Quote:
Originally Posted by 2macinnis2
Look, that line wasn’t very good defensively in either series. Further, the offense was primarily driven by Gaudreau, not Tkachuk. I get that Tkachuk had a great regular season… I’m talking about playoffs. That line can be a better playoff line with a replacement IMO. And whatever his metrics may be, I just personally have never found him noticeable making good defensive plays, again particularly not in the playoffs.
Tkachuk is a really good player no doubt. But as others have mentioned, you simply cannot pay him and Gaudreau their market value. Gaudreau is far more important to keep, and Tkachuk could actually net you some return.
It’s a pretty straightforward decision, and you have be able to find a silver lining once you arrive at it.
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I am not buying the narrative that Johnny is responsible for all Chucky’s production. This is a guy who scored 34 and 77pts playing with Backlund and Frolik on the second line at 21 years old.
I agree that if the choice comes down to one or the other Gaudreau is who you keep simply from an asset management standpoint. One can bring back assets the other walks.
This team already has too many high priced middle players so trading Tkachuk for a $5M speedy defensive guy is not making the top line or team better. They need to rid themselves of some of the dead weight and keep the star players.
If anything Chucky still has a higher ceiling than what he has showed as he matures. Playoffs have not gone the best but that doesn’t mean it will always be this way. Chucky scored a memorial cup winning OT goal he has played big in some big games before. I think he puts too much pressure on himself in these big games and it hasn’t worked out as well as anyone hoped. He is young enough to get better.