Regarding Francis he is a very easy to dislike the way he carry’s himself and nothing more annoying when he arrogantly stakes a claim like it is fact when it is just his near worthless opinion. He is such an easy person to dislike and it would be cool if Sportsnet moved on and he retires from sports writing.
Regarding Johnny I think it is fair to say he is looking for an 8 year deal to stay here and if he moves on he will be signing for 7 years wherever that may be. I do think there is loyalty to the organization for drafting him and there is certainly a love for the fanbase and city that stretches to his family as well as himself. $10.5x8 is the same money as $12x7 so I hope a long playoff run and solid performance for Johnny locks him up as a Flames for life where he can take a legit run at all the franchise records for forwards and bring a Cup back to the city.
Tkachuk is interesting. I do think there is a sense of loyalty for him as well being the team that drafted him and the chance to be one of the all time franchise greats and next captain of the team. His Dad was a captain, his brother is a captain and I am sure he wants to be one as well. I do wonder if he looks at the potential cap rising in 2-3 years and considers a shorter term extension? Get a $10Mx3 deal and see what is out there in 3 years. Takes away some long term security but also opens up flexibility for him to earn more and move on in the future? 7x3 followed by 10x3 would have been the equivalent of 6x 8.5M which the team likely would have loved to sign after the 2019 season.
If Johnny signs it will almost certainly be 8 years but I could see Tkachuk doing anything from 1-8 years.
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