Tkachuk is going to be tough and hold them hostage, he and his family negotiate tough and he has a ton of leverage to just take his qualifying offer and become a UFA. Expecting they will land on a longer deal but the price will be higher than we probably expect because Tkachuk holds all the cards the way his RFA deal terms have been structured. I could see him getting 9 mil plus.
Johnny's contract should already be done or he should have been traded while he had some value, I don't know what is going on there, to me it is poor management that it has been left this late. The only thing I can think of is maybe both parties agreed to negotiate after xmas once he has another half season under his belt to help really nail down fair value and understand the cap outlook. But that doesn't make a lot of sense considering how many years he has played. At this stage from an asset management perspective the flames need to basically pay the price he is asking and lock him down as long as it's not over 10. If he walks as a UFA heads should roll.
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