount of snow and get raped by taxes.. or play with Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, Hedman, Sergachev, Vasilevskiy, Johnson, Cirelli, etc. in Tampa where the sun shines every day with the beach minutes away and virtually no media bothering you, and tax free? ... that's a pretty easy option. Until Edmonton gets a deeper roster, they're gonna have a hard time attracting players to want to play there. It's just the reality of it
Are you saying Gourde is a p*ssy wallflower who can't handle inclement weather?
Anyhow, as unlikely as it would be for him to waive for Edmonton, we don't know what he's thinking. And some of your narrative is slanted heavily:
live in a miserable amount of snow
This might come as a surprise to you, but Edmonton doesn't get a lot of snow comparatively. Here are some NHL cities by annual snowfall, along with Gourde's hometown. I'd say Gourde is well used to snow based on where he grew up and Edmonton's snowfall wouldn't be a hurdle for him. Lots of good players play in these cities without any issues.
Trois-Rivières: 102.0" *nearest city to Gourde's hometown
Buffalo: 94.2"
Montreal: 82.5"
Ottawa: 69.1"
Denver: 59.6"
Calgary: 50.7"
Minneapolis: 50.4"
Edmonton: 48.6"
Toronto: 47.8"
Winnipeg: 44.8"
Pittsburgh: 44.6"
Boston: 43.7"
Detroit: 43.3"
Chicago: 39.5"
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/snowfall-totals-city/
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Canada/Cities/snowfall-annual-average.php
and get raped by taxes
Another ignorant statement. Alberta has the lowest taxes in Canada for high-income earners and Edmonton's rates are lower than the three California teams and the NYC teams, putting Edmonton in the middle of the pack for NHL teams. If Gourde pays Canadian taxes in Quebec he's in for a pleasant surprise come April.
in Tampa where the sun shines every day
Tampa experiences 246 sunny days per year, well below the 325 that Edmonton has.
and tax free
Another misnomer. All Americans pay federal income taxes, meaning Gourde currently pays 36.32% income tax on his income. In Alberta, combined Federal and Provincial taxes amount to 47.34%, which would cost Gourde $569,367 annually. But Tampa has an 8.5% sales tax while Alberta has none, narrowing the gap somewhat.
with the beach minutes away and virtually no media bothering you
I totally get that Tampa is a much more beautiful place than Edmonton, the facts above notwithstanding. But it's interesting that you didn't mention that Tampa's murder rate, although down over 30% in 2018, was still roughly TWICE the murder rate in Edmonton, 'cause I'm sure that sort of thing never factors into where you want to settle your family.
In any case, I don't think Edmonton would go for this unless Tampa was willing to retain a lot more than $1M or take back a contract like Neal's which is similar money for shorter term.