Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
Firstly, I said somewhat easily replaceable....and yes, we all know what Tkachuk brings.
You can disagree with me, but it's also obvious that Tkachuk's numbers were inflated this year due to playing with Gaudreau. Tkachuk himself has only hit PPG once, and that was this year. And yes, his line was dominant 5v5, but how much of that was Tkachuk and how much was his linemates.
As for his "brawn" and "power forward" abilities....that has yet to consistently show up in the playoffs. Tkachuk IMO is far more of a pest, than a true physical player. That has value too, but let's not pretend he is Iginla, driving through the defence.
Tkachuk is also the type of guy who is going to squeeze a major contract out of whoever he signs with. There are UFA players almost every year that you can acquire if you are willing to spend big bucks (which Tkachuk is almost certain to demand). And it's this likely big demand that might force the team to make a change. Tkachuk may be holding out for $10 million, so that means making cuts in the lineup elsewhere.
There are most certainly ways to trade Tkachuk and still come out ahead. Firstly, you can hopefully get a boatload of assets. Secondly, as I stated before, Gaudreau can play with a lot of guys and he's been shown to consistently give his linemates 20+ bumps in their point production.
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Easily replaceable or somewhat easily replaceable - what’s the difference? Tkachuk is neither of those things.
If you’re worried about how much Tkachuk contributes to his lines dominance there are plenty of metrics that show he contributes a lot.
You’re worried about him getting a big contract? Yeah top players typically earn top dollar - that isn’t a problem. Cap issues arise when you have 5-6 million dollar guys taking up space on the bottom half of your roster.
Bottom line is there no comparable player to Tkachuk available in free agency and heck even if there were what are the odds of Calgary actually landing him? Calgary typically isn’t a top pick for high profile free agents.
If your solution to replacing Tkachuk is signing an older, less productive, and equally as expensive player then you’re not making out ahead.