Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
It's not about it being hard, it's about it being expensive.
Tkachuks deal is bad for the flames because it does the following:
Pays him at or above market rate for 3 years
Established a 9 million dollar base salary which is effectively the salary range he would be at on a long term deal anyway.
Gives Tkachuk the best possible arbitration setting to ask for more than the qualifying offer. Should he go to arbitration, he will have a strong case to significantly increase his qualifying number as there will undoubtedly be contracts signed in the interim that eclipse the 9 million figure such as the deals that players like Marner and Rantanen have already signed.
A qualifying offer term is just one year, so if tkatchuk accepts it, he is UFA at the end of that year.
As I understand it, tkachuk can refuse the qualifying offer at which point the flames would be forced to initiate arbitration. Under that setting, tkachuk is then able to choose the duration/term of the award and walk himself directly to free agency regardless of the AAV. It's also highly unlikely for an arbitrator to rule a player is entitled to less than their qualifying offer. The only option for the flames in that instance would be to walk away from the award, making tkachuk a UFA instantly, or accepting it and having a year to decide whether to move him as a pending UFA or pay UFA level prices to keep him after his term is done.
Basically no matter what, in two years time,Tkachuk will be preparing to test the UFA market, and the reason for that is the Flames wouldn't/couldn't clear the cap space to offer him the AAV and term it would have taken to lock him up.
Then they made that space in January anyway by moving Frolik for a 4th round pick.
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Tkachuk’s deal is bad because it pays him at or more than market rate? Your faulting Treliving for not signing Tkachuk to a deal for less than market rate (whatever you consider that to be). Let me guess he should have also signed the ‘less than market rate’ contract to max term?
Check your expectations man, they’re a little out of touch,