I want to keep Tkachuk. I'm not "apologizing" for his play. But fact is, NHL players have down years and clearly this is one of Tkachuk's. Pretty much every season he was trending upwards so I'm not quite ready to ship him out because he (like everyone else) has had a bad season.
Literally the only way I want to ship him out is if it's:
a) a massive overpayment that immediately makes the team better.
b) if Sutter has clearly identified him as part of the "rot" and he needs to go
c) he says he won't sign long term
This time last year he was being talked about the future captain. I still think he can be. But whatever situation arose from the infamous puck flip/tone-'er-down talk need to be resolved before next season starts, that's for sure.
There's plenty of players I want to ship out for underperforming and as acts of revenge for sucking when it matters most every season. But Tkachuk isn't on that list for me quite yet and deserves a chance to bounce back.
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