Quote:
Originally Posted by OptimalTates
With the haves and haves-not becoming increasingly prominent and Tkachuk being a clear "haves" he's going to get paid. Right now the UFA crop for that year looks solid but if Kane, MacKinnon, Pastrnak and Huberdeau re-sign, you're left with O'Reilly, Larkin, Miller and him, for example, O'Reilly being 32 years old and Larkin being not quite at Tkachuk's level would make Tkachuk the most sought after UFA. All it takes is one GM out of the 32 to blow their load, and we see time after time a GM do that.
So I think it would take a remarkably bad year from Tkachuk or severe injuries before he really starts risking much of substance from his contract if his goal is purely cash. Might limit his choices if he has a bad year and all of a sudden a team he wanted to be on balks at his ask, but some other GM will be there to give it to him.
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I think that's fair, and it might be a moot point as I don't think his goal is purely cash, i.e. he might take a bit less to sign with a better team. It's also hard to gauge exactly what his value is as he brings a lot of other elements to the table, not just scoring. He would be sought after, no doubt.