A happy-go-lucky French-Canadian forward who has scored big goals in a Stanley Cup Final? That description applies to both Frédérick Gaudreau and Max Talbot, who ended up becoming fast friends through CAA (Creative Artists Agency) Hockey during the offseason.
How Max Talbot Helped Freddy Gaudreau Land in Pittsburgh
Talbot began working for the agency as a consultant in player development following his retirement from the NHL in 2019, and started building a relationship with Gaudreau, who is a CAA client, this past summer.
Talbot paid Gaudreau a visit in his hometown of Bromont, Quebec, and the two of them immediately created a bond that has grown strong over the past year.
"It's weird because we only met this summer, but we really clicked on many different aspects," Gaudreau said. "And for us, obviously hockey is really important, but we clicked on even deeper stuff, too. It's more just about life, really. I consider him a friend now."
During his career, Talbot earned a reputation for being a fun-loving guy who kept it light around the locker room. And while he's still that person who loves to joke around and having a good time, Talbot also has another side to him as a husband, father and someone who cares deeply about helping his clients succeed.
"For me, he's been just a good balance of everything," Gaudreau said. "That's something I've always tried to acquire. Obviously, he's still the funny guy, but there's just way more than that to him. He's such a smart, smart guy. And a lot of it is about the personal development, which is something we always talk about. He has great ideas or visions or views on many different things. So it's just nice to have him on my side."
Gaudreau was particularly grateful for Talbot's guidance the day free agency opened on Oct. 10, 2020. It was Gaudreau's first experience testing the market after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Nashville Predators organization, primarily with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.
The forward was fielding a lot more offers than he originally anticipated, making his decision on where to sign even more difficult, and Pittsburgh was one of the interested teams. Talbot believes that Gaudreau's performance in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against the Penguins, where he scored three goals - including the winners in Games 3 and 4 - played a big factor in that.
"He's a guy who is a very responsible player that was clutch against the Penguins a couple years ago when he was with Nashville," Talbot said. "That was something that I think the whole front office of the Penguins remembered."
So naturally, Gaudreau turned to Talbot, who was a fan favorite during his six seasons with the Penguins and played the Game 7 hero in their 2009 Stanley Cup championship. Gaudreau peppered him with questions, asking Talbot about the city, the team, and the role he could play.
"Obviously for me, it's always easy to sell my second home as a Pittsburgh Penguin," Talbot said. "Freddy is a guy with a lot of feelings. He's really a feeling guy, meaning when he thinks that it fits, he really goes with his heart."
And Gaudreau had good ones about the Penguins, as he kept hearing that players in the organization got what they deserved in terms of opportunities - which ultimately, is all he really wanted.
"At one point, I called Max. And I was like, 'Max, I don't know why, but like… Pittsburgh came back and they are what I'm feeling,'" Gaudreau said. "And he was like, 'man, I feel it so much. I know this organization; I know their values. It's so much like you.' And he just had a really good feel about it, because he's been through it and he knows about it here. He was really able to feel that it would fit good with me."
Both men were absolutely right, as Gaudreau has thrived with the Penguins after signing a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $700,000. "I really wanted to feel like I would get what I what I work for," Gaudreau said. "And that is for sure. I felt that since Day 1 here."
Gaudreau spent the first couple months of the season split between the taxi squad and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and kept a positive approach, saying he understood how hard it was for so many people experiencing difficult circumstances like unemployment, and felt so fortunate just to be on the ice.
Gaudreau focused on improving his game and remained optimistic that his time would come, and it did. He made his Penguins debut on March 18 at New Jersey and from there, he never looked back, earning a regular spot in the lineup.
"He's earned every opportunity that he's been given to this point," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "Nothing's been handed to Freddy. We've really liked Freddy's game since he's come up. He brings a lot of energy to the game, and I believe that energy is contagious. He's playing a committed game. He's hungry, he's hard on pucks, he wins puck battles, and he does a lot of the little things that help teams be successful."
Not only has Gaudreau made a positive impact on the ice - he's been a wonderful addition off the ice as well, as the 28-year-old has won everybody over with his incredible personality.
"I think he's a guy that's very appreciated in the Penguins locker room," Talbot said. "He's a very relaxed and cool guy to be around. He brings that to the rink every day, and people appreciate that. When you're around Freddy Gaudreau, you want to smile. You want to be his friend."
Gaudreau has always believed that "life was meant to be fun and enjoyed," but experienced a turning point when it came to his outlook and mentality after being re-assigned to Cincinnati of the ECHL during his first professional season in 2014-15.
"That's really where I dug deeper inside of me to kind of change my mindset, because I feel like the hockey business was all new to me," Gaudreau said. "My thoughts, they were not in the right place. I was always thinking about the future and I was stressed about the future and all that. And I really realized back then that it was not leading me anywhere. And at that moment, I decided to change that mindset to really adopt more of a present moment mindset."
Each night, Gaudreau would set goals for himself as to how he could get better the following day, and would wake up and work on those things. From there on, Gaudreau said everything started to improve for him and become more enjoyable.
"Obviously, there's always times that are tough times where you feel like things are not going the way you would like," Gaudreau said. "But at least I feel like I've developed more and more tools, and I still develop more and more tools to stay in that gratitude of the present moment instead of the stress of everything else, really."
That's what he did after spending the entirety of last season in the AHL, with help from his young nephew Noah, who has Down's syndrome. Noah, who is Freddy's godson, motivates him to make even more of a conscious effort every day to be a positive, uplifting person.
"It's just about being right here, right now with your whole heart," Gaudreau said. "He's still young, obviously, but we already see it from him. But also, just from meeting more people with Down's syndrome since I got to know more about it, it just feels like there's that presence that they have that is pure and that is not coming from their mind. It is really just their heart that's leading their actions. And you can feel that right away."
Gaudreau absolutely adores Noah, who has also inspired his uncle to be more celebratory of what makes people special and unique.
"I feel like we're a world made up of so many differences everywhere," Gaudreau said. "There's nothing wrong, there's nothing bad, it's just different. And in differences, I feel like there's so much beauty. He has opened me up to a beautiful world where every difference is something we can learn from and grow from."
It's impossible not to root for someone like that, and all of his teammates are thrilled to see Gaudreau doing so well and getting rewarded after a long road back.
"He brings a great attitude in the room," Kris Letang said. "Everybody likes to spend time with him, he's a great guy. It's good to have him, it's fun to see him having success."
And Talbot feels like this is just the beginning for Gaudreau, who's thrilled to have made it back to an NHL postseason for the first time since that magical run in 2017 and is coming in hot, finding success at right wing on a line with Jeff Carter and Jared McCann.
"It feels really good," Gaudreau said. "Because obviously, it's been a little while. But while I didn't play in the NHL last year, I've always felt inside of me that I could come back and have an impact in a team. It's just fun. This whole group, it's been really fun to be part of, and we're for sure excited to get going."
