[FlamesAddiction]

I'm actually concerned more about Tkachuk's extension, it just doesn't have the same urgency as far as deadlines go. Big picture-wise though, losing a player like him to free agency at the age of 25 would be a bigger failure than losing JG at age 29 IMO. I know Gaudreau is a special player, but any player having another career year after the age of 30 is pretty unlikely. If I had to bet on who will be more productive over the next 8 years, I might have to pick Tkachuk.

I hope they both stay long term of course, but the longer the Gaudreau negotiations drag on, the more likely the Flames will need to just give Tkachuk his QO due to time constraints, and if he accepts it outright, that could be a bad sign and really limits what the Flames can do. I'd much rather them get started on a long term extension before it even gets to the QO stage. So yeah, technically 3 weeks to go, but logistically, the internal deadline should be set much sooner.

I suppose there is nothing stopping Treliving from getting started with an agreement with Tkachuk in the meantime, but I wonder how likely it would be for Tkachuk to agree to a long term deal not knowing if Gaudreau will be here too.